Quotes by Patrick Rothfuss

Yesterday he had limped, but today there was no part of his feet that didnt hurt, so limping did no good.

Nothing was nothing else. Nothing was anything it shouldn’t be.

They were everything they ought to be and nothing else.

A woman who goes around wearing a knife is obviously looking for trouble. She reached deep into her pocket and brought out a long, slender piece of metal, glittering all along one edge. However a woman who carries a knife is ready for trouble. Generally speaking, its easier to appear harmless. Its less trouble all around.

When youre 14, anything with a sword and a dragon is pretty cool. But when youre 21 and youve read 2,000 fantasy novels, you start to realize that some of those books, well, they werent really good. OK, lets be honest. A lot of them were crap.

I never set out to become famous. I mean, when youre 14 you think Im gonna become a writer and people will want my autograph and thatll be cool, but you grow up and you learn thats just not how the world works. I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never be published and if I did it probably wouldnt be a big deal.

I almost got a psychology degree, I almost got a philosophy degree. I kept changing it so they couldnt make me graduate. I studied anthropology and eastern religion, epistomology, and astronomy... I took every interesting course I could find for nine years.

Fantasy is my favorite genre for reading and writing. We have more options than anyone else, and the best props and special effects. That means if you want to write a fantasy story with Norse gods, sentient robots, and telepathic dinosaurs, you can do just that. Want to throw in a vampire and a lesbian unicorn while youre at it? Go ahead.

Youve got a great chance in college to do all sorts of terrible irresponsible things, and you should totally do them. I mean, make huge mistakes. This is the time in your life if you screw up, its okay because you can bounce back from it.

“Time is the great healer, and so on.”

“But no. There is a difference between the truth and what we wish were true.”

“Ive always liked the moonless night best. Its easier to say things in the dark. Its easier to be yourself.”

“No man is brave that has never walked a hundred miles. If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection.”

“...nothing in the world is harder than convincing someone of an unfamiliar truth.”

“so many thoughts, my kvothe. you know too much to be happy.”

“My parents danced together, her head on his chest. Both had their eyes closed. They seemed so perfectly content. If you can find someone like that, someone who you can hold and close your eyes to the world with, then youre lucky. Even if it only lasts for a minute or a day. The image of them gently swaying to the music is how I picture love in my mind even after all these years.”

“I should have been bolder and kissed her at the end. I should have been more cautious. I had talked too much. I had said too little.”

“Roses! I swear you men have all your romance from the same worn book. Flowers are a good thing, a sweet thing to give a lady. But it is always roses, always red, and always perfect hothouse blooms when they can come by them.”

“There are so many men, all endlessly attempting to sweep me off my feet. And there is one of you, trying just the opposite. Making sure my feet are firm beneath me, lest I fall.”

“Denna is a wild thing, I explained. Like a hind or a summer storm. If a storm blows down your house, or breaks a tree, you dont say the storm was mean. It was cruel. It acted according to its nature and something unfortunately was hurt. The same is true of Denna.”