Only a fool wants war, but once a war starts then it cannot be fought half-heartedly. It cannot even be fought with regret, but must be waged with a savage joy in defeating the enemy, and it is that savage joy that inspires our bards to write their greatest songs about love and war.
BERNARD CORNWELLEvery day is ordinary, until it isn’t.
More Bernard Cornwell Quotes
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But when you have order, you don’t need Gods. When everything is well ordered and disciplined then nothing is unexpected.
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I’m fortunate that the books sell, but even more fortunate to live in Chatham, to be very happily married and to have, on the whole, a fairly clear conscience.
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Of course some days are easier than others, but my worst day is better than being in most humdrum occupations.
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Book tours and research provide a lot of travel – too much, I sometimes think, but we do take vacations.
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And yes, there’s a simplicity to writing books because you’re not a member of a team, so you make all the decisions yourself instead of deferring to a committee.
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Writing is a solitary occupation.
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A man does not see where he treads in battle, for he is watching the enemy.
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Because there could not be peace, not while two tribes shared one land. One tribe must win.
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Research is a lifelong occupation so it’s hard to factor it in, but I reckon most books take 5 months from start to finish.
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We make children and wealth and amass land and build halls and assemble armies and give great feasts, but only one thing survives us. Reputation.
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The existence of tricks does not imply the absence of magic.
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I sometimes wonder what would have happened if the first book had not sold… doesn’t bear thinking about, but I suppose we’d have made it work somehow.
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What I mean by that is that the point of life, as I see it, is not to write books or scale mountains or sail oceans, but to achieve happiness, and preferably an unselfish happiness.
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So far it’s 43 books in 25 years.
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Pride makes a man, it drives him, it is the shield wall around his reputation… Men die, they said, but reputation does not die.
BERNARD CORNWELL