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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.

Bernard Cornwell

Because there could not be peace, not while two tribes shared one land. One tribe must win. Even the nailed god cannot change that truth. And I was a warrior, and in a world at war the warrior must be cruel.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Change Land Tribe War Winning
Then you start another book and suddenly the galley proofs of the last one come in and you have to wrench your attention away from what you’re writing and try to remember what you were thinking when you wrote the previous one.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Attention Book Proof Thinking Writing
If you understand everything,’ I said carefully, ‘then there’s no room left for magic. It’s only when you’re lost and frightened and in the dark that you call on the Gods, and they like us to call on them. It makes them feel powerful, and that’s why they like us to live in chaos.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Carefully Frightened God Lost Magic Room Understand
The bards sing of love, they celebrate slaughter, they extol kings and flatter queens, but were I a poet I would write in praise of friendship.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Friendship Kings Queens Writing
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.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Achieve Funny Inspirational Ocean
We discover that it is all an illusion and nothing is there. Lust is a voyage to nowhere, to an empty land, but some men just love such voyages and never care about the destination. Love is a voyage too, a voyage with no destination except death, but a voyage of bliss.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Destination Love Lust Men Such Voyage
But when you have order, you don’t need Gods. When everything is well ordered and disciplined then nothing is unexpected.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Dark Order Powerful
We don’t build,’ I said to my son, ‘we just destroy.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Build Destroy Son
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 CORNWELL

Fool Love Regret Savage Song Start
The existence of tricks does not imply the absence of magic.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Absence Imply Magic Trick
Life is a jest of the Gods and there is no justice. You must learn to laugh… or else you’ll weep yourself to death.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Death Jest Justice Laughing Life
You know what circumcision is, Private?
BERNARD CORNWELL

Circumcision Knows Private
Because there could not be peace, not while two tribes shared one land. One tribe must win.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Change Land War Winning
Looking back, of course, it was irresponsible, mad, forlorn, idiotic, but if you don’t take chances then you’ll never have a winning hand, and I’ve no regrets.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Hands Regret Winning
I’ll happily mentor anyone who wants mentoring, and most of that goes on by internet rather than face to face.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Mentor Mentoring Want
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.
BERNARD CORNWELL

Amass Army Children Feasts Land

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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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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Popular Authors

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