The Best Scathing Quotes from Game of Thrones
- By Bilal Hafeez
- 1 min read
I was a huge fan of Game of Thrones when it came out, and now we have the prequel – House of the Dragon. I plan to start watching that this weekend (so don’t send me any spoilers). But as part of my prep for the new show, I went through some classic lines from the original. Here are some of the best:
On Leadership and Power
- ‘A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of a sheep.’
- ‘Any man who must say, ‘I am the king,’ is no true king. I’ll make sure you understand that when I’ve won your war for you.’
- ‘When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.’
- ‘Power resides where men believe it resides. It’s a trick, a shadow on the wall. And a very small man can cast a very large shadow.’
- ‘Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe.’
- ‘The world we need won’t be built by men loyal to the world we have.’
- ‘If I give everyone what they deserve I’ll have no one left to rule.’
- ‘If you only trust the people you grew up with, you won’t make many allies.’
- ‘Give us common folk one taste of power and we’re like the lion who tasted man—nothing is ever so sweet again.’
- ‘There’s no justice in the world, not unless we make it. You loved your family. Avenge them.’
- ‘Fear cuts deeper than swords.’
On Death
- ‘The world is overflowing with horrible things, but they’re all a tray of cakes next to death.’
- ‘There is only one thing we say to death: Not today.’
- ‘Death is so final, yet life is full of possibilities.’
- ‘That’s what death is, isn’t it? Forgetting. Being forgotten. If we forget where we’ve been and what we’ve done, we’re not men anymore. Just animals.’
On Life Goals
- ‘As long as I’m better than everyone else I suppose it doesn’t matter.’
- ‘I failed. Good. Now go fail again.’
- ‘A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone.’
- ‘It’s not easy being drunk all the time. If it were easy, everyone would do it.’
- ‘That’s what I do: I drink and I know things.’
- ‘A man with no motive is a man no one suspects. Always keep your foes confused.’
- ‘Can a man be brave if he’s afraid?’ – ‘That’s the only time he can be brave,’
- ‘All my life men like you have sneered at me. And all my life I’ve been knocking men like you into the dust.’
- ‘Know your strengths, use them wisely, and one man can be worth ten thousand.’
On Other People
- ‘I try to know as many people as I can. You never know which one you’ll need.’
- ‘I wonder if you’re the worst person I’ve ever met. At a certain age, it’s hard to recall. But the truly vile do stand out through the years.’
- ‘I believe in second chances. I don’t believe in third chances.’
- ‘You’re not interesting enough to be offensive.’
- ‘When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say.’
- ‘Everything before the word ‘but’ is horseshit.’
Miscellaneous
- ‘Winter is coming.’
- ‘Nothing f***s you harder than time.’
- ‘Gingers are beautiful. We’ve been kissed by fire.’
- ‘An unhappy wife is a wine merchant’s best friend.’
- ‘Some wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word.’
- ‘It doesn’t matter what we want. Once we get it, then we want something else.’
- ‘If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.’
Bilal