One of the great things about books is you can afford to do anything.
George R. R. MartinRead
The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. One is black, the other white. There is ice and there is fire. Hate and love. Bitter and sweet. Male and female. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good. Death and life. Everywhere, opposites.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the duality of existence, highlighting the contrasts in life and the balance of opposites.
In this quote, George R. R. Martin expresses the idea that life is filled with opposing forces and contrasting experiences. It suggests that everything in existence has an opposite, and these dualities—such as love and hate, pleasure and pain—are integral to the human experience. This duality can help us appreciate the beauty of life while acknowledging the presence of darkness and challenges. The presence of both light and shadow enriches our perceptions and understanding of reality.
Themes
TruthOppositesDualityLifeExperiencesBalance
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about resilience, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of recognizing both joy and pain.
More from George R. R. Martin
All quotes →I hate outlines. I have a broad sense of where the story is going; I know the end, I know the end of the principal characters, and I know the major turning points and events from the books, the climaxes for each book, but I don't necessarily know each twist and turn along the way. That's something I discover in the course of writing and that's what makes writing enjoyable. I think if I outlined comprehensively and stuck to the outline the actual writing would be boring.
George R. R. MartinRead
There is only one god and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: “Not today.
George R. R. MartinRead
I did not do it. Yet now I wish I had.’ He turned to face the hall, that sea of pale faces. ‘I wish I had enough poison for you all. You make me sorry that I am not the monster you would have me be, yet there it is. I am innocent, but I will get no justice here.
George R. R. MartinRead
But a voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. 'Life is not a song, sweetling,' he'd told her, 'You may learn that one day to your sorrow.' In life, the monsters win, she told herself.
George R. R. MartinRead
I write from this tight third-person viewpoint, where each chapter is seen through the eyes of one individual character. When I'm writing that character, I become that character and identify with that character.
George R. R. MartinRead
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