For what did I know?

All men die…Our lives are no more than a bird flying through a lighted window, then out again into the darkness. What matters is that we do not cause pain. A good life will defend the weak and, by so doing, set a lamp in the darkness that will last for many lives to come.

— Conn Iggulden - Lords of the Bow


If my beliefs could be burned…I would not trust them, nor live by them. They will survive this war with the Chin, even if the Chin themselves do not. Men strive to be emperors and kings, but they are just names. It does not matter which man holds a name. The fields will still need to be worked. The towns will still be thick with vice and corruption…No man knows where the future will take us.

— Conn Iggulden - Lords of the Bow