20 Patrick Rothfuss Quotes From Kingkiller Chronicles And More
Patrick Rothfuss is author of The Kingkiller Chronicles fantasy series, which includes The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear, and the novella The Slow Regard of Silent Things. Rothfuss is also busy with Worldbuilders, his charity dedicated to “geeks doing good,” most recently with a fundraiser for Puerto Rico. His books, interviews, live gaming fundraisers, and more have touched millions of fans around the world. Here, I’ve collected some of my favorite Patrick Rothfuss quotes. You’ll see some from his books, but also from interviews. If I’ve missed any of your favorite Patrick Rothfuss quotes, make sure to leave them in the comments.
Quotes from The Name of the Wind
1. “Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.”
2. “It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
3. “We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be.”
4. “You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way.”
5. “Music is a proud, temperamental mistress. Give her the time and attention she deserves, and she is yours. Slight her and there will come a day when you call and she will not answer.”
Quotes from The Wise Man’s Fear
6. “There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
7. “A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection”
8. “In many ways, unwise love is the truest love. Anyone can love a thing because. That’s as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something despite. To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and perfect.”
9. “All the truth in the world is held in stories.”
10. “That is how heavy a secret can become. It can make blood flow easier than ink.”
Quotes from The Slow Regard of Silent Things
11. “It was wise enough to know itself, and brave enough to BE itself, and wild enough to change itself while somehow staying altogether true.”
12. “Some days simply lay on you like stones.”
13. “Answers were always important, but they were seldom easy.”
14. “To be so lovely and so lost. To be all answerful with all that knowing trapped inside. To be beautiful and broken.”
15. “Some things simply were too true to stay. Some merely came to visit for a while.”
Patrick Rothfuss quotes from interviews and such
16. “Infatuation is nice, and feels a lot like love. But it’s really not the same thing. Infatuation is a flower. Love is ripe fruit.” (From Book Riot)
17. “We’re all quietly broken in our own strange ways.” (From Book Riot)
18. “I want to read books full of people being awesome. You can go too far. You can become unrealistic. But I think the fear of writing someone too perfect or too cool leads to a lot of godawful fucking books. If I wanted to watch people sucking and being dumb, I would just spend all my time on Twitter.” (From WIRED)
19. “If you can help, you should help. And if you should help and you don’t help, you’re an asshole.” (From Amazon Book Review)
20. “I like to leave myself open for beautiful accidents, for strange things to happen, and then I want to pursue those.” (From Lightspeed)
