What," Traps said as he hurried over to tend to her, his bare feet slapping on the floor. "What. Hush, hush.

— Patrick Rothfuss

When someone tells you a piece of their life, they’re giving you a gift, not granting you your due.

— Patrick Rothfuss

When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.

— Patrick Rothfuss

When you love something, you have to make sure it loves you back, or you'll bring about no end of trouble chasing it.

— Patrick Rothfuss

When you're 14, anything with a sword and a dragon is pretty cool. But when you're 21, and you've read 2,000 fantasy novels, you start to realize that some of those books, well, they weren't perfect. OK, let's be honest. A lot of them were crap.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Why, Rehi?" The words poured out of Bast in a sudden gush. "Why did you stay there when it was so awful?" Kvothe nodded to himself, as if he had been expecting the question. "Where else was there for me to go, Bast? Everyone I knew was dead."" Not everyone," Bast insisted. "There was Abernathy. You could have gone to him."" Hallowfell was hundreds of miles away, Bast," Vote said wearily as he wandered to the other side of the room and moved behind the bar. Hundreds of miles without my father's maps to guide me. Hundreds of miles without wagons to ride or sleep in. Without help of any sort, or money, or shoes. Not an impossible journey, I suppose. But for a young child, still numb with the shock of losing his parents. . . ." Kvothe shook his head. "No. In Tarbean at least I could beg or steal. I'd managed to survive in the forest for a summer, barely. But over the winter?" He shook his head. "I would have starved or frozen to death." Standing at the bar, Vote filled his mug and began to add pinches of spice from several small containers, then walked toward the great stone fireplace, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You're right, of course. Anywhere would have been better than Tarbean." He shrugged, facing the fire. "But we are all creatures of habit. It is far too easy to stay in the familiar ruts we dig for ourselves. Perhaps I even viewed it as fair. My punishment for not being there to help when the Chandra came. My punishment for not dying when I should have, with the rest of my family." Bast opened his mouth, then closed it and looked down at the tabletop, frowning. Kvothe looked over his shoulder and gave a gentle smile. "I'm not saying it's rational, Bast. Emotions by their very nature are not reasonable things. I don't feel that way now, but back then I did. I remember." He turned back to the fire. "Ben's training has given me a memory so clean and sharp I have to be careful not to cut myself sometimes." Kvothe took a mulling stone from the fire and dropped it into his wooden mug. It sank with a sharp hiss. The smell of searing clove and nutmeg filled the room. Kvothe stirred his cider with a long-handled spoon as he made his way back to the table. "You must also remember that I was not in my right mind. Much of me was still in shock, sleeping if you will. I needed something, or someone, to wake me up." He nodded to Chronicler, who casually shook his writing hand to loosen it, then stoppered his inkwell. Kvothe leaned back in his seat. "I needed to be reminded of things I had forgotten. I needed a reason to leave. It was years before I met someone who could do those things." He smiled at Chronicler. "Before I met Sharp.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Why wasn't I already kissing this woman? Why wasn't I naked, eating violets, and playing music underneath the open sky? Looking around the room again, everything seemed terribly ridiculous. These people sitting on their benches wearing layers on layers of clothing, eating with knives and forks. It all struck me as so pointless and contrived. It was incredibly funny. Furthermore, it was like they were playing a game and didn't even realize it. Furthermore, it was like a joke I'd never understood before.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Why would I want to win anything other than a beautiful game?

— Patrick Rothfuss

Wiley: 'What is the word for that here? A man who is intimate with both women and men?'' Lucky?' Donna suggested. 'Tired? Ambidextrous?'' Ambisextrous,' I corrected.

— Patrick Rothfuss

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.

— Patrick Rothfuss