But no. There is a difference between the truth and what we wish were true.

— Patrick Rothfuss

But only a fool claims there is no such thing as love. When you see two young ones taring at each other with dewy eyes, there it is. So thick you can spread it on your bread and eat it. When you see a mother with her child, you see love. When you feel it roil in your belly, you know what it is. Even if you cannot give voice to it in words.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Congratulations, he said. "That was the stupidest thing I've ever seen." His expression was a mix of awe and disbelief. "Ever.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Dawn was coming. The Way stone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Death was like an unpleasant neighbor. You didn’t talk about him for fear he might hear you and decide to pay a visit.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Donna is a wild thing," I explained. "Like a hind or a summer storm. If a storm blows down your house, or breaks a tree, you don't say the storm was mean. It was cruel. It acted according to its nature and something unfortunately was hurt. The same is true of Donna.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Don't get me wrong, magic is cool. But a nervous mother singing to her child at night while something moves quietly through the dark outside her house? That's a story. Handled properly, it's more dramatic than any apocalypse or goblin army could ever be.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Do you know why they call this place the Rookery?" Elodie asked. I shook my head." Because it's where you go if you're Arvin'." He smiled a wild smile. He laughed a terrible laugh.

— Patrick Rothfuss

Elodie pointed down the street. "What color is that boy's shirt?"" Blue."" What do you mean by blue? Describe it." I struggled for a moment, failed. "So blue is a name?"" It is a word. 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. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man's will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself." My head was swimming by this point. "I still don't understand." He laid a hand on my shoulder. "Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating." He lifted his hands high above his head as if stretching for the sky. "But there are other ways to understanding!" he shouted, laughing like a child. He threw both arms to the cloudless arch of sky above us, still laughing. "Look!" he shouted tilting his head back. "Blue! Blue! Blue!

— Patrick Rothfuss

Everyone knew what he was thinking. Certainly there were demons in the world. But they were like Thou’s angels. They were like heroes and kings. They belonged in stories. Furthermore, they belonged out there. Berlin the Great called up fire and lightning to destroy demons. Thou broke them in his hands and sent them howling into the nameless void. Your childhood friend didn’t stomp one to death on the road to Baden-Bryt. It was ridiculous.

— Patrick Rothfuss