Wisdom of the Barbarian

I don't know why I am inspired to write this, other than Conan the Barbarian, a literary character created by Robert E. Howard in the 1920's and 30's, has been one of my long time favorite fantasy characters and many of the Conan stories I read as a kid are still my favorites. Oddly enough, there are some great gems of writing in these pulp fiction stories and some of the quotes are good enough to be given some attention... these are some of my favorites. Enjoy.


“Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” – Robert E. Howard

“Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. All else is learned.” – Robert E. Howard

“All fled--all done, so lift me on the pyre; The feast is over, and the lamps expire”. Suicide note left by Robert E. Howard

--from the movie- CONAN: The Barbarian:

Conan's Father: No one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts. [Points to sword.] But this... this you can trust.

Khitai General: Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!

King Osric: There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throneroom becomes a prison, and all that is left is a father's love for his child.



--from selected CONAN stories written by Robert E. Howard:

"From what hell have you crawled, you nighted dog?" muttered Conan, staring at the man. The Cimmerian involuntarily shivered; he sensed something incredibly ancient, incredibly evil.
Xaltotun lifted his head, as if listening to whispers across the void. He seemed to have forgotten his prisoner. Then he shook his head impatiently, and glanced impersonally at Conan.
"What? Why, if I told you, you would not believe me. But I am wearied of conversation with you; it is less fatiguing to destroy a walled city than it is to frame my thoughts in words a brainless barbarian can understand."

"If my hands were free," opined Conan, "I'd soon make a brainless corpse out of you."
--from The Hour of the Dragon.


“Their chief is Crom. He dwells on a great mountain. What use to call on him? Little he cares if men live or die. Better to be silent than to call his attention to you; he will send you dooms, not fortune! He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man’s soul. What else shall men ask of the gods?”
“But what of the worlds beyond the river of death?” she (Belit) persisted.
“There is no hope here or hereafter in the cult of my people,” answered Conan. “In this world men struggle and suffer vainly, finding pleasure only in the bright madness of battle; dying, their souls enter a gray misty realm of clouds and icy winds, to wander cheerlessly throughout eternity.”
--from Queen of the Black Coast

“He was a man,” said Conan. “I drink to his shade, and to the shade of the dog, who knew no fear.” He quaffed part of the wine, then emptied the rest upon the floor, with a curious heathen gesture, and smashed the goblet. “The heads of ten Picts shall pay for his, and seven heads for the dog, who was a better warrior than many a man.”
--from Beyond the Black River

Later!