Petyr Baelish’s Best Quotes on ‘Game of Thrones’

by Tanya Mardirossian

Some cast members from “Game of Thrones” (Photo by Peter Pham/Creative Commons CC by 2.0)

Played by the wonderful Aidan Gillen

If you watch Game of Thrones, you know some of the most important conversations on the show, which often times foreshadow events, are brought to you by Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger.

Just like the somewhat mysterious Irish actor Aidan Gillen, who sounds and acts far from his GoT character, if you’re familiar with his other works and non-acting side, Littlefinger is a character we can’t quite figure out. Right when you think you know him, he surprises, and that’s the way he likes it. While we know he is often conniving and lives for power, no matter how he will achieve it, underneath it all, it’s soft human emotions guiding him up to the Iron Throne. Sure, he’s a shady brothel keeper, but he acts on love, rejection and strategy — normal stuff, but also the ingredients to make a great revenge story. While Season 7 is off to a jump start, Baelish fans and haters alike know he’s a fundamental character to move others forward in the show, and even though we know what may be coming for Gillen’s character, we hope he makes it through GoT’s final season next year.

Here’s a look at his best traits and quotes throughout the series:

He’s quick and clever

1. “Ah, the Starks. Quick tempers, slow minds.” — Season 1, Episode 3
2. “Distrusting me was the wisest thing you’ve done since you climbed off your horse.” Season 1, Episode 4
3. “We only make peace with our enemies…that’s why it’s called making peace.” — Season 1, Episode 7
4. “What we don’t know is what usually gets us killed.” — Season 1, Episode 7

Though sometimes, it does backfire

1. “Knowledge is power.” — Season 2, Episode 1

He’s an honest and up-front guy

1. “Look around you. We’re all liars here.” — Season 2, Episode 10
2. “It doesn’t matter what we want. Once we get it, then we want something else.” — Season 3, Episode 5
3. “Money buys a man silence for a time, a bolt in the heart buys it forever.” — Season 4, Episode 3
4. “I’d risk everything to get what I want.” — Season 4, Episode 4
5. “Every ambitious move is a gamble.” — Season 5, Episode 3
6. “…as it happens, I am a betting man.” — Season 5, Episode 4
7. “We both peddle fantasies…mine just happen to be entertaining.” — Season 5, Episode 5

He’s strategic

1. “You know what I learned losing that duel? I learned that I’ll never win. Not that way. That’s their game, their rules. I’m not going to fight them, I’m going to f*ck them. That’s what I know, that’s what I am. And only by admitting what we are can we get what we want.” — Season 1, Episode 7
2. “Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some, are given a chance to climb. They refuse, they cling to the realm, or the gods, or love. Illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.” — Season 3, Episode 6

He’s a mentor who opens up about the workings of his mind

1. “Every time I’m faced with a decision, I close my eyes and see the same picture. Whenever I consider an action, I ask myself, ‘will this action help to make this picture reality?’ Pull it out of my mind and into the world, and I only act if the answer is yes.” — Season 6, Episode 10
2. “…Fight every battle everywhere, always, in your mind. Everyone is your enemy, everyone is your friend. Every possible series of events is happening all at once. Live that way and nothing will surprise you. Everything that happens will be something that you’ve seen before.” — Season 7, Episode 3
3. “Sometimes, when I try to understand a person’s motives, I play a little game. I assume the worst. What’s the worst reason they could possibly have for saying what they say, or doing what they do? Then I ask myself, ‘how well does that reason explain what they say and what they do?’” — Season 7, Episode 7 (This, too, backfires)

And gives good advice

1. “A man with no motive is a man no one suspects. You always keep your foes confused. If they don’t know who you are or what you want, they can’t know what you plan to do next.” — Season 4, Episode 4
2. “A lot can happen between now and never.” — Season 4, Episode 7
3. “You’ve been running all your life. Terrible things happen to your family and you weep. You sit alone in a darkened room mourning their fates. You’ve been a bystander to tragedy from the day they executed your father. Stop being a bystander…stop running. There’s no justice in the world, not unless we make it. You loved your family. Avenge them.” — Season 5, Episode 3
4. “Even the most dangerous men can be outmaneuvered. And you’ve learned to maneuver from the very best.” — Season 5, Episode 4
5. “The past is gone for good. You can sit here mourning its departure or you can prepare for the future.” — Season 6, Episode 10

With wit, hard work, planning and making a name for himself from the ground up, a secret heart of gold and good looks, I wouldn’t mind seeing him on the Iron Throne. Thanks for all the alluring smarts, Lord Baelish.

This post was updated after the Season 7 finale.

Read more: ‘Goodbye, Lord Baelish’