Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish : The realm. Do you know what the realm is? It's the thousand blades of Aegon's enemies. A story we agree to tell each other over and over until we forget that it's a lie. Lord Varys : But what do we have left once we abandon the lie? Chaos? A gaping pit waiting to swallow us all. Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish : 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.