I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.

The line expresses an affinity for people (and, more broadly, beings) marked as damaged, marginalized, or socially stigmatized—those whom a harsher society labels “cripples,” “bastards,” or “broken.” It signals a moral and imaginative preference for outsiders over the powerful and pristine, suggesting that vulnerability and imperfection can be sources of depth, resilience, and humanity. In Martin’s work, such figures often become the most psychologically complex and ethically challenging characters, and the sentiment functions as a quiet critique of aristocratic ideals of purity, legitimacy, and physical wholeness. The tenderness is not pity alone; it implies recognition and solidarity with those forced to survive without the protections of status.