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I can't remember the book this is in and I don't really know any parts of the exact wording, but a character was telling someone else a story about 3 men. (It may have been the Patrician from Discworld telling it to Vimes or Moist von Lipwig, but I'm not sure).
One of them had money, one had political power and one a weapon, and he asked him who out of these 3 men had the most power.

There may have been some question along the lines of: "kill this man and I will give you [something]."

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  • ?? Can't place that and I thought I knew the Diskworld books pretty well. I'd suggest looking in Making Money because somehow that one never made much of an impression on me---it just won't stick in my head.
    – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten
    Mar 16, 2012 at 15:23
  • @dmckee Making Money is the first one that jumped to my mind (most likely because its the most recent that I've read), but I checked and could find no reference to the story in there.
    – Beofett
    Mar 16, 2012 at 16:21
  • I just skimmed through Making Money and it doesn't seem to be in there.
    – FlyingFoX
    Mar 16, 2012 at 16:56
  • There is a sequence in The Fifth Elephant where Lady Margolotta discusses the nature of craving with Vimes. Something about sublimating the desire for blood to the desire for power to the desire for control. It's not an exact match by any means, but has a similar flavor.
    – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten
    Mar 16, 2012 at 17:10
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    Vimes, Vetinari, and Carrot have, respectively, money (after Vimes marries Sybil), political power, and a weapon (Carrot had the special sword). Could those be the three men he's talking about?
    – Pixel
    Apr 7, 2012 at 4:34

1 Answer 1

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Totally forgot about this. But for the records here is the answer:

I mixed up who said it and totally confused it with another series. It was from the book A Clash of Kings from the series A Song Of Ice And Fire and it was Varys asking Tyrion a riddle:

A King, a priest, a rich man and a sellsword are in a room. Those three man tell the sellsword to kill the other 2.
Who lives and who dies?

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    Although this answer has been accepted, I can't find it in A Game of Thrones. Can someone supply a specific reference?
    – ImaginaryEvents
    Sep 11, 2015 at 14:03
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    This can't be in the first book as Tyrion didn't arrive at King's Landing until A Clash of Kings. I don't have my books on me, so I can't check right now for a specific page.
    – Telestia
    Sep 11, 2015 at 16:37
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    As an answer from the follow-up question states, it's from A Clash of Kings.
    – Sparhawk
    Jun 21, 2017 at 12:12

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