A true Vor, Miles told himself severely, does not bury his face in his liegewoman’s breasts and cry – even if he is at a convenient height for it.
When the time comes to leap in faith whether you have your eyes open or closed or scream all the way down or not makes no practical difference.
All the geniuses I ever met were so just part of the time. To qualify, you only have to be great once, you know. Once when it matters.
Never do yourself, what you can con professionals into doing for you.
The really unforgivable acts are committed by calm men in beautiful green silk rooms, who deal death wholesale, by the shipload, without lust, or anger, or desire, or any redeeming emotion to excuse them but cold fear of some pretended future. But the crimes they hope to prevent in that future are imaginary. The ones they commit in the present – they are real.
No, no, never send interim reports,” said Miles. “Only final ones. Interim reports tend to elicit orders. Which you must then either obey, or spend valuable time and energy evading, which you could be using to solve the problem.
Not all prisons are made of iron bars, some are made of feather beds.
The man who assumes everything is a lie is at least as mistaken as the one who assumes everything is true.
Well, one couldn’t help one’s thoughts. One could help opening one’s mouth and saying something really stupid, though.
Everybody has it wrong way round. Parents don’t make children – children make parents. They shape our behavior from the first wail. Mold us into what they need. It can be a pretty rough process, too.
Men have always a choice – if not whether, then how, they may endure.
When your young life offered its first disaster, naturally it loomed large. After you’d survived dozens, you basically just told the next one to take a number and get in line.
How fortunate that science hasn’t cracked human immortality. It’s a great blessing that we can outlive old wars. And old warriors.
Hey, let’s try speed-starting the fire with an infusion of pure oxygen!” Because inside every senior tech officer was a junior tech officer who’d been on a short leash for a long time.
Egalitarians adjust to aristocracies just fine, as long as they get to be the aristocrats.
But though you’d never starve your body to wasting and still expect to go on, you starve your heart, yet act as though you can still draw on it forever without the debt ever coming due. If you fall – when you fall, you’re going to fall like a starving man.
I had to discover and teach myself all kinds of tricks to get people to respond to the inside of me, and not the outside.
How like a man, to change from mask to mask like a player, concealing all intention, yet leave his heart out on the table, carelessly, unregarded, for all to behold.
Her smile grew bitter as desert brine. “The gods may forgive Ista all day long. But if Ista does not forgive Ista, the gods may go hang themselves.
It is imperfect. So are all things trapped in time. You are brilliant, nonetheless. How fortunate for Us that We thirst for glorious souls rather than faultless ones, or We should be parched indeed, and most lonely in Our perfect righteousness. Carry on imperfectly, shining Ista.