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“You are constantly looking to set things to rights, even within yourself. A retreat will teach you again and again that you are neither indispensable nor self-sufficient.” Put bluntly, learn to stop meddling. Commitment is important, detachment equally so.
A lot of people act like misfortune is contagious. They don’t want to be exposed to it for too long. They’ll take you in and make all the right gestures and noises, but when the months wear on and you’re still in their house or their town or their world, the welcome starts to wear a bit thin.
When you’ve been almost exterminated, language is the first thing you cling to, one of the main roots of identity.
gossiping—sorry, gathering intelligence.
“There are degrees of depth of bond. All Sadiri experience a bond with each other, and there are rituals that deepen the connection, the marriage ceremony being but one. However, one can be telepathically connected to one with whom it is difficult to live peaceably. The ability to know another’s mind does not preclude the likelihood of misunderstanding it.”
“Of all the humans of the galaxy, we Sadiri have developed the greatest mental capacity,” Dllenahkh contended. “We have realized our potential through use of the disciplines, which enable us to control our thoughts, emotions, and urges and improve our ability to process data. Without the disciplines we might still be powerful, but we would be rudderless.”
When you start thinking of yourself as damaged goods, you put up defenses to make sure no one has the chance to reject you, so I told myself I would never get married, never have children, and never do anything to change who I was.
Playing the cards I’d been dealt became my badge of honor, not a burden.”
“Parallel development of theories and practices, perhaps? A kind of Newton–Leibniz effect?” He pondered. “It is a gross oversimplification to compare the discovery of calculus to the evolution of some of the most sophisticated techniques of mind and meditation the galaxy has seen, but I understand your point. Perhaps both branches of the disciplines exemplify a natural progression in Sadiri thought.”
I know, perhaps it wasn’t a grand passion by the usual standards, but can anyone understand what it meant to me? To have had for however short a time the interest and attention of a man who was strong enough to walk away from me and strong enough to let me walk away from him—it might be too much to say it healed something in me, but it was a start.
“It appears that war, when deprived of one reason, simply seeks out another. We are still a people divided, having selected different aspects of legend to embody. And yet it is better than it once was.”
our fellow civil servants keeping the wheels of government moving smoothly (or, to quote Gilda at her most cynical, keeping the speed bumps of government before the greased wheels of commerce).
“Ever wonder if you’ve done the right thing?” I asked him finally. “Frequently,” he replied. “Legalities notwithstanding, to not wonder indicates a dangerous lack of awareness of the nearly infinite array of choices presented by life.
they think my actions were completely unethical yet highly appropriate.”
awkward. I talked about the importance of grandparenting for family groups,
Sometimes I listen to my intuition. I’m sorry, sir, but that’s who I am, and at the end of the day all I can do is take responsibility for the consequences.”
Surely the work would not multiply in order to accommodate the number of persons available to do it. Yes. I know. You’d think I’d never worked in the Civil Service.
