A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan, #2)

by Robert Jackson Bennett

Thelenai regarded Ana like she was a clump of turd waiting to be scraped off her boot.

We must govern thoughtfully, then, and manage such passions wisely—for if these folk have their way, we shall return to nature primordial, and be as beasts, and all the world a savage garden, mindless and raging.”

But a prideful creature can talk themself into believing that every deed they do is legitimate. Thus, they both giddily and greedily spin their own doom.”

And the drop of corruption that lies within every society shall always persist.

To serve is a tremendously humbling thing. How easy it is to mistake glory and fame for duty! But duty is thankless, invisible, forgettable—but oh, so very necessary.”