An Echo of Things to Come (The Licanius Trilogy, #2)

by James Islington

“The lesser of two evils, and the greater good. The most dangerous phrases in the world.”

“There is only one reason to be passionate about a lack of faith—and that is fear,” said Caeden quietly. “Fear that you are wrong. An innate need for others to share your opinion, so that you can be less afraid.” He shook his head. “I do not feel the need to argue, to cajole, to threaten or accuse. If others wish to believe differently, that is no business of mine. I simply do not think that there are gods.”

God, where only the worship of self is allowed.” He leaned forward. “I have seen mankind making up stories to make themselves feel safe at night. Or for power. Or for glory. Or for respect. Or for control. But I have never known a god, Gassandrid. The wise among us understand that they are fantasies. That they do not exist except in our own minds.”

Religion is the following of rules and rituals in the hope that they will somehow garner the favor of a higher power.

The day on which you decide not to question what you believe, is the day that you start making excuses for why you believe it.”

She was just like the rest of them—willfully ignorant, passionately believing in something because she surrounded herself with people who also passionately believed in the same thing. He knew the type, now—those who found it easier to listen to people who reinforced what they already thought, rather than actually considering the opinions of those who didn’t.

The danger of evil, the purpose of evil, is that it causes those who would oppose it to become evil also.”

‘The people with whom we are friends should never affect our morality; rather, our morality should affect with whom we are friends.’”

We knew that our actions were not our own, that we were merely “the blade.” Each time, we knew these things.” He paused, then walked forward, sitting on the edge of the wall next to Caeden. “Certainty is hubris, Tal. It is arrogance and bluster and those who claim it deserve nothing but to be mocked.”

“There’s a purity of purpose to redemption, I suppose,” he eventually said softly. “To being able to undo the things for which we hate ourselves. Especially when we are told that it is in the service of the greater good.”

“The lesser of two evils, or the greater good. Get a good man to utter either of those phrases, and there is no one more eager to begin perpetrating evil.”

We are the blade, Tal’kamar. We are not the hand that wields it.”