Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota, #1)

by Ada Palmer

It was the comfort of having a plan—no, less than that—the comfort of having a plan to have a plan, of facing the looming darkness of the labyrinth but feeling prepared because we had a ball of twine in hand. It was not a map, not light to expose the monster in the dark, not even armor, but it was enough to make the task feel possible.

Do less and you’ll output more.”

deep down inside where thoughts aren’t words yet.

This may seem a strange starting place, but much of life consists in repeating actions which are consistently effective, even if the mechanism is not clear.

soldiers learn again to do when civilization’s rose-tinted daydream breaks.