The Tower of Swallows (The Witcher, #4)

by Andrzej Sapkowski

The evil and decisive fling down those who are moral, honest and noble but maladroit, hesitant and full of scruples.”

it is better to go forward without an aim than loiter without an aim, and with surety much better than to retreat without an aim.

“You see,” Esterad continued, “in every country one may encounter people who are blind fanatics for the idea of social order. People committed to an idea, prepared to do anything for it. Including crime, for to them the aim justifies the means and changes the meaning of concepts. They don’t murder, they rescue order. They don’t torture, they don’t blackmail: they safeguard the national interest and fight for order. For such people, the life of an individual—should that individual violate the dogma of the established order—is not worth a farthing or a shrug. People like that don’t acknowledge the fact that the society they serve is made up of individuals. People like that are availed of the so-called ‘broad’ view… and such a view is the most certain way of not noticing other people.”