Descent of Angels (The Horus Heresy #6)

by Mitchel Scanlon

It is said that a man should be wary of weeping angels, for wherever their teardrops fall, men drown.

Human beings crave ritual; it gives meaning to everyday life and adds gravity to our deeds. More than that, it can even help us to understand our place in the world. Granted, we disagree with those who hold a religious view of such things. We see no supernatural significance in tradition, whether our own, or anyone else’s. In our view, the most important function of ritual and tradition is not to achieve any effect in the outer world, but to create stability and balance in the inner world of the mind.

The measure of our success in this case is not so much that we win the battle, but that we are willing to fight it at all.

‘Tradition is a fine ideal, but not when it serves as a shackle on our future endeavours.

Sometimes, it occurred to Zahariel, it is the height of bravery in a man’s life, simply to be able to put one foot in front of the other and continue in one direction even when every fibre of his being is saying he should turn and run the other way.