False Gods (Horus Heresy #2)

by Graham McNeill

‘Everything degenerates in the hands of men.’

As the great red orb of the sun rose in the north, hot, dry winds brought the sour fragrance of bitter blossoms from the tomb-littered valleys of long-dead emperors.

Brilliant.

Common decency and civil behaviour are just a thin veneer over the animal at the core of mankind that gets out whenever it has the chance.’

Very true.

‘No, my dear, ignorance and fear create the gods, enthusiasm and deceit adorn them, and human weakness worships them.

‘When you have come to the edge of all that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things will happen,’ the Warmaster had told him. ‘And what are they?’ he had asked. ‘That there will be something solid to stand on or you’ll be taught to fly,’ laughed Horus as he jumped.

The best manipulators only use falsehoods when they really need to. They tempt you with what, deep down, you really want, but haven’t had the courage to admit.