Dark Age (Red Rising Saga #5)

by Pierce Brown

“Fear those who seek your company for their own vanity. As soon as you eclipse them in the mirror, it won’t be the mirror they break.”

“Rise, children of Gold, warriors of Earth, and take with you your ancestors’ might.”

When falls the Rain, be brave. Be brave, my grandfather said. I do not feel brave. I am not the center of this symphony. No one even cares I’m here. Where is the immortal majesty the poets promised me? Where is the stern will

my ancestors preached to their children? It was just an illusion conjured by fools who never left their libraries, or by agents of necessity. This is the Noble Lie.

Is a man a coward if he realizes that bravery is just a myth the old tell the young so they line up for the meatgrinder?

“Fear is the torrent,” I whisper. “Fear is the torrent. Fear is the torrent.”

“Fear is the torrent. The raging river. To fight it is to break and drown. But to stand astride it is to see it, feel it, and use its course for your own whims.

Only humanity could grasp the stars and then let them slip through its fingers for the pettiness in its heart.

“Should the Void take you, celebrate, my friends. For before death, there was glory. Prepare for atmospheric entry.”

Stillness is the enemy taking careful aim.

You asked, what do I fear? I fear a man who believes in good. For he can excuse any evil.”