A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness, #1)

by Joe Abercrombie

“Guilt is a luxury reserved for those still breathing and with no unbearable pain, cold or hunger demanding all their fickle attention. Long as guilt’s your big problem, girl…” Rikke saw the faint gleam of Isern’s teeth in the gathering darkness. “Things can’t be that bad.”

“They warned me,” Kort grunted as he slid Valint and Balk’s note from the pouch. “That you care about nothing but money.” “Why, what a pompous crowd they are. Beyond a point I passed long ago, I don’t even care about money.” Savine flicked the brim of her hat in farewell. “But how else is one to keep score?”

But that’s what growing up is, maybe. Realising what a fucking arse you’ve been.

“I was loyal to both,” said Clover. “I was just more loyal to me. Truth is, men love to blab about loyalty till it might trap ’em on the losing side. Then there’s a chorus o’ silence on the issue. So I consider reasonably loyal to be a bit more loyal than most, and a lot more honest than most. It’s a fool who makes folk choose too often between loyalty and good sense.

“Misjudgement is as much a part of life as unhappiness. It is nice to hold the power and make the choices for everyone. But the risk of making any choice is always that you might make the wrong one. We must make our choices nonetheless. Fear of being a grown-up is a poor reason to remain a child.”

“Progress just means bad things happen faster.” Terry Pratchett

“Believe it or not, we all want what’s best. The root o’ the world’s ills is that no one can agree on what it is.”