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June 19 - June 22, 2024
“In times of peace, the warlike man attacks himself.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“It seems sometimes,” snapped Orso, rubbing at those sore spots above his temples, “that every decision I make in this chamber is between two equally bad outcomes, with the best option to make no decision at all!”
“Your Majesty, we are not here to set right all the world’s wrongs.” Orso stared back at him. “What are we here for, then?” Bayaz neither smiled nor frowned. “To ensure that we benefit from them.”
“One cannot despise a thing without acknowledging its importance.”
Trouble with the good fight, I find… once the fight starts, the good stops.”
Loved as only politicians free from power—and therefore from disappointment—ever can be.
But if you’re furious whenever the Closed Council does something infuriating, you’ll be furious all the time. Rare anger can be inspiring. Frequent anger becomes contemptible.”
“Surprise,” said Clover. “Surprise makes brave men cowards, strong men weak, wise men fools.”
“I must confess I have always had some sympathy with villains. Heroism makes fine entertainment but sooner or later someone has to get things done.”
A man is measured by his enemies. Worthy ones can be more missed than friends.”
“Magic fades from the world but, in truth, most problems have always been better solved with a few sharp words. Or a little sharp steel.”
“Living kings are always objects of derision. But people cannot wait to worship the dead ones. Someone must lead. Someone must make the hard choices. For everyone’s benefit.”
Truly, as he loved to say, life is the misery we endure between disappointments.
“My father doesn’t own me. Not even a percentage. If we marry, my loyalty will be to you. But you should know I am my own woman and do things my own way. I do not plan for that to change.”
“It might help if you look at it as a business arrangement.” “Is that how you’re looking at it?” “Force of habit. And it does make excellent sense. A partnership, between your title and my wealth. Between your fame and my connections. Between your leadership and my management.”
“I can share the burden,” she said. “Take the politics and the paperwork off your hands. You can focus on the military aspects. The things you enjoy. No more dusty meetings.”
It’s easy to scream about the fence when you’re on the wrong side of it. Some mad twist of fortune lands you on the right side, though, the fence starts to look like it might not be such a bad idea. Might even be worth all the sacrifices. Other people’s sacrifices aren’t that hard to make.
“Sometimes,” he murmured, “the only way to improve something is to destroy it, so it can be rebuilt better. Sometimes, to change the world, we must first burn it down.”
“The emperor’s prisons were far from pleasant.” He licked at his empty gums with a faint sucking. “But I emerged a better man. Being your father… is the thing I am proudest of. It’s the only thing I’m proud of.” “And you’re not even my father.” She wanted to strike some spark of anger from him. But all he did was slowly nod, a trace of a smile as he looked up at the stars, bright in the clear sky. “That should tell you what I think of everything else I’ve done.”
The power of the Long Eye wasn’t so much in what you saw, but in what you made folk believe.
“I’ve heard it said you can tell how great a man was by how quick folk start to argue once he’s dead.” Isern thoughtfully narrowed her eyes. “Seems your father was an even greater man than I supposed.”
“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” Benjamin Franklin
I daresay you would agree with me that the strongest horses often need blinders. They are best led one step at a time.”
They say belief is righteous, but to Muslan only doubt was divine. From doubt flows curiosity, and knowledge, and progress. From belief flows only ignorance and decay.
“Winning teaches you nothing,” said Tunny. “You see what a man really is when he loses.”
“No plan survives contact with the enemy.” Helmuth von Moltke
Good lying isn’t so much about what you say as how you say it. Amazing how far you can get if you stick to a straight line and look like you’ve got every reason to be there.
As a captain, the right things to do were never in doubt. Follow orders. Care for your men. Lead by example. As a general, the right things were shrouded in fog. Everything was a best guess, a fine judgement, an each-way bet with thousands of lives staked on the outcome. The decisions he’d taken in the past had always been in the heat of the moment. He’d never had time to weigh the consequences.
