Eaters of the Dead

by Michael Crichton

his tone is that of a tax auditor, not a bard; an anthropologist, not a dramatist.

we uncover it in your presence so that you may see it and be abashed, but it is not to be attained. This is better than when you cover it up and yet it is attainable.”

Now, these same giant Northmen warriors, who by virtue of their enormity and strength of arms and cruel disposition, have nothing to fear in all the world, yet these men fear the mist or fog that comes with storms.

A man should be moderately wise, but not overwise, lest he know his fate in advance. The man whose mind is most free of care does not know his fate in advance.”

The Northmen have a proverb which is “Look to your back,” and they believe that a man must always be prepared to defend himself, even a father against his own son.

“Animals die, friends die, and I shall die, but one thing never dies, and that is the reputation we leave behind at our death.”

“the black mist.”

‘A man should never move a step from his weapons.’

they smile upon any death in battle, for this is pleasure taken on behalf of the dead person, and not the living.

if all those around you believe some particular thing, you will soon be tempted to share in that belief,

“The women believe that the Arabs are as stallions, for so they have heard as a rumor.”

while it is true that the ways of the Northmen are strange, it is also true that all men are the same.

“Keep your teeth together,”

Cleverness in battle and manly things is accounted a greater virtue than pure strength in warriorship.

I experienced much fatigue in this alertness, and soon enough was tired as if I had fought a battle, yet none had occurred.

“Luck in battle.”

“A wolf that lies in its lair never gets meat, or a sleeping man victory.”

“That is because you think upon what is to come, and imagine fearsome things that would stop the blood of any man. Do not think ahead, and be cheerful by knowing that no man lives forever.”

strange things cease to be strange upon repetition.

You could kill many, yet this would not end the struggle, any more than cutting off the fingers will kill the man. To kill the man, you must pierce the head or the heart, and thus it is with the wendol.

“You have done the work of a mere man,” the tengol continued, “and not a proper hero. A hero does what no man dares to undertake.

Here is no prophecy, only the choice of a man or a hero.”

“Yesterday is better than today,” the tengol replied, “and tomorrow is better than the day which follows that. So make haste, and carry out your intentions with a firm heart and a strong arm.”

“Praise Allah, for he put death at the end of life, and not at the beginning.”

“A dead man is no use to anyone.”