Joe Kessler’s Reviews > The Hands of the Emperor > Status Update

"Cliopher, what is the purpose of government?"

“To steward the resources of all for the benefit of all,” he replied automatically to the sudden sharp question, the response one he had laboured over for so many nights trying to discern the right way forward.

“People who choose appearance over substance tend to end up with a whole lot of nothing. I used to choose substance over appearance, and found that left me with a whole lot of knowledge and no way to change opinion.”

"'We expect our gentle readers will appreciate knowing the appropriate etiquette if they should happen to encounter the new Viceroy, as Lord Mdang is known for his unexpected appearances in unlikely places. The correct form of address remains your excellency, and is to be accompanied by a second-degree genuflection.’”

“You could call your memoirs that. Unexpected Appearances in Unlikely Places.”

“I don’t care how they do their work, so long as they do do their work and it doesn’t involve bribery, cronyism, and major corruption. They could finish their work by noon and spend every afternoon fishing for all I care—so long as they do their work first!”

Dream boss, tbh.

“He thinks I’m an octopus sucking the world dry. That’s not what octopi do, but I haven’t belaboured the point.”

Halfway through! This reread is going quicker, but it's still a pretty lengthy book.

“If ever I may effect the release of Fitzroy Angursell, madam, it shall be on the condition he write a song about you." 😈😈😈

"Cliopher had a rule for committees before he signed off on their formation: they had to be able to state their purpose in two sentences or less. This had affronted any number of bodies, but he had found it enormously helpful in assigning duties and secretaries and general governance practices."

Wish we had that rule at my workplace, tbh.

Cliopher sighed. “It is so much harder to stand up for a small, nearly frivolous thing. It is far easier, at least in imagination, to stand up for the great things.” He smiled wryly at the room. “One thing I have learned is how rarely we get to stand up for the great things. Or rather: how rarely we know we are standing up for the great things."

“Glorious One, you have always sought to govern by wisdom, not rule by fear. You do not use fear of violence, whether physical or magical, to rule. There are more subtle forms of fear, and it is one of these this proposal seeks to address—economic control. My question for you, princes of Zunidh, is whether you are so weak as rulers that to give your people freedom from that fear will ruin you?”