Ghosts of Columbia Quotes

“We all might be in less trouble if we did not speak, I sometimes think.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“do you really know what they want?” “I don’t have an absolute confirmation, but almost anything would be better than what I’ve prepared for.” I laughed hoarsely. “Then, I’ll probably find out that what they want is even worse than that. It usually works that way.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“you still pretend to be.” “Cynical I will always be, I fear.” I sipped from the mug, letting the steam and scent circle my face, breathing the steam. “Non. You are not cynical. You see the world as it is.” “Perhaps. I try, but what we are colors what we see. Truth is in the eye of the beholder.” I laughed, more harshly than I meant. “That’s why I’m skeptical of those who say they have found the truth.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Out of deference to tradition I did wear a hat to church, weddings, ceremonial occasions, and when my head was cold.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“The whole process took less than an hour, and I had something besides lines of code that didn’t work. That’s a trick I learned a long time ago. When you get stuck on a big project, do something smaller and concrete. It helps your sense of accomplishment and a lot more.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“human beings always are more cruel when they do not have to confront the results of their cruelty.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“With enough effort, anything can be covered up,”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Speaking of steamers, we’ll need to rent a steamer in the morning.” “I heard.” “I assume there’s no commercial establishment open now.” “This is Sunday, Minister Eschbach.” I wanted to shake my head. What did they do about babies, heart attacks, and other inconveniences that occurred on the holy day?”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“I was out of practice and, once more, it showed. Espionage was like athletics: you have to stay in shape, and paranoia helps.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“The news stories—if there were any—should have been favorable, but I’d learned a long time ago that critics were a species alien to reason, common sense, or public appeal.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“The critics were like David and the dean, unable to do much, but always faulting everyone else.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“You love her … almost more than time and eternity.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“I picked up the wireset and dialed in the number. “Lion Inn, room service. May we help you?” “Yes. This is Johan Eschbach. I ordered a dinner nearly an hour ago, and we still haven’t seen it. Suite six-oh-three.” “Yes, sir. Just a moment, sir.” I waited. “He’s already left, sir. Let us know if he’s not there in five minutes.” “I will.” I turned to Llysette. “It’s on the way.” “On the way? And how proceeds it—by airship from Paris?” “By Brit rail—wide slow gauge.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“The headline is good—‘World-Renowned Pair Open Concert Reason.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“There’s a thin line between occupational caution and paranoia.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Dutch … it has the charm of Russian and the efficiency of Italian.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“What I still didn’t understand was how women could vote in a patriarchal, polygamous society and yet how they clearly voted to support the theocracy.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“So much of what I taught seemed simple enough to me—and to about a third of the class—but for the others it was as if I were teaching Boolean algebra in Sanskrit with Greek footnotes to explain the underlying concepts … or something.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“I was … somewhat concerned by the flippant definition—” “Of an environmentalist? Someone who throws his trash in your backyard and proposes to split the cleanup taxes with you?” I laughed. “I could have used almost the same definition for an industrialist, except he leaves the trash where it is and calls it previously used raw materials.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Why were there so few who really sought an education?”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Dutch students were no different from any other students in thinking that mere mental effort should effect physical results. It doesn’t work that way in singing—or in anything—but that’s a lesson that almost never can be passed from generation to generation but must be learned the hard way.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“That was the trouble with political appointees. They still didn’t really know the tricks of the trade. All they could do was talk and order people around, and play games with people’s lives without ever having paid the price themselves.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“I drove out to the zoo, used the public facilities, and looked at penguins. Most people like them, but I feel sorry for them, trapped in their formal wear with nowhere to go and no understanding of what life is all about once they’ve been removed from their habitat—like a lot of people in the Federal District.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“They say you can do anything with plastique except play with sparks, but I still treat things that can blow you apart with respect. It can’t hurt.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Cheer up. Things could be worse.” She took another swallow from her stein. I forced a smile in return. I didn’t feel like it, since it seemed like every time I started to cheer up, things had gotten worse.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“I like people better. Pictures don’t talk.” “Sometimes it’s better when people don’t talk.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Sometimes I try. Other times, I’m afraid I’m trying.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Your presence brings light into all of our lives … just like a good forest fire brings warmth to the creatures of the wood and vale.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“I did keep an eye out. A little paranoia never hurts, especially when you know they are out to get you,”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia

“Politicians who don’t have to face the weaponry they have built have always worried me.” “Politicians don’t have to worry about facing weaponry of any sort. That’s the definition of a politician—someone who gets someone else to pay the bill and take the bullets.”
― L.E. Modesitt Jr., Ghosts of Columbia