Star Wars Quotes

“Palpatine did not simply want to rule the galaxy”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“To be a historian is”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“How could the galaxy begin to move forward and heal when many households, lodgings, tribes, and domains were split, with each half viewing the other as traitors or monsters.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“How do we reconcile the fact that Palpatine, the Empire, and the First Order were not rejected out of hand by all of us? Evidently there were some who never rejected it and who welcomed it back when given the chance. How can we stop the Empire from continually haunting our galaxy when the ghosts of its acceptance exist in our own homes, our own families, and refuse to stay buried?”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“If the obvious symbols of a functional state were in effect, then people would be willing to ignore how it was constructed.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Devoted politicians and civil servants can do great work to benefit their own worlds and the wider galaxy. But the cynical and the corrupt can slip between the cracks of government and, if given the opportunity to embed themselves, become difficult to remove and dangerous to empower.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“It was the use of weapons of war against the spirit and the morale of ordinary civilians. People needed to be led right up to the edge of disaster so that they would give anything to go back the way they had come, without noticing that the landscape had changed around them in the interim.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Palpatine wanted to rule the galaxy, but he had no interest in running it.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Princess Leia Organa would note years later that her adoptive father Senator Bail Organa had once, sadly, recounted a story to her where an unnamed senator—one whom he implied was a close friend—had noted that the jubilant acclaim was “how liberty died.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“The role of a historian—my role as a historian—is to try to tell you not just how but why these things happened.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Palpatine was not a demon. He was a man. It is that aspect I find most terrifying of all.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“They tied themselves so tightly to the belief that this should never happen again that they neglected to take the steps to ensure that it could not.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“To be a historian is, at times, to be cursed. Perpetually watching patterns or seeing similarities and worrying about whether whatever comes next will resemble the past behind us.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Cooperation, collaboration, and shared empathy are the antidote to a system designed to destroy and constrict.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Who were happy to sacrifice some seemingly theoretical liberties if it meant they could live in comfort and security.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“They embraced a society that had seemingly been designed expressly for them, without either realizing or caring that if they were not paying the price for it then somebody else was.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“there will always be those who are prepared to accelerate the death of democracy if they believe power is being given to someone worthy.1”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“History tells us that, given enough time, all empires will fall. But if we do not also come to understand how and why they rise, we will remain trapped in this cycle forever.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Too often we think of standing against evil as an act of bravery when recent events have shown us that it should instead be considered one of necessity.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Enough people knew what the Empire stood for. What it meant. What it promised. And they came out to fight against it.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“To be a historian is, at times, to be cursed.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“The role of a historian—my role as a historian—is to try to tell you not just how but why these things happened. To try to make you understand the importance of these past events and what they mean for us today and tomorrow.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“This study will not always make for easy reading. As has already been mentioned, and will become clear in time, the depths of the Empire’s crimes were truly horrifying. They were also not always equally felt. Many planets and species suffered far more than those in the Core Worlds. Similarly, while some humans - such as the Alderaanians - lost everything to the Empire, the inherent prejudices of that regime often focused in on those who were not human. The Empire, and those who orchestrated it, often spoke with a mix of disdain and disgust about “aliens” across the galaxy. There is no hiding the fact that, as a human, I have no experience of living with this type of prejudice, which still, sadly, endures. There are, however, things that can - and should - be done to mitigate this. While it may be necessary to sometimes quote the words of the Galactic Empire regarding the targets of its violence, there is no need to replicate their mindsets and use of language outside of this. The term “non-human” is problematic in its own ways but in the absence of a better one it is infinitely more acceptable than the pejorative “alien” that the Empire was so fond of using. Furthermore, where possible, I have attempted to highlight the experiences, writings, and voices of those who actually suffered under the Empire’s prejudices and genocides. We should not follow the Empire’s lead when it comes to silencing the victims of its many crimes. These are not perfect solutions and I accept the knowledge that they may fall short of what is both expected and required by those across the galaxy who lost both loved ones and worlds to Imperial aggression. They have a right to criticize failings of my own making, and I apologize to them for any of my own shortcomings. I can imagine that there will be those within the field of history and elsewhere who will find a declaration of my own potential blind spots to be unnecessary, but to them I say simply, this is an integral part of being a historian. As I recognize and analyze the relevant sources for this study I must too recognize and analyze myself.

The survivors of the Battle of Crait have become fond of saying, in moments of sorrow and loss, that “no one’s ever really gone.” It seems to bring them solace and I respect that. But I do not feel it. I have immersed myself in the existing records and writings and sources that relate to the Galactic Empire. And all I feel is the absence of lives that it brought. The multitudes who suffered and died. The further into this dark history I have gone the more horrified and haunted I have become. That is why this study now exists and why it is so important that you read it.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Since the end of the Galactic Civil War, for most of the last thirty years, it was thought that the history of the Galactic Empire was clear and easily understandable. That the New Republic had successfully taught the next generations about the horror inflicted upon the galaxy by Palpatine and his followers. It seemed to be an easy message to explain something that was now safely behind us. My colleagues and I congratulated ourselves on the ways we’d been able to take the realities of the Empire and convert them into lessons in schools and universities, which would then further ripple out across the galaxy. We were so sure that we had created the perfect way of preventing future conflicts and a return to Imperialism. We were fools. I was a fool. As much as we might have wished that the remnants of the Empire could have been left to rot beneath the sands of Jakku, it seems that we could not be free of it so easily. I recall the shock I felt when Resistance agents brought back from Batuu - among other things - word that there were traders in Black Spire Outpost selling busts of Emperor Palpatine and other trinkets of his fallen Empire. How could this be? What must have happened to make the image of the Emperor - a man responsible for the murder of billions - acceptable enough to sell and own, even long after his apparent death at Endor? How could we all have gone so astray?

Recent events have shown us that Imperial ideology was not, as once hoped, a thing of the past and its return pushed the entire galaxy over the edge of disaster. The First Order brought death and tyranny with them out of the Unknown Regions. Hosnian Prime was destroyed just as Alderaan once was. Billions died across the galaxy as the New Republic disintegrated in the face of an enemy that sought to subjugate all worlds.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“Princess Leia Organa would note years later that her adoptive father Senator Bail Organa had once, sadly, recounted a story to her where an unnamed senator—one whom he implied was a close friend—had noted that the jubilant acclaim was “how liberty died.”14”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

“This is an important lesson for the galaxy moving forward: there will always be those who are prepared to accelerate the death of democracy if they believe power is being given to someone worthy.”
― Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire