Provenance Quotes

“Aenda Crav,” said Garal, eir tone mild but eir voice still loud enough to carry halfway across the plaza, “and Thers Rathem, and you, Chorem Caellas, you all flew here from the capital this morning so you could shout questions at me in person, but you can’t bring yourself to use the name I want to go by. None of you can, apparently, except for District Voice here.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“Diplomat does not mean nice,”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“The important thing is you didn’t say yes to something that would have made you unhappy.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“Don’t forget your shoes, miss.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“So it really isn’t as bad as I thought it was at first,” observed Nuncle Lak, after the briefest silence. “It’s worse.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“Diplomat does not mean nice,” muttered the spider mech. “Diplomat means tell the aliens to leave us alone.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“Dear Miss Ingray, thank you for saving my life. When I grow up I will work for you. I am good at math and I know how to cook noodles.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“She found she couldn’t quite bring herself to say they looked like they might be alive and thinking. She thought of the news from Radch space, the whole reason the Geck ambassador had left her homeworld to begin with—Radchaai artificial intelligences declaring themselves independent, and potential signatories of the treaty with the Presger. But, she reminded herself, that was very far away.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“And after all, it’s the words that matter, the fact that the Rejection was sent and accepted and the Assemblies established, and just by being on display in the System Lareum that copy has become important. It’s a real vestige now, even if it’s not the one everyone thinks it is. So why should it matter if it’s really a forgery?”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“Are you going to tell me you thought all those bits of trash displayed on the station were real, or important?"
“They’re important to us!”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“…the spider mech spun around and reared up to walk on its four hindmost legs, waving the front ones menacingly. It stretched a half dozen of its eyes at the nearest strolling passenger and whistled, “Do you look? At what do you look? I look, too! Am I food? Are you food?” Only to turn its attention on the next passenger as the first one fled. “And you, do you also look?”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that she felt stupid and scared sitting out here all alone. And at least her hairpins were staying in—that was something, anyway.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“All right,” said Tic. “Then let’s do this.” The façade”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“Nuncle Lak had taken her hand and leaned down to tell her that if she was afraid, she should look around and take notice of all the people and things that were frightening, and then of all the ones that might help her. What if there’s no one and nothing? she’d thought but not dared say, but e had been right, it had helped, even just to know where the bathrooms were in case of a humiliating accident, or to notice who in the crowd were Netano’s supporters and disposed to think kindly of Netano’s children as a consequence.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance

“It is fortunate,” said the Chief Executive, “that you went to such pains to ensure the sale was verifiably legal and valid.” “It is my invariable habit, Executive. A moment of trouble saves a month of tears.”
― Ann Leckie, Provenance