The Swarm Quotes

“I divide officers into four classes—the clever, the lazy, the stupid, and the industrious. The man who is clever and lazy is fit for the very highest commands. He has the temperament and the requisite nerves to deal with all situations. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the high staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. But whoever is stupid and industrious must be removed immediately. —General Baron Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, German Chief of Army Command (1930–33)”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“You can’t alter your DNA and meet that expectation, so get over it. You are what you are.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“A minor request," said Mazer. "Let's not refer to it as the training cage. 'Training' sounds laborious and regimented. Soldiers groan at the word. These men joined the IF to fight, sir. Let's call it the Battle Room.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“He thinks I'm like him, Mazer realized. That's what we do as humans; it's how we read minds. We assume that other people think like we do. So if we're nasty and suspicious and conniving we assume that everyone is as nasty and suspicious and conniving as we are.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“but this is the culture of China. There is no nation other than China, no society and traditions worth preserving other than those found in China, no people more important than the Chinese.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“I had forgotten the first rule of diplomacy: Russians are never more cooperative than when they are about to betray you.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“Rather, it was a prayer for the queen, that in her current unenlightened bodhisatta state she would learn greater compassion for all sentient beings in the universe. It was a prayer for harmony and kindness, for the injured of the Formic race, that their suffering would be lifted, that their minds would be open and bright and receptive to the kindness of those not of their species.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“Why is it that the people who should be in authority are usually the people who don't want it, while the people who hold authority are usually the two-faced schemers who've stepped on people's backs to get it?”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“Then you’re hired, Lieutenant. I can abide a life outside the IF, but I can’t abide life without my wife’s stir-fry.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“Russians are never more cooperative than when they are about to betray you.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“Faith is not to blindly believe, son. Faith is action. It's doing something. It's creating what we need and believing that God will be merciful enough to grant it in his time.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“Better to give the man what he wanted and save the objections for the battles worth fighting.”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“Those are experiences that have shaped you. Hard experiences. Painful even. But you are who you are because of them.” Other”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm

“The plant had likely been there for over a century, Wila knew, sprouting new petals every season and surrounding the temple with its pleasant perfume. So beautiful, she thought, and yet so resilient. Am I not stronger than a flower? She”
― Orson Scott Card, The Swarm