Chene Quotes

“We like to draw straight lines from one event to another, this cause to that effect. But history is the illusion that a series of events tells a single story -- despite the fact that every event is a chaos that exceeds our comprehension.”
― D.C. McElroy, Chene

“It wasn’t a pleasant choice, but it remained my choice. I’ve come to believe that any choice we are truly free to make, no matter how bad the options, ought to be recognized as a privilege.”
― D.C. McElroy, Chene

“Is that… normal?” “No,” she replied. “Murder is not normal. You can’t go around killing your own people. Not very often, anyway.” “Not very often?” “It happens,” she shrugged. “What nation never deals in death? All states kill. Soldiers fight. If a judge says ‘OK,’ you can kill anybody. But sometimes a sovereign does not wish for her killing to be seen. There are some good reasons. But if that becomes normal, you have a bigger problem.”
― D.C. McElroy, Chene

“He was the man to whom our order turned when scandal or threat appeared, and he’d risen to this unique station by virtue of the fact that he remained happily unburdened by hint of scruple.”
― D.C. McElroy, Chene

“People like arguing about abstractions. Makes them feel clever. Law is the only abstraction that results in profit. So it pays the bills.”
― D.C. McElroy, Chene

“Our mothers knew what we would soon learn: The future Lady of Gwynyr would likely select her core advisors from the ranks of her childhood playmates. We understood even as children that the power and prestige of our respective lines rested in no small measure upon our competing abilities to inspire fondness and trust in our young Lady Ascendant.”
― Dan Conover, Chene