Fields of Fire Quotes

“You taught me that there’s money, and then there’s wealth. We have wealth, but it’s not… it’s not weaponized. It’s something to be stewards of, not slaves to. I don’t think that Gauss is like us at all, and I sure as hell know he’s not like you or mom. You told me that if there’s a camera nearby, it’s not charity. Charity helps, but it also preserves the dignity of those who are being helped. BeneStar is the dead opposite of what we stand for as a family.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“It’s the same old shit, the rich manipulating the universe to suit their interests and thinking they’re untouchable while they’re doing it.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“Funboy went on, because there was no disaster he couldn’t make worse with his creative approach to doom.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“Evil hates you. It wants to hurt you. BeneStar simply doesn’t care. It has no regard for you at all.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“In case it isn’t apparent by now, BeneStar is evil embodied. But it’s actually worse than that. Evil usually implies at least some intent. It generally has some sort of personal component to it, some immoral or wicked desire to inflict harm. BeneStar has none of that. It has no intent beyond enriching itself. All other motives are utterly irrelevant.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“I was lounging in my bunk, rereading Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time. I made a point of reading it every couple of years, partly because it was the book that had ignited my lifelong passion for speculative fiction when I was twelve or so, and partly because it was just so damned good.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“There were few things more perilous than getting between a faceless corporation and its bottom line.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“He really seems to like that new word you taught him,” Netty said. I smiled and leaned my head back against the seat. “What can I say? I take my role as Earth’s ambassador to the stars very seriously.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“I grinned. “Oh, no it doesn’t, believe me. I can offer a few suggestions, but how about asshole.” He mouthed the word, asshole, taking a few tries to get it right. “Asshole,” he finally said, then brightened. “Yes, asshole. It’s suitably acerbic, if a bit undergunned for the moment. It will do.” “I’m glad I could share my culture with you.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“It always bothers me when people say things like, if you don’t like where you live, why don’t you just move? If you don’t like the politics, or the crime, or the corruption or whatever, why don’t you just get out? That’s easy to say. The trouble is that uprooting yourself, and your family if you have one, and moving to another place doesn’t happen for free. It costs money to leave, it costs money to make the move, and it costs money to set yourself back up at the other end—if you can find a place to live and a job and manage all the other necessities in the first place. Sometimes, you end up stuck where you are, whether you like it or not.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“wealth disparity so wide you could barely see across it.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“I laughed and shook my head. There was nothing artificial about these two beings at all.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“If there’s one thing that truly pisses me off, it’s the imposition of will by force, and we see it out here to a degree that makes me see red.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“You told me that if there’s a camera nearby, it’s not charity. Charity helps, but it also preserves the dignity of those who are being helped.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“You talk about BeneStar as though it’s a living thing,” Torina said. “That’s because it is. It is darkly synergistic, more than the sum of the parts, the people that make it up. It has an identity all its own. Call with a complaint, and you’ll speak to some faceless drone or menial AI with no authority. Try to find someone who has authority, and you won’t. Even those supposedly in charge of it, its Board, its shareholders and management, they all submit to its money-making processes and”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“harridan”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“I find it better to keep everyone’s expectations low. That way, it’s less likely I’ll disappoint them.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“It is better for them to learn the cold truth early—that you are born whether you like it or not, you are forced to live an existence that revolves wholly around the things required to keep you alive, and then you die.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“You’re not smart enough, and you’re not good enough. Death is just around the corner.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“If someone is offering you something for free, then you’re not their customer, you’re their product,” she said. I”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“If there’s one thing that truly pisses me off, it’s the imposition of will by force,”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire

“Emotionally, she’s still an adolescent, and I think she needs an opportunity to grow… and get used to pants.”
― J.N. Chaney, Fields of Fire