The fact that we can never have complete, perfect knowledge does not absolve us of the moral duty to judge and to take a stand against evil.
We are not defined by our individual loneliness, but by the web of relationships in which we’re enmeshed.
Do you see how much power you have when you act without fear?
Taking away men’s weapons will be not bring peace. They’ll fight with sticks and stones, and tooth and nail. Mapidéré’s is a peace supported only by fear, as secure as a nest built on a rotten branch.
There is far more happiness in a life that is your own than a life in which you are handed the lines to say and shown the gestures to make. Do not ever be ambitious.
A little self-doubt is a good thing,” said Jia, “but not excessive doubt. Sometimes we live up to the stories others tell about us.
As the wind continued to howl and groan through her decaying body, she began to sing her story.
I’ve always thought it nonsense to believe something true simply because it was written in a book long ago.
Time’s arrow is the loss of fidelity in compression. A sketch, not a photograph. A memory is a re-creation, precious because it is both more and less than the original.
There is often no line between perfection and evil.
There are many ways to say I love you in this cold, dark, silent universe, as many as the twinkling stars.
Some have said I should demand that the surviving members of Unit 731 be brought to justice. But what does that mean? I am no longer a child. I do not want to see trials, parades, spectacles. The law does not give you real justice.
One has to be careful, whenever one tells a story about a great injustice. We are a species that loves narrative, but has been taught not to trust an individual speaker.
Every act of communication is a miracle of translation.
The way I look at it is this: If you try to obey the law, and the judges call you a criminal anyway, then you might as well live up to the name.
Platitude or not, the crowd erupted into applause, and by acclamation, Kuni Garu became the Duke of Zudi. A few pointed out that titles of nobility really couldn’t be handed out in such a democratic fashion, but these killjoys were ignored.
Emperor, king, general, duke,” he whispered to himself. “These are just labels. Climb up the family tree of any of them high enough and you’ll find a commoner who dared to take a chance.
But in a time of war, knowledge made interesting friendships. Soon, the scholars and the thieves were . . . well, thick as thieves.
A loyal servant does not think of things outside of his control.
Sometimes, the anger built up so much that people had to scream out their treasonous thoughts just to keep on breathing. Maybe not all of the were really crazy, but it was best for everyone involved to pretend that they were.
If I end up having a novel that sells really well and that allows me to pay for health insurance and mortgage without having to work at a day job, that would be great.
The ‘silk’ in silkpunk refers not to a source of power, but to an entirely different, expressive technology language.
The evolution of technology is, like the evolution of literature, heavily path-dependent. Culture plays a far more important role in the acceptance, adoption, and spread of technology than many of us are willing to acknowledge.