"How many would die this winter? There'd be a few more babies, but far more piles of stones. The Old Ways were a trap. The ceremonies and the rituals were pegs where living hangs suspended. Mad. Learn ancient, beautiful skills with spear and kayak in order to conquer impossible country, then struggle back to impossible country so you could use the skills you'd learned? Mad. Learn the skills to prove you're a man, and then to prove you're a man run, run, run to where you have to use the skills! Mad. ... To prove yourself a man. To whom? The million dead worked out these skills so they wouldn't die, but they did die, and the hissing of the Northern Lights was wry, accepting laughter. The million dead wouldn't be so foolish a second time."
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Ch. 20: The Bear
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Knox
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Alexander Knox
Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor and writer.
11 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Alexander Knox →
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