Lois McMaster Bujold

"He lay a long time, cradled in pain. He was not sure how long. The illumination from the force dome was even and shadowless, unchanging. Timeless, like eternity. Hell was eternal, was it not? This place had too damn many congruencies with hell, that was certain."

"“The devil can quote scripture, y’know.” Yes, that was rather what I had in mind…"

"Communication. This lack of word from the outside world might drive even him crazy shortly. It was as bad as prayer, talking to a god who never talked back."

"“All right,” Miles pulled Suegar to his feet, “let’s go preach to the unconverted.” Suegar laughed suddenly. “I had a top kick once who used to say, ‘Let’s go kick some ass,’ in just that tone of voice.”"

"Now there’s this about cynicism, Sergeant. It’s the universe’s most supine moral position. Real comfortable. If nothing can be done, then you’re not some kind of shit for not doing it, and you can lie there and stink to yourself in perfect peace."

"“Is this guy for real?” “He thinks he’s faking it,” said Suegar blandly, “but he’s not.”"

"“It’s true,” agreed Oliver, “that if your religion failed to deliver a miracle, that a human sacrifice would certainly follow.” “Ah...quite,” Miles gulped. “You are a man of acute insight.” “That’s not an insight,” said Oliver. “That’s a personal guarantee.”"

"Let he who is without sin cast the first lure."

"I can’t quit, once I’ve started. I’ve been told I’m pathologically persistent. I can’t quit."

"Biology is Destiny."

"“Power is better than revenge,” suggested Miles, not flinching before her snake-cold, set face, her hot coal eyes. “Power is a live thing, by which you reach out to grasp the future. Revenge is a dead thing, reaching out from the past to grasp you.”"

"Men may move mountains, but ideas move men."

"There is a subtle difference between being a prisoner and being a slave. I don’t mistake either for being free. Neither do you."

"“I have a particular aversion to stalemates. I prefer winning wars to prolonging them.” She sighed, momentarily drained, tired, old. “I’ve been at war a long time, y’know? After a while even losing a war can start to look preferable to prolonging it.”"

"“You don’t have any inhibitions at all, do you?” “Not in combat.”"

"I hate an enemy who doesn’t make mistakes."

"The loonies who sought a glorious death in battle found it very early on. This rapidly cleared the chain of command of the accumulated fools. The survivors were those who learned to fight dirty, and live, and fight another day, and win, and win, and win, and for whom nothing, not comfort, or security, not family or friends or their immortal souls, was more important than winning. Dead men are losers by definition. Survival and victory. They weren’t supermen, or immune to pain. They sweated in confusion and darkness. (And)…they won."

"There are a number of people in the universe I’d be willing to double-cross, but my own wounded aren’t among ’em."

"But at least think about it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a human being who needed to get laid worse than you do now."

"“You’re pretty damn casual about it.” “Early conditioning. Total strangers trying to kill me make me feel right at home."

"So slight a compression of the lips, and widening of the eyes, to convey so much amusement and contempt."

"The building had a strange hermetically-sealed flavor to it, redolent to Miles’s experienced nose as paranoid security in action. Ah, yes, a planet’s embassy is that planet’s soil. Feels just like home."

"Between justice and genocide there is, in the long run, no middle ground."

"“If I got assassinated now,” he shrugged helplessly, “my father would kill me.”"

"What the hell was HQ thinking of? It seemed extraordinarily obtuse even for them."

"I have taken up the art of bonsai for a hobby. The ancient Japanese are said to have worked on a single tree for as long as a hundred years. Or perhaps it only seemed like it."

"“I am not schizoid.” Miles bit off. “A little manic-depressive, maybe,” he admitted in afterthought. Galeni’s lips twitched. “Know thyself.” “We try, sir.”"

"“Can you be paranoid about being paranoid?” She smiled sweetly. “If anyone can, it’s you.”"

"He did not attempt to capture her hands. He did not make a single move that might embarrass them both. Old friends were harder to come by than new lovers. Oh, my oldest friend. Still. Always."

"It's a bizarre but wonderful feeling, to arrive dead center of a target you didn't even know you were aiming for."