Lois McMaster Bujold

"He smiled, recapturing her hand. “A very wise woman once told me—you just go on. I’ve never encountered any good advice that didn’t boil down to that, in the end. Not even my father’s.”"

"Government by thugs in the Bloody Centuries gave Barrayar many colorful historical incidents, suitable for high drama. I don’t think it’s a drama we wish to return to in real life."

"Roots grow deep in the dark."

"“When he invited me to one for the Winterfair season, I wasn’t sure if it was hunting or social, and whether I should pack weapons or dresses.” Lady Vorpatril’s smile sharpened. “Dresses are weapons, my dear, in sufficiently skilled hands.”"

"Life’s uncertain out there. Things can go down bad, fast, anytime. We all just get a time, in our different ways."

"“What would you do? If you discovered or suspected such a horror?” His lips twisted. “That’s a tough one. A higher honor must underlie ours, the count says. We can’t ever obey unthinkingly.” “Huh. That’s what Miles says, too. Is that where he got it, from his father?” “I shouldn’t be surprised. M’lord’s brother Mark says integrity is a disease, and you can only catch it from someone who has it.”"

"Military intelligence was as nothing to military stupidity."

"There were security angles, political angles, personal angles—how many angles could dance on the head of a pin?"

"What is it about you people who run sexually segregated fleets that makes you all disembark insane? No, don’t bother answering that, I think we all know. But the all-male military organizations who have that custom for religious or cultural reasons all come onto station leave like some horrible combination of kids let out of school and convicts let out of prison. The worst of both, actually—the judgment of children combined with the sexual deprivation of—never mind."

"There is a great deal of sanity to be saved in letting the past go, and moving on."

"Yet if the truth doesn’t serve us, what does that say about us, eh?"

"The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them."

"There’s nothing like the threat of imminent death to force one to delegate."

"“Not treason,” haut Pel objected faintly. “As such.” “Unsanctioned unilateral redesign, then.”"

"Puzzles. I hate puzzles. Ivan liked flowcharts—nice and clear and you could always tell just where you were and what you should do next, everything laid out neatly. No ambiguities. No traps. Why couldn’t life be more like flowcharts?"

"So far from a trudge, she seemed to find the task tolerably amusing. “Oh, languages aren’t work,” she explained cheerily. “They’re a game. Now, economics, that’s boring.”"

"And in her way, I suppose, she loved us, and naturally wanted us to have this great thing she'd found, too. Except... I wasn't her. It was like... if she could just fix me into being her, then she could shower me with the gifts she so valued."

"“What’s a call girl?” asked Tej, her brows crimping in puzzlement. “Uh…” Ivan sought a translation. “Like a Betan licensed practical sexuality therapist, only without the licensed and the therapy parts.”"

"“Is that going to be a problem?” said Ivan. “Definitely. I just don’t know what kind, yet. Or whose.”"

"The admiral did not invite Ivan to sit, so Ivan took up a prudent sort-of parade rest and waited. Someone would tell him what was going on shortly; they always did, however little he wanted to know."

"The limits of trust depend much on whether you mean to do business more than once."

"Let’s be sensible and wish for both of us there, while we’re wishing. I mean, it’s not like wishes are rationed."

"A three-planet empire delivered upset snakes by the basket-load to this man’s office, every damned morning. Yeah—for all the talk of men coveting the emperor’s throne, Ivan had never yet heard anyone speak of coveting his desk."

"“What do you see in that Barrayaran boy, anyway?” the Baronne asked querulously, dodging back despite Tej’s best efforts. “He just doesn’t seem very ambitious.” “Mm,” said Tej. One woman’s defect is another woman’s delight? “I suppose…it’s all the things he sees in me.” That you don’t."

"Everything in the district competes for resources. The best solution is to make more resources."

"“I didn’t know he had days off,” said Enrique, sounding vaguely puzzled. Naturally enough; Enrique didn’t exactly take breaks either, or at least not scheduled ones, his time being divided into days with too many things to do, and days with far too many things to do—much like her own, Ekaterin reflected ruefully."

"“’S funny. Piotr, toward the end of his life, looked at our district and only saw how much better it was. All the backbreaking, heartbreaking work he did cleaning up the messes after the war is taken for granted now, or mostly just forgotten. Instead, we look around and only see how much better it could be. And neither of us is wrong, exactly.”"

"Is it still a victory if you don’t get the credit?"

"Don’t underestimate the viciousness of academics when funding is at stake."

"Sociopath therapy was invented for people like him. No, no. The last person he wants for a character witness is someone who weeks him."

"I’m not responsible for my weird ancestors. Quite the reverse. Exactly the inverse."

"It just happens to be very important to me to win with the hand I was dealt."

"“You have the instincts of a gentleman, Ivan,” said Miles, absorbed in breaking into the coded files. “How did you ever get into security?"

"Some people would rather drown our domes in blood than learn anything from history. Or learn anything at all."

"He seems to have this strange difficulty grasping that I actually mean what I say."

"The will to be stupid is a very powerful force—"

"So. This one has never struck a man for real before. Nor killed either, I wager. Oh, little virgin, are you ever in for a bloody deflowering."

"“Power is safety.” “Let me give you a hint,” said Miles. “There is no safety. Only varying states of risk. And failure.”"

"You are what you do. Choose again, and change."

"The man who assumes everything is a lie is at least as mistaken as the one who assumes everything is true. If no guarantee can suit you, perhaps the flaw is not in the guarantee, but in you."

"They are the most insidious propagandists ever to cloak self-serving greed with pseudo-patriotism."

"Miles clutched Quinn’s elbow. “Don’t panic.” “I’m not panicking,” Quinn observed, “I’m watching you panic. It’s more entertaining.”"

"“No, no, never send interim reports,” said Miles. “Only final ones. Interim reports tend to elicit orders. Which you must then either obey, or spend valuable time and energy evading, which you could be using to solve the problem.”"

"Permanent justice is well worth a temporary offended protest, I can assure you, Lieutenant."

"“Do you see assassination as an option, sir?” “A compelling one.”"

"They’re my officers, dammit, not my harem, Miles’s thought snarled silently. But no Barrayaran officer of Destang’s age would see it that way. Some attitudes couldn’t be changed; they just had to be outlived."

"And what goes on in the head of a walking dead man? Miles wondered. What personal failure could he possibly fear more than death itself?"

"And so men organized themselves for the sake of their technology as they never had for their principles. The sea’s politics were unarguable."

"“Security, Lieutenant,” Miles said blandly. “I can’t discuss it even with you.” “Security,” she sniffed, “doesn’t hide as much from Accounting as they think they do.”"

"One of the best things about writing is how it redeems, not to mention recycles, all of one's prior experiences, including — or perhaps especially — the failures."