Short Story Writers From Wales

"The poor didn’t have them and so the rich flaunted them, the larger and more conspicuous the better."

"“I don’t like this at all,” Hegazi said. “Believe me,” Sylveste said, “you’re about to like it a lot less.”"

"Am I that fascinating to you, or are you just more bored than I imagined?"

"“I don’t trust you.” “Of course you don’t. I know I wouldn’t. And I’m not asking you to. I’m not putting you in a situation in which your trust of me is even remotely relevant. I’m just pointing a gun to your head and giving you orders.”"

"For someone admitting guilt she sounded remarkably void of repentance."

"She had almost dared ask, but was perhaps too fearful of hearing something she could not refute."

"By and large these attempts to rewrite history were not taken seriously, but it was disconcerting to hear that they had gained even a toehold."

"“Is he dangerous? “Anyone who lies for a living is dangerous.”"

"“Don’t tell me you aren’t the slightest bit curious, Norquinco.” “I hope you burn in hell, Sky Haussmann.” “I’ll take that as a yes.”"

"“I imagine you feel insignificant,” Sajaki said, almost as if he had been listening in on the conversation. “Well; you’re justified in feeling that way. You are insignificant. That’s the majesty of this place. Would you choose it any other way?”"

"The mere fact that there could be danger in this is fascination in itself; almost an incentive to push further. That’s how you feel, isn’t it? Every argument they could use against you would only strengthen your resolve. Because knowledge makes you hungry, and it’s a hunger you can’t resist, even if you know that what you’re feasting on could kill you."

"“Is there anyone or anything in this city which can’t be bought?” I said, slipping him a note. “Yeah,” the man said, laughing quietly. “But I’m not it.”"

"“That’s how it went, wasn’t it Zebra?” “It might,” she said. “If I happened to be colluding in your own delusions.”"

"In Clavain’s experience, it was the less comforting possibility that generally turned out to be the case. It was the way the universe worked."

"“Besides—we all know guns don’t kill people, do they?” “No, it’s the small metal projectiles that generally do the killing,” Cahuella said, smiling."

"Clavain felt little in the way of regret; more a sense of quiet relief that they were past the negotiating stage and into the infinitely more honest arena of actual battle."

"Volyova did not like planets at the best of times, and gas giants struck her as an unreasonable affront to human scale and frailty. In that respect, they were almost as bad as stars."

"This gets better, it really does. The odd thing is, I actually think you might be telling the truth. If you were going to lie, you’d at least come up with something that made sense."

"It was his experience that crises in space fell into two categories: those that killed you immediately, usually without much warning, and those that gave you plenty of time to ruminate on the problem, even if no solution was very likely."

"“What happened?” “Let’s just say my efforts to reprogram the weapon were not an unqualified success, shall we, and leave it at that?” She hated discussing failure almost as much as she hated the thing itself."

"“How are the internal complications, anyway? Aren’t the other branches of government getting a little suspicious about all these machinations?” “Let’s just say that one or two discreet assassinations may still have to be performed,” Khouri said."

"But make no mistake. My counterpart is capable of a great deal of ruthlessness in pursuit of a just cause. He believes he has right on his side. And men who think they have right on their side are always the most dangerous sort."

"Relativity distorted classical expectations in a way that Clavain still did not find entirely intuitive. Slam two objects towards each other, each with individual velocities just below light-speed, and the classical result for their closing velocity would be the sum of their individual speeds: just under twice the speed of light. Yet the true result, confirmed with numbing precision, was that the objects saw each other approach with a combined speed that was still just below the speed of light. Similarly, the relativistic closing velocity for two objects moving towards each other with individual speeds of one-half of light-speed was not light-speed itself, but eight-tenths of it. It was the way the universe was put together, and yet it was not something the human mind had evolved to accept."

"It was a numbers game, not a guaranteed method of avoiding being killed, but Clavain had been a soldier long enough to know that this was, ultimately, what most combat situations boiled down to."

"Either you are a man of unusual ability, Thorn, or a man with a rather inadequate grasp of human nature. I just hope it’s the former."

"They had been in love, desperately in love, but the universe cared nothing for the vicissitudes of the human heart."

"Don’t overestimate your familiarity with technologies you barely understand. It could be your undoing."

"I don’t question your loyalty, Skade. I just wonder exactly what it is you’re loyal to."

"His parents had abdicated responsibility to an illusion."

"The one thing I never counted on was having luck on my side. It was generally simpler that way."

"I’m fed up with everyone being lied to just because the administration thinks it’s in our best interests not to know all the facts."

"He’s not really a religious man, but he knows which side his bread’s buttered on. The churches pay his salary, so he doesn’t want anyone rocking the boat with unorthodox rumours."

"“Until recently we were a trio. Before that, a quartet. Perhaps it’s just me, but I’m beginning to detect a trend.”"

"“I thought debate was supposed to be healthy,” she countered. “It is,” Auger replied, “so long as you don’t disagree with me.”"

"Charm was what he excelled at. If anyone sensed his underlying shallowness, they usually mistook it for well-hidden great depth of character, like misinterpreting a radar bounce."

"“The Fascists got what they deserved,” Floyd said. “My husband lived long enough to see those monsters come to come to power. He saw through their lies and promises, but he also knew that they spoke to something nasty and squalid in the human spirit. Something in all of us. We want to hate those who are not like us. All we need is an excuse, a whisper in the ear.”"

"I learnt the true meaning of what was euphemistically described as close-quarters combat. No line-of-sight particle-beam weapons now; no delayed-detonation nano-munitions. What close-quarters combat meant was something which would have been infinitely more recognisable to a soldier of a thousand years earlier: the screaming fury of human beings packed so close together that the only effective way to kill each other was with sharpened metal weapons: bayonets and daggers, or with hands around each other’s throats; fingers pressed into each other’s eye-sockets. The only way to survive was to disengage all higher brain-functions and regress to an animal state of mind. So I did. And in doing so, I learned a deeper truth about war. She punished those who flirted with her by making them like herself. Once you opened the door to the animal, there was no shutting it."

"“But you can be sure there are pockets of wealth and influence, and I’m willing to wager that a few people are wealthier and more influential than they were before.” “That’s always the way with disasters,” I said. “What?” “They’re never bad news for everyone. Something nasty always rises to the top.”"

"“It must be a real one-horse town.” Auger shook her head as she lit a cigarette. “It has wild ambitions of becoming a one-horse town.”"

"Nice girls don’t carry guns."

"Who was it who said that a wise man speaks when he has something to say, but a fool speaks because he must?"

"“Is that as bad as it sounds?” Floyd asked. “No,” Auger said. “It’s worse. A lot worse.”"

"“Don’t you agree with me?” “On some distant theoretical level, just possibly.”"

"Anxiety is a useful tool: it forces us to make plans. But when too much anxiety freezes us into indecision, it needs checking."

"“Haven’t you ever heard of morale-building?” Khouri had asked. “Heard of it,” Volyova said. “Don’t happen to agree with it. Would you rather be happy and dead, or scared and alive?”"

"“I gather you were all too busy killing each other.” “That’s a fairly reductive summary of our history, but I don’t suppose it’s too far from the truth.”"

"The battle sunk towards the horizon. Presently it would be gone, leaving a sky unsullied by human affairs."

"It was bad, but it was some other slightly less piquant flavour of bad."

"Evolution doesn’t greatly care about what happens to creatures once they’ve passed on their genetic heritage."

"“The question is: do you trust me?” “Sometimes.” Bella smiled. “That’s exactly the right attitude: trust your leaders, but be careful not to trust them too much.”"