Lois McMaster Bujold

"Be careful who you pretend to be. You might become it."

"It wasn’t, he swore, that he picked up so many women. Compared to Ivan, he was practically celibate. It was just that he never put any down. The accumulation could become downright embarrassing, over a long enough time-span."

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

"“I really like this married-couple cover, for travel,” he remarked. “It suits me.” He took a slightly deeper breath. “So we’ve had the honeymoon, why don’t we have the wedding to go with it?”"

"I do think, half of what we call madness is just some poor slob dealing with pain by a strategy that annoys the people around him."

"They hesitated. Ah, the downside of perfect obedience: crippled initiative."

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

"“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.”"

"“The revolt,” breathed Galen almost to himself, “must not die.” “Even if everybody in it dies? ‘It didn’t work, so let’s do it some more’? In my line of work, they call that military stupidity. I don’t know what they call it in civilian life.”"

"“At least this should be simpler than our late vacation on Earth,” he said hopefully. “A purely military operation, no relatives, no politics, no high finance. Straight-up good guys and bad guys.” “Great,” said Quinn. “Which are we?” Miles was still thinking about the answer to that one when the fleet broke orbit."

"“It’s important that someone celebrate our existence,” she objected amiably. “People are the only mirror we have to see ourselves in. The domain of all meaning. All virtue, all evil, are contained only in people. There is none in the universe at large. Solitary confinement is a punishment in every human culture.”"

"“I swear,” Mark whispered, “excess suspicion makes us bigger fools than excess trust does.”"

"His taste for heavily-armed girlfriends did have potential drawbacks."

"He had looked forward to making posthumous reports to Illyan. Now he wondered if he was going to live long enough."

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

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

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

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

"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?"

"It’s so damned useless! The dead hand of the past goes on jerking the strings by galvanic reflex, and we poor puppets dance—nothing is served, not us, not him, not Komarr…"

"He felt like a man trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle of live pieces, that moved and changed shape at random intervals with tiny malicious giggles."

"Still, what d’you expect of the descendants of a colony that started as a hijacker base? Naturally they developed into an aristocracy."

"I grant you he’s a genius, but don’t you dare try to tell me he’s sane."

"“You’re scaring him, dear’” the Countess remarked. “On that topic, paranoia is the key to good health,” said the count ruefully."

"Lady Peace is the first hostage taken when economic discomfort rises."

"I don’t confuse greatness with perfection. To be great anyhow is…the higher achievement."

"If anyone was sane here, he swore it was by accident."

"I don’t know what passion he inspires in you—were you lovers? You’d be amazed how many people have clones made for that purpose."

"Never give aversion therapy to a masochist. The results are unpredictable."

"You can tell you’re alive when somebody touches you back."

"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."

"“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."

"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.”"

"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."

"“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 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.”"

"“Some stand-offs,” said Galen, “are more equal than others.”"

"“You must learn to kill if you expect to survive.” “No you don’t," Miles put in. "Most people go through their whole lives without killing anybody. False argument.”"

"Men met energy wave with predictable results."

"Miles had heard weird tales of strange relationships between people and their clones. But then, anyone who deliberately went out and had a clone made must be kinky to start with. Far more interesting to have a child, preferably with a woman who was smarter, faster, and better-looking than oneself; then there was at least a chance for a bit of evolution in the clan."

"The medic glance up only to say, “Be sure you get the carotid and not the jugular.” “I’m trying. They’re not color-coded.”"

"Realize this, though. Half my genes run through your body, and my selfish genome is heavily evolutionarily pre-programmed to look out for its copies. The other half is copied from the man I admire most in all the worlds and time, so my interest is doubly riveted. The artistic combination of the two, shall we say, arrests my attention."

"Don’t attempt to camouflage your real blame by taking more than your share."

"Sometimes, insanity is not a tragedy. Sometimes, it’s a strategy for survival. Sometimes...it’s a triumph."