Charles E. Gannon

"So what you are characterizing as conspiracy is merely an unfortunate coincidence."

"No: the answer you like the most is the one you should trust the least. Go over the evidence one more time: be sure you haven’t missed something."

"If, fourteen years ago, he had entertained secret hopes of leaving a discernible, enduring mark on the legacy of humankind, he was now fully disabused of them."

"I’m sure that’s quite witty, but I have no idea what you mean."

"“Corporal, I’m in charge here—” “Doctor, you are in charge here. But this assault rifle has a special veto power, if you get my drift.”"

"A sense of humor—bitter or otherwise—is the hallmark of a survivor."

"Only the good die young, so I’m destined to be immortal, I guess."

"“There are only three variables governing the outcome of any given situation. Power—political, economic, military, whatever. Intelligence—the information you have and how cleverly you use it. And chance.” “And that’s it?” “That’s it. Leaders get themselves too tangled up when they fail to break a situation—any situation—back down to those basics. Or when they forget the fundamental differences between the three variables.”"

"You’re the military analyst, writer, historian: you, above all people, should know that those who decline to take a hand in controlling events surrender the ability to influence them."

"The EMTs were accompanied by a smattering of suit-and-sunglass security types who were about as unobtrusive as a flock of condors in a day-care center."

"You’re very cheery. Too cheery. So I’m guessing today’s news is bad."

"Careful now: just the way you rehearsed it. Use as much truth as possible: that’s how you’ll get away with the lies."

"“So—I’m a major. New pay grade.” She laughed. “My salary has just jumped from nothing to next-to-nothing. What will I spend it all on?”"

"“And saying that doesn’t get you in trouble, does it?” His smile broadened. “Nope. Not a bit.” He straightened up, stuck out his hand. “I’m glad I was able to come and give you the inside scoop on—absolutely nothing. And on the people who have absolutely nothing to do with it.” Caine smiled. “Your failure to impart any information has been very illuminating.”"

"What gives with him? Does he take jerk pills?"

"Besides being grossly unprofessional and misinformed, just why is that a relevant inquiry?"

"If there are any competent journalists here, I’m ready for their inquiries."

"It’s bad enough that you’re plying a trade for which you haven’t the aptitude or integrity, but you could at least check your conclusion against the facts."

"“Caine has a serious flaw when it comes to working for the government.” “Which is?” “Well, he has this real bad habit of telling the truth.”"

"I find it interesting how many of you, when watching a plan go awry, are so blinded by your frustration that you are unable to learn from what you have witnessed."

"“Damn,” muttered Opal, staring after him, “guess he flunked charm school.”"

"That means we have nothing to shoot at, no efficacious response. So we do something pointless. And we feel better."

"The total lack of information is a kind of information in itself."

"You gotta remember that in war, you’re not deciding between the bad thing to and the good thing. You’re choosing between the bad and the worse. And you can’t control the shit that happens after you choose."

"Sometimes, thinking just didn’t do any good, didn’t provide any answers. Because for some questions—such as the arbitrariness of life and death during wartime—there weren’t any answers."

"“You must remind yourself—hourly—that Caine Riordan is but one human. He is an aberration among them, a flicker of conscience that his own megacorporate kin would have extinguished if he had not run far and fast. Do not let his noble deed seduce you into thinking the rest of his race are capable of something similar….” “And Riordan himself. What do I tell him?” “Hu’urs Khraam looked at Darzhee Kut closely. “Tell him that his deed was noble and we are grateful for it. And, if you think he is ready to hear it, you should also tell him that we can already measure how much his deed will change the outcome of this war.” “Really? How much?” “Not at all.”"

"The only proper course of action regarding humanity was to leave it alone, and, if possible, isolate it. Just as one would handle any other sophont that was quite irremediably and dangerously insane."

"“Stosh, you are insane.” “I am inspired. They are frequently confused.”"

"“You are a traitor to your own race, servitor.” “No. I am its true servant, because the prerequisite of success is a ruthlessly clear understanding of reality, of the facts with which we must contend. Without that, all plans begin in error, and so, they must end in disaster.”"

"Richard, we have fallen into the common trap of seeing ourselves at the center of the universe: all that goes on around us somehow has us as its subject and raison d’etre. But in reality, all the events, all the plans, all the acts we interpret as intentionally malign—or benign—to us may, in fact, have almost nothing to do with our species."

"You are to be congratulated on your talent for deception."

"Zkhee’ah Drur the Elder had once observed that while one is yet alive to complain of misfortune, the greatest of all misfortunes has not yet occurred. But this turn of affairs seemed very close to disproving that ancient axiom."

"Beings that can laugh at themselves, particularly their own foibles, stand the greatest chance of attaining wisdom."

"Nice bluff—but I was born on the planet that invented poker."

"Human social evolution is unique in that your race has achieved the maximum, even optimum, balance of violent aggression and social cohesion. Again, consider your recent past. What other race could teeter so long, and yet not topple over, the brink of nuclear self-extermination? And all in the name of ideals, which were simply the facades behind which you hid your national prejudices, racial fears, and innate savagery."

"And in the time it had taken to reflect upon the significance of the moment, the moment was past. That was, after all, the nature of moments."

"“So nothing has really changed.” “Sometimes, when your adversary is trying to precipitate dramatic change, stability is the best victory.”"

"“Did he just wink?” whispered Downing. “If not, he developed a very timely facial tic,” Caine replied."

"Where greed is great, corruption is simple."

"They are not speculating upon the mysteries behind us, only upon the possibilities before us."

"I know it’s human nature to want to draw conclusions, but I distrust straight-line projections when we only have two data points."

"Most of my professors can’t see the wider forest of meaning because they’ve become obsessed with a few mostly meaningless trees."

"“The megacorporations have a long history of mining antigovernment organizations for support. They throw a lot of money at them: sometimes directly, sometimes through plausibly deniable proxies.” Hwang screwed up his face. “And do these groups really join forces with the megacorporations? They’re far more autocratic than nation-states.” Caine shook his head. “It’s not a direct alliance. But the megas aren’t really looking for cocombatants against ‘the tyranny of nations.’ They’re just funding grassroots resistance to national authority.”"

"But then again, discipline and its trappings—ranks, protocols, traditions—did not define the difference between a soldier and a civilian. The difference was in outlook. Brilliant civilian researcher Hirano Mizuki stared into the shadowy reaches of alien underbrush and saw no reason for caution. Caine, on the other hand, saw an unguarded perimeter in unexplored terrain that might conceal unknown threats."

"Veriden cut an annoyed glance at Riordan but said nothing; he suspected that even she saw the irony in starting an argument over whether she was argumentative."

"Look: nations screw up like people do; sometimes they mean well, sometimes they’re selfish or delusional bitches on a spree, and sometimes they just plain make mistakes. But the megacorporations don’t make mistakes; if they do damage, it’s because they like the cost-to-benefit ratios, dead innocents notwithstanding. Nations are bulls in the global china shop; corporations are sharks."

"Well, so be it. Today we only have time for the truth. Battles are won by facts and physics, not self-congratulatory ideology."

"Your arrogant self-importance is complicating your perception of what is a very simple matter."

"Bigotry was not only invulnerable to the appeals of logic and deduction; it was often blind to counterproofs such as those Yaargraukh had just witnessed."

"They still grumbled, of course, but never within his earshot. Besides, grumbling was the true anthem of every military unit that had ever existed. And their current grumbling was simply aimless grousing about the food, the cramped quarters, and anything else that struck them as modestly annoying. It was, in summary, both a harmless and timeless bonding ritual."