"When you worked in a profession whose tools included guns and bombs, death was always on the menu; only a matter of time until the order you placed arrived..."

"Everybody’s got secrets, and some of the worst ones belong to those with the most power."

"The loudest sound on a battle field was click! when you were expecting bang! It was a never-ending wonder: What was going to go wrong next?"

"Old enough to look as if he knew what to do, young enough to look as if he could do it."

"“Man proposes, God disposes,” Singh said. Both fems looked at him. He shrugged. “Whenever you run into a situation that you cannot control, we on Ananda often find it convenient to blame it on God.”"

"“We aren’t looking for trouble.” “Doesn’t mean you won’t find it.”"

"He understood the phenomenon, of how almost dying made you appreciate what life had to offer. And it was a potent drug, that feeling. Battle was not glorious. But surviving it? That was."

"“So here we have the basic ingredients in the art of distraction,” Gunny said to Singh, as they walked toward the rendezvous point. “When in doubt, wait until dark, turn off the lights, and blow shit up.”"

"Desire, she realized, was a thick fog that could completely obscure reality."

"You’re not an ape, use a tool!"

"What they don’t know won’t hurt us..."

"“Thanks,” he said. She beamed at him. “Sure. What are friends for, if not to point out when you do stupid shit?”"

"He had thought about it. Mostly, after the fantasies, he had let it go. It was done, history. No point in bumping into the furniture while looking back over your shoulder."

"War had a way of making carpe diem seem valid no matter what you wanted to seize..."

"“Why would he do that?” “Because he is insane, a fool, a man so devious they will have to guard his corpse after he dies, or he’ll steal it himself!”"

"Shoot at us, we will nuke you all and let God sort out your radioactive dust."

"Older doesn’t necessarily mean wiser, Emile, but it does mean older. More...experienced. More adept at dealing with the galaxy, at...taking care of oneself."

"He thought about the killing he’d seen, about his final participation in the slaughter on Maro. It still made him want to vomit, the thought of all those people ceasing to exist. Many religions had it that there was another life, another existence following the one known, but Khadaji held no faith in that idea. Maybe so, maybe not. It would be nice, but until it was proven, a person should make the best of his or her time on the physical plane."

"Khadaji only nodded. It didn’t matter to him if he passed the test or not. He wasn’t here to get a degree; he was here to learn."

"“People, this is your weapon, not your gun.” He waved the Parker in the air. “This is for work.” He dropped one hand to touch himself on the crotch. “This is for fun. Don’t mistake one for the other. Those of you not male or electively equipped as such might remember that easier.”"

"Could he use the same excuse as the Confed—the end justified the means? Sometimes it did, of course, but could one ethically justify using the same methods as a deplored enemy, in order to get it to stop?"

"Any type of violence initiated by one intelligent being against another was wrong. Killing violence was worse than any other kind. How could it be condoned? In his brief moment of cosmic bliss, Khadaji had seen the value of intelligent life. Man and his self-created mues were alone in the galaxy as evolved intelligence. Certainly, there were artificials—computers and genetically altered animals—but no aliens had been discovered above the level of an unaltered dog. It was a big galaxy, plenty of room for every human or neo-human, it wasn’t necessary to kill any of them!"

"What other paths were there? His studies had shown him that revolution and evolution were the only ways that societies ever truly changed. Revolution and evolution, built of a mix of education and violence and politics and compromise and self-interest and self-preservation. Certainly, history showed that rigid societies, like ancient dinosaurs, always died. The Confed was the biggest dinosaur ever, and while it was already dying and had been doing so for a long time, it would take many years before it finally fell. Any empire which had to hold its citizens in check with military force was far down the road to destruction. Which brought up another thought: what would replace the dead beast when it began to rot? What parasite would emerge from the corpse to try and breed itself into superiority?"

"Of course, laws weren’t always just. Some rules outlawed a thing because it was intrinsically bad: child molestation, say. Other rules made harmless activities crimes only because someone wished them to be so. Take cohabitation on a religious holiday. On some worlds, it was legal on one day, illegal the next, and on the third, okay once again. Khadaji could see no moral dilemma there."

"Droc was not particularly religious himself. If the gods responded to entreaties, they had never demonstrated it to him. Better his time was spent doing something that might work."

"There are a lot of promises in the recycle bins of history."

"“Everybody knows that.” “Assume for a moment that everybody is wrong.”"

"“You ready to fly, Nancy?” Jo asked. “Honey, I’m always ready to fly.” “Might get shot at.” “I been shot at. Not a problem if they don’t hit me. I am allowed to dodge, right?”"

"Death came for all, and it was never a matter of “if,” only “when.”"

"“You should know that there is great personal danger involved, Emile.” Khadaji chuckled. “So, what else is new? You skate the edge, sometimes you get cut.”"

"Veate said, “You said ‘used to be.’ Not a mystic any more?” “No. I burned too many bridges. I saw too much grief to believe in a benevolent cosmos any longer. I caused much of that grief myself.”"

"Wall knew what made the man work; he had studied every scrap of information available on him, including his own brief meeting before it all fell apart. Khadaji was a hero; he wore the psychologically flawed psyche like a cape, he was a slave to fair play and he believed that the universe was an innately good place. Khadaji made it a point not to kill during his revolution, not with his own hands. He could have snuffed Wall like a flickstick when first they’d met. But he had not; he had given Wall a chance to consider the error of his ways. What a fool."

"The mark of a civilized man was to know when to leave the party."

"Nobody is a born killer. And nobody ever forgets the first time they get laid, nor the first time they spike somebody."

"If it ain’t broke, don’t break it."

"Truth is the first casualty in war, but communications is the second."

"Civilization didn’t like surprises..."

"In the land of the unarmed, the man with a rock was king."

"“You cheated!” “Hell yes, I did. I learned a long time ago, better you learn to fight smarter, not harder.” “If you had not had the pistol—” “Then I’d have used some other tool. Knife, stick, a chair, whatever. Fighting fair gets you killed unless the other guy also fights fair and you are better than him and lucky. First rule: Don’t do it."

"“One who searches for the definition ‘devious’ can find it listed under ‘human.’”"

"Who you are comes from who you were. You can’t escape your past; it follows you like a shadow."

"Life is more important than glory."

"But was it not you who used to tell me that the more you knew, the better? That knowledge was the sharpest fang?"

"The good old days always seemed better in distant memory than they had actually been at the time."

"Well. You were allowed to be young and stupid, when you were young and stupid, and if it didn’t do you in, you might get older and wiser."

"“The rules are different for rich men,” he said. “Always have been.”"

"A large bomb obscures a lot of evidence."

"“What’s wrong with me?” “Have you got a few hours for a basic list?”"