Lois McMaster Bujold quotes - page 10

The quaddies, he reflected, didn't seem to have a very clear idea of private property. Probably came from a lifetime spent in a communal space habitat, with its tight ecology. Planets were communal in the same way, really, except that their enormous size put so much slack in their systems, it was disguised. (Lois McMaster Bujold)
This isn't a class. This is real life. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
Even soldiers in battle have to be brought to a special state of mental excitement to shoot total strangers. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
There are weapons all around us here, we just don't recognize them because we call them "tools.”. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
I don't know whose judgement is worse, yours or the jerk's who hired you-. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
Of all the times to pick for this outbreak of idiocy, this has gotta be the worst possible. It's got to be deliberate. Nothing this fouled up could be by chance. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
Stupidity, yes, but not unilateral stupidity. Something this screwed up had to have taken a committee. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
There was no way he could anticipate every contingency. When the time came to leap in faith, whether you had your eyes open or closed or screamed all the way down or not made no practical difference. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
That idea only makes sense if you don't think too hard about it. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
In the long run more mercenaries have had their asses shot off by their contractors than by their enemies. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
A mercenary who can't honor his contract when it's rough as well as smooth is a thug, not a soldier. (Lois McMaster Bujold)
Some saw stars, it seemed, and some saw the spaces between them. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
Ask a simple question, get a simple brick wall. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
To kill a man, it helps if you can first take away his face. A neat mental trick. Handy for a soldier. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
No amount of money can make one stay bought. Who does not freely choose to. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
There are two possible ways to solving a dilemma, in justice or elsewhere; begin with the facts, and follow out their logic where it leads one, or begin with the desired outcome, and reason backward to the necessary steps to achieve it. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
Maybe only love gave you more than what you'd dealt for. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
Let's be sensible and wish for both of us there, while we're wishing. I mean, it's not like wishes are rationed. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
The limits of trust depend much on whether you mean to do business more than once. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
It's been a long time since I wagered so much on a single throw. Though if I'm to revisit the desperation of my youth, I want the body back, too. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
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. (Lois McMaster Bujold)
It was not a very original period of my life. I won't say I fell in with bad company-I more hunted them down. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
Just because I have forgotten so many old enemies does not mean they have forgotten me. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
How many details had to point in the same direction before one decided they pointed true? Depends on how costly it is to be mistaken, maybe? View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold
Heaven weeps, but free will is sacred. The meaning of yes is created by the ability to say no. View quote
Lois McMaster Bujold