Poul Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2010):
"'I am not a man of war...'" (p. 84)
"Spare me the ultimate madness of ever considering myself indispensable." (p 85)
"How much really occurs because of me, how much in spite of or regardless of?" (ibid.)
"Potentially, [Ivar Frederiksen] is their exiled prince, their liberator, their Anointed. Siva, have mercy." (p. 98)
"We bureaucrats aren't supposed to have hunches." (p. 100)
"'Can you not conceive that an industrialist or financier may honestly believe cooperation with the Imperium is the best hope of his world? Can you not entertain the hypothesis that he may be right?'" (p. 124)
"'It is terrifyingly easy to swing a defeated and occupied nation in any direction.'" (p. 125)
"'In spite of the pretensions of the psychodynamicists, I don't believe the consequences of radical surgery, on a proud and energetic people, are foreseeable.'" (ibid.)
"'My friend...I cannot conceive of one thing in the universe which we truly dare assume.'" (p. 131)
"'One policy I mean to implement is close consultation with representatives of every Aenean society, and the gradual phasing over of government to them.'" (p. 233)
"'Man has never really wanted a comfortable God, a reasonable or kindly one; he has wanted a faith, a cause, which promises everything but mainly which requires everything.
"'Like moths to the candle flame -'" (p. 234)
Poul Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (New York, 2012):
"'...conflicts have causes. A war, including a civil war, is the flower on a plant whose seed went into the ground long before...and whose roots reach widely, and will send up fresh growths....'" (pp. 386-387)
"'...modern technology, nonhuman influences, the sheer scale of interstellar dominion may affect the time-span.'" (p. 387)
"'...competent people become untrustworthy from their very competence; anyone who can make a decision may make one the Imperium does not like. Incompetence grows with the growing suspiciousness and centralization.'" (ibid.)
"'Prevention of breakdown, or recovery from it, calls for more thought, courage, sacrifice than humans have yet been capable of exercising for generation after generation.'" (p. 389)
"'I hope to do more than read sutras in my retirement; I hope to apply my experience and my studies to thought about just such problems.'" (p. 390)
"'We have not had the good fortune to be born in an era when our society offers us something transcendental to live and die for.'" (p. 391)
"'There is no absolute inevitability.'" (p. 389)
3 comments:
Hi, Paul!
The quotes from Desai beginning with "Prevention of breakdown..." and "I hope to do more than read sutras..." reminds us of Desai's interest in researches leading him to rediscover the work and theories of John Hord on how he believed civilizations rose and fell and then began germinating new civilizations.
Sean
"'...competent people become untrustworthy from their very competence; anyone who can make a decision may make one the Imperium does not like. Incompetence grows with the growing suspiciousness and centralization.'"
That is a point raised in discussions about why the Russian military has done so poorly against Ukraine in the current war. Authoritarians value loyalty above competence
Kaor, Jim!
I agree, and Stirling has made similar comments, on how Putin has become surrounded by yes men and sycophants, who tell him only what they believe or know pleases him.
A wise ruler keeps aware of this problem and is careful not to surround himself with sycophants. Unlike that other bungler, "Josip"in DC!
Ad astra! Sean
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