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61 " Lucky Cowboy and his clean hands. By chance you had a talent somebody wanted, and now you're able to afford principles. Good for you. "
― Walter Jon Williams , Hardwired (Hardwired, #1)
62 " The evil god wants to force humanity into the path he’s chosen. But if I was certain of the best path—” and here he smiled, “—I wouldn’t force anyone. That would be a waste of energy. I’d merely try to make the thing inevitable. "
― Walter Jon Williams , Implied Spaces
63 " Sarah's lips curl..."That's not my kind of action." Still, there is a trace of hesitation in her voice, as if she's bidding farewell to a cherished dream, having found its price. "
64 " People religious enough to want to live in a world dominated by faith were also religious enough to guard their souls against doctrinal error, which logically meant suppressing, persecuting, or killing those who might corrupt even minor details of doctrine. "
65 " Two large, soft traveling bags weighed down his shoulders by their straps. Holo adverts blossomed into life around him. He walked lightly, scanning the people waiting for the shuttle. Food smells came out of the fast eateries across from the gate. The air hummed with the noise of business. "
― Walter Jon Williams , Voice of the Whirlwind (Hardwired, #2)
66 " marriage is about money and property and inheritance? Why else bother with it? "
― Walter Jon Williams , The Sundering (Dread Empire's Fall, #2)
67 " These were mixed with parts that, when assembled, transformed themselves into a custom-made long-barreled pistol, made entirely of an advanced plastic that would pass most detectors and which fired recoilless, near-silent cartridges with self-consuming casings, He’d brought the ammunition himself on the Earth shuttle. "
68 " After a few generations of warfare, though, the fanatics were either killed along with their backups, or were persuaded to modify their positions. Most of the religious pockets had evolved into low-density lands devoted to agriculture, abundance, popular piety, and toleration. "
69 " They’re up here, and they’re lost. Once their obedience to Earth gave them meaning, and then their struggle against it, but now they don’t know what to do. They’re too distracted by their structures. They got their independence, but they don’t know what it means, and they’re looking for the things that will give it meaning. "
70 " We weren’t running the Line, Cowboy thinks, for the Northeast. Or for the money. That was what Arkady and the thirdmen never understood, always thinking we could be bought, that we would respond to economic pressure. And that’s what the Orbitals don’t understand, what their crystal world models can’t figure. That we’d have run the Alley for nothing. Because it was a way to be free. "
71 " Propelled by violas and stinging electric guitar, presto followed andante, and so to finale. "
― Walter Jon Williams , Aristoi
72 " I don’t believe the rogue has freedom. I think it is following the direction of humans.” “Why do you think so?” “Because I find ample precedent for humans wishing to enslave other humans. I can conceive no reason why an advanced artificial intelligence would wish to do so.” He considered this. “Self-protection?” he said. “Unnecessary.” Bitsy lashed her tail. “Were I a totally autonomous being, I would possess—or soon evolve—skills that I could trade to humanity in exchange for a continuation of that autonomy. In addition—” She gave him a significant look. “I pose no threat. Our interests are not in conflict. We are not competing for resources, we have no territorial claims on one another, we do not possess competing ideologies.” “Some would say,” said Aristide, “that once given the freedom to pursue your own interests, a conflict would be inevitable.” “There are conflicts now, in terms of resource allocation and so forth. They don’t lead to war or slavery. "
73 " power becomes a slave to passion so easily, and to an unacknowledged passion easiest of all. "
― Walter Jon Williams , Metropolitan (Metropolitan, #1)
74 " it isn’t passions that make us weak, but rather uncontrollable passions. "
75 " Curzon stood up. He gestured with a fist. “I don’t want you to think about anything,” he said. “I want you to feel. Feel the rightness of this. The correctness of this vision. The necessity of it.” Steward could see patches of sweat under Curzon’s arms. “I want you to sense, Steward, that this is something worth having. "
76 " Necessity is a cold mistress, but Liberty inspires delightful bed-play. "
― Walter Jon Williams , Quillifer (Quillifer, #1)
77 " Here’s Daljit, Aristide’s former lady-love:“Do you still have that horrible cat?”“Yes, said Bitsy. “He does.”“I didn’t know you were here,” Daljit said weakly.“I lurk,” said the cat.Bitsy is not a cat-like creature to fuck around. Of one of her fellow-AIs, she says: “I’d kick Aloysius’ ass. That AI always gets my goat. "
78 " Ratnasari, taking a seat next to Sula, explained that the United States had been a prosperous democratic republic, in which citizens elected others to represent them on the city council and other civic forums."I thought the United States was some kind of oligarchy based on religion.""That, too. "
― Walter Jon Williams
79 " To Persepolis the dream, came Gabriel. Demons buzzed insistently in his head but he kept them on a short leash. For Persepolis was a place where demons as well as dreams were shared. "
80 " -Pointsman "