Home > Work > Dragon & Issola (Vlad Taltos, #8-9)
1 " Oh, c’mon, Boss. Where’s your sense of history?” “I like to read about history, not make it.” “You see, Boss? It’s because of attitudes like yours that there are so few human heroes.” “And so many humans. "
― Steven Brust , Dragon & Issola (Vlad Taltos, #8-9)
2 " doubt is less easily dispelled than illusion, and with doubt come tentative half-measures—and nothing worthwhile has ever been accomplished by tentative half-measures. "
3 " Well, it’s the Easterner who fights like a Dragon. Wine? "
4 " They’re worth being scared of,” I said. “They’d kill without a second thought.” “I hate to say this, Boss, but so would you.” “Yeah, but I’m a nice guy. "
5 " Categories, if you’ll excuse a brief digression, are a useful way to get a handle on things you don’t understand, as long as you don’t get too attached to them and forget that things like to pop out of one category and into another, and that sometimes the whole category turns itself inside out and becomes something different. It’s useful, for example, to categorize your target as a sorcerer, if he is one; but if you get too attached to your category it’ll leave you embarrassed when he suddenly pulls a knife on you. "
6 " You can always say it’s magic if you don’t understand it; and, who knows, you might be right. "
7 " I felt ready for anything, as long as it wasn’t too threatening. "
8 " I’m generalizing from one example, here, but everyone generalizes from one example. At least, I do. "