Lois McMaster Bujold Quotes

Even love is not as strong as habit, eh?

I wanted to give you a victory. But by their essential nature triumphs can’t be given. They must be taken and the worse the odds and the fiercer the resistance, the greater the honor. Victories can’t be gifts.

Even after four days of oatmeal and blue cheese dressing, they were a disappointment.
“Are you sure this isn’t instant boots?” asked Cordelia.

I despise internal investigations. Even if you win, you lose.

He didn’t exactly have a plan, yet. More of a stab in the dark. He still wasn’t sure what his blade would connect with…

GalacTech’s not God, Claire. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your firstborn to it.

Miles was plenty expressive too, in his own unreliable way. Half of it was horseshit, but you were never sure which half.

The trouble with oaths of the form, death before dishonor, is that eventually, given enough time and abrasion, they separate the world into just two sorts of people: the dead, and the forsworn.

“Can you be paranoid about being paranoid?”
She smiled sweetly. “If anyone can, it’s you.”

“If I got assassinated now,” he shrugged helplessly, “my father would kill me.”

Your divine should not have used water. It just doesn't hold the attention properly. Wine. Or blood, in a pinch. Some liquid that matters.

To get the right answer, one must first correctly frame the question.

Love was long gone, in her. She got by on a starvation diet of loyalty these days.

Not only was Ivan an idiot, but he generated a telepathic damping field that turned people nearby into idiots, too. He would point this out to Barrayaran Intelligence, who would make of his cousin the newest weapon in their arsenal — if

You're worse than evil. You're inefficient.