Let me explain to you," the Horned One said, "the nature of history." "What?" "The first thing you need to know is that history happens almost exclus… - Michael Swanwick

So whose side are you on? You have to choose."
"I'm not going to be on anybody's side anymore," she said. "Sides are stupid.

Meanwhile, the Wheel turns. The humble are exalted and the mighty are humbled. The best are inevitably defeated, and the scum always rises to the top. Here is the source of all the world’s pain, that restless turning, ever accelerating, always bringing us around again to where we were before, but older, changed, scarred, and sorrowful. Had I only known the identity of the whisperer, I would never have listened. The Wheel would not have been set in motion.

(There are three stages to a battle: First you’re bored. Then you’re terrified. Then you’re dead. Each is necessary, and they must all come in the proper order.)