You measure a man by what he beats, Thaddeus—not by what he avoids. - Mike Resnick

It is the home of a very unusual race, as violent in their way as the people of Earth."
"I will assume that's a good thing to be," said Flint dryly.
"For the purpose of this proposition, it most definitely is," said Kargennian, ignoring Flint's undisguised animosity. "They have a culture that worships weaponry fully as much as yours does."
"I don't know that we actually worship it."
"Perhaps I used the wrong word," replied Kargennian. "But the fact remains that their history and cultures are as fully committed to firearms as your own. To this day, most of them carry hand weapons, as barbaric as the concept may seem.

Well, it's a practical approach," she conceded. "But it's not very satisfying. I think an animal in the forest might have that same viewpoint."
"I spend most of my life with the animals in the forest," replied Chandler. "Very few of them have high blood pressure or heart attacks. Maybe they know something we don't know."
"They don't know anything," said Jade. "They just react."
"They stay warm and dry and well fed," he noted. "When all is said and done, that's all most humans are really trying to do.

I don't believe you."
"What you believe is of no importance to me.