Was winning all he really wanted? Or did he still want also to be seen to have won? And by whom? - Lois McMaster Bujold

I don't take information and experience into my mind in that organized a fashion, but when I want to bring it out, somehow it's there. You write what you know because — like there's another choice? The trick is to try and know as much as possible.

“The key of strategy, little Vor,” she explained kindly, “is not to choose a path to victory, but to choose so that all paths lead to a victory.”

“Do you fear the gods will destroy you?”
That disturbing smile again. “That is not a fear. That is a prayer.”
“Or…do you fear their punishment? That they would plunge your soul into some eternal torment?”
Wencel leaned forward, up on his toes. “That,” he breathed in Ingrey’s ear, “would be redundant.”