Not that I haven't leaped up into the blinding light of competence now and then. It's sustaining the altitude that defeats me. - Lois McMaster Bujold

And so men organized themselves for the sake of their technology as they never had for their principles. The sea’s politics were unarguable.

"Mia Maz glanced aside in concern at his muffled snort. "Are you all right?"
"Yes. Sorry," he whispered. "I'm just having an attack of limericks."
Her eyes widened, and she bit her lip; only her deepening dimple betrayed her. "Shhh," she said, with feeling."

As the week wore on, Ivan contemplated the merits of inertia as a problem-solving technique with growing favor