I've always tried to write the kind of book I most loved to read: character-centered adventure. - Lois McMaster Bujold

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Madame Vorsoisson?” Illyan called after her, as she stood outside to let Nikki exit.
She leaned back toward him to breathe venomously, “Yes. Hang Vormoncrief.”
He offered her a sincere salute. “I shall do my humble best, Madame.”

“Hands are to be hired. Design is the test of the intellect.”
“I must disagree. In my experience, hands are integral with brains, almost another lobe for intelligence. What one does not know through one’s hands, one does not truly know.”

Endure pain, find joy, and make your own meaning, because the universe certainly isn't going to supply it.