Beings that can laugh at themselves, particularly their own foibles, stand the greatest chance of attaining wisdom. - Charles E. Gannon

A sense of humor—bitter or otherwise—is the hallmark of a survivor.

It is in the nature of social creatures to crave approval and approbation, to build a temple out of what they have told themselves they are and must be."
Oduosslun stared at Riordan. "Reject that reflex. Reject the simplistic narrative. Reject the opiating allure of presuming you know your own destiny. Rather, embrace the ineluctable truth that you are not preordained saviors in the midst of a mythic cycle, any more than we were the guardians and guarantors of civilization. Like us, you are simply another species living out the consequences of what came before.

You must remind yourself—hourly—that Caine Riordan is but one human. He is an aberration among them, a flicker of conscience that his own megacorporate kin would have extinguished if he had not run far and fast. Do not let his noble deed seduce you into thinking the rest of his race are capable of something similar….
"And Riordan himself. What do I tell him?"
"Hu'urs Khraam looked at Darzhee Kut closely. "Tell him that his deed was noble and we are grateful for it. And, if you think he is ready to hear it, you should also tell him that we can already measure how much his deed will change the outcome of this war."
"Really? How much?"
"Not at all.