Plague was plague, and could not be treated lightly. And this plague was obviously worse than most, having killed everyone in the region. - Kim Stanley Robinson

After every revolution there is an interregnum, in which communities run themselves and all is well, and then the new regime comes in and screws things up.

“Bah. Irrelevant. Physical reality is clearly not a factor in these calculations.”
“Well put.”
Sax shook his head, frustrated. “Religion again. Or ideology. What was it Frank used to say? An imaginary relationship to a real situation?”

The urge to excel and the urge to lead aren’t the same. Sometimes I think they may be opposites.