WIST Quotations

Brust, Steven -- “A Dream of Passion” (1986)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I’d rather go through trauma than discomfort, which may be my whole problem.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
“A Dream of Passion” (1986)

Brust, Steven -- Dragon (1998)

Dave — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 13:42:05 +0000

All the pieces wish to be, if not a player, at least the piece the players are most concerned with.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Dragon (1998)

Brust, Steven -- Dragon (1998)

Dave — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 00:00:09 +0000

You judge a war according to who is in the right as long as you have no interest in the outcome; if you’re one of the participants, or if the result is going to have a major effect on you, then you have to create the moral principles that put you in the right — that’s nothing new, everyone knows it.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Dragon (1998)

Brust, Steven -- Dragon (1998)

Dave — Sat, 13 Aug 2016 03:33:20 +0000

Kragar made a sound I won’t attempt to describe. I could sense Loiosh holding back several remarks. It seems I surround myself with people who think I’m an idiot, which probably says something deep and profound about me.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Dragon (1998)

Brust, Steven -- Dragon (1998)

Dave — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 23:38:25 +0000

It’s one thing to be aware of complex strategies and lies that might be going on around you. It’s another to let yourself become so worried about deception that you become paralyzed.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Dragon (1998)

Brust, Steven -- Five Hundred Years After (1994)

Dave — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 20:37:20 +0000

“Well?” said Greycat. “Does fortune smile upon us?”
“She smiles,” said Dunaan. “And she frowns.”
“How, at the same time?”
“Yes.”
“Fortune has a very flexible countenance.”
“That is well known.”

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Five Hundred Years After (1994)

Brust, Steven -- Good Guys (2018)

Dave — Wed, 18 May 2022 21:31:19 +0000

Maybe there really is no satisfaction in revenge, but I can tell you one thing for sure: There’s no satisfaction in letting someone get away with ruining your life, either.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Good Guys (2018)
(Source)

Brust, Steven -- Good Guys (2018)

Dave — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 23:06:01 +0000

What’s old age for if not dispensing bullshit and calling it wisdom?

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Good Guys (2018)
(Source)

Brust, Steven -- Iorich (2010)

Dave — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 01:57:50 +0000

We are what we worry about, maybe that’s the lesson of the whole thing.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Iorich (2010)

Brust, Steven -- Issola (2001)

Dave — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 00:12:09 +0000

Categories, if you’ll excuse a brief digression, are a useful way to get a handle on things you don’t understand, as long as you don’t get too attached to them and forget that things like to pop out of one category and into another, and that sometimes the whole category turns itself inside out and becomes something different. It’s useful, for example, to categorize your target as a sorcerer, if he is one; but if you get too attached to your category it’ll leave you embarrassed when he suddenly pulls a knife on you.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Issola (2001)

Brust, Steven -- Issola (2001)

Dave — Sat, 03 Sep 2016 01:22:50 +0000

So I didn’t have a plan. I did, as I stood there, start to get seeds of what might, sometime, become a vague step generally in the direction of an intention. I may be stating that too strongly.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Issola (2001)

Brust, Steven -- Issola (2001)

Dave — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 23:24:08 +0000

“Simple things are never problems,” I told her. “Unfortunate, maybe, but if it isn’t complicated, it isn’t really a problem.”

The Goddess nodded. “Very good, Vlad; I didn’t expect such wisdom from you.”

I grunted and didn’t tell her I was quoting my grandfather; I’d rather she stayed impressed.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Issola (2001)

Brust, Steven -- Issola (2001)

Dave — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 22:31:57 +0000

“Okay,” I said to Teldra. “Look. I’ll concede that, over the years, I’ve learned that there’s no point in making a bad situation worse, and that it’s less work to talk yourself out of a tough spot than to slice your way out, and that words, while potentially deadly, are less deadly than Morganti daggers. But I don’t think that is quite the same thing as being courteous.”

“I believe, Lord Taltos, that it is very much the same thing.”

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Issola (2001)

Brust, Steven -- Jhegaala (2008)

Dave — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 05:20:51 +0000

Most people seem to take pleasure in feeling superior to someone. I’m not like that, which pleases me because it makes me feel superior.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Jhegaala (2008)

Brust, Steven -- Jhegaala, epigram (2008)

Dave — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 23:32:55 +0000

LEFITT: Well, that didn’t work either.
BORAAN: It most certainly did not.
LEFITT: So, your next idea?
BORAAN: A drink, of course. Maize-oishka and water. Six parts water.
LEFITT: That seems rather weak.
BORAAN: Well, but one hundred parts oishka, do you see?
LEFITT: Ah. Yes, it is all clear to me now.

— Miersen, Six Parts Water, Day Two, Act I, Scene 5

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Jhegaala, epigram (2008)

Brust, Steven -- Jhereg (1983)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Jhereg (1983)

Brust, Steven -- Jhereg, ch. 7 (1983)

Dave — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 23:25:37 +0000

I should mention that there had been many floating castles before the Interregnum. I guess the spell isn’t all that difficult, if you care to put enough work into it in the first place. The reason that they are currently out of vogue is the Interregnum itself. One day, over four hundred years ago now, sorcery stopped working … just like that. If you look around in the right places in the countryside you will still find broken husks and shattered remnants of what were once floating castles.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Jhereg, ch. 7 (1983)

Brust, Steven -- Orca [Kiera] (1996)

Dave — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 17:53:46 +0000

He’s a good person, you know. In spite of many things, including his own opinion, he’s a good person. Maybe a bit conceited, overbearing, and arrogant, but then, people without a trace of these diseases aren’t usually worth one’s time.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Orca [Kiera] (1996)

Brust, Steven -- Orca [Kiera] (1996)

Dave — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 17:57:13 +0000

That is what trust is, you know: if we never had secrets from our friends and loved ones, there would never be any need for them to trust us.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Orca [Kiera] (1996)

Brust, Steven -- Orca [Vlad] (1996)

Dave — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 18:17:22 +0000

I collected my thoughts. Someday I hope to have them all.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Orca [Vlad] (1996)

Brust, Steven -- Teckla (1987)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I sometimes wonder if my entire adult life has been spent in an effort to avoid dirty dishes. One could, I suppose, have worse goals.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Teckla (1987)

Brust, Steven -- Teckla (1987)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Everything is normal. It’s just that some normal things are weirder than other normal things.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
Teckla (1987)

Brust, Steven -- The Lord of Castle Black (2003)

Dave — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 17:29:51 +0000

“Why now,” said Tazendra. “There is an idea. What do you think of Kytraan’s idea, Piro?”
“It is one I had not thought of,” admitted Piro.
“And do you think it a good one?” said Kytraan.
“I must consider it.”
“Oh,” said Tazendra, “we have nothing against considering.”
“No, indeed,” said Kytraan. “I, myself, have been known to consider on occasion, and would scarcely begrudge another’s chance to consider.”
“That is good, then; I will do so.”
“And will you do so now?” said Tazendra.
“I am considering this very instant,” said Piro. .
“That is good,” said Kytraan.
“Yes. I could not tell, or I should not have asked,” said Tazendra.
“Then it is right that you asked.”
“Do you think so?”
“I am certain of it.”
“Well, then I am pleased.”
“And you should be. But, your pardon, I am considering.”
“Of course,” said Tazendra, falling silent.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
The Lord of Castle Black (2003)

Brust, Steven -- The Lord of Castle Black (2003)

Dave — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 21:54:59 +0000

“My lord,” said Lar, falling back upon the single statement that a servant may always rely upon when any other response is fraught with peril.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
The Lord of Castle Black (2003)

Brust, Steven -- The Paths of the Dead (2002)

Dave — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 01:17:36 +0000

Ryunac, notwithstanding the bow, appeared unhappy with the answer. “You perceive,” he said, “that this answer is not likely to make me love you.”

“Well, but it is the truth, and I have been told that the truth has always some value.”

“Indeed it has value. So much so, that it should not be squandered uselessly; especially when doing so can be dangerous.”

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
The Paths of the Dead (2002)

Brust, Steven -- The Paths of the Dead (2002)

Dave — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:24:39 +0000

The Cool Stuff Theory of Literature is as follows: All literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool. The reader will like the book to the degree that he agrees with the writer about what’s cool. And that works all the way from the external trappings to the level of metaphor, subtext, and the way one uses words. In other words, I happen not to think that full-plate armor and great big honking greatswords are cool. I don’t like ’em. I like cloaks and rapiers. So I write stories with a lot of cloaks and rapiers in ’em, ’cause that’s cool.

Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer
The Paths of the Dead (2002)

In the essay "Some Notes Toward Two Analyses of Auctorial Method and Voice" by Teresa Nielsen Hayden.

Brust, Steven -- The Phoenix Guards (1991)

Dave — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 04:00:24 +0000

It must be added, lest we be reproached for leaving out details important to our readers’ understanding of subsequent events, that the lady seemed to have all the attributes of beauty, grace and charm that make a young man’s heart beat faster and cause his eyes to widen, lest they miss the least nuance of expression or gesture. It need hardly be added that Khaavren was just of the type to appreciate all of these qualities; that is to say, he was young and a man, and had, moreover, a vivid imagination which allowed his thoughts to penetrate, if not the mind of the lady opposite him, at least the folds and angles of her gown.