"'I'm convinced that the Russians must either die of conquer,' he said, aware himself, as the others were, once the word had been spoken, that it was too rapturous and pompous for the present occasion and therefore awkward."
"Why, then, did the peoples of Europe embark on this vast expansion and, by means of conquest, conversion, and colonization, attempt to create a Eurocentric world? Was it, as some believe, because of some deep-seated, perhaps hereditary vice--some profound moral flaw? The question is unanswerable because it is wrongly posed. In setting out to conquer, subjugate, and despoil other peoples, the Europeans were merely following the example set them by their neighbors and predecessors and, indeed, conforming to the common practice of mankind. . . The interesting questions are not why they tried, but why they succeeded and why, having succeeded, they repented of their success as a sin. The success was unique in modern times; the repentance, in all of recorded history."
"Since the royal power is today Castilian, and since the excellent king and queen who rule us have chosen to make the realm of Castile the base and seat of their states, I have decided to write this book in Castilian, because language, more than all else, accompanies power."
"On the other hand, Paul's mission, addressed to educated heathens, found many converts. The Hellenes were particularly startled by the idea, then strange to them, of the existence of evil, and they began to interpret it in various ways . . ."
"Unhappy soldier, turn in your weapons to be melted down, even to your very sword: carry a musket on your shoulder or an arquebus--else you will go without wages! / Wicked, ugly invention, how did you find a place in human hearts? You have destroyed military glory, and dishonoured the profession of arms; valour and martial skill are now discredited, so that often the miscreant will appear a better man than the valiant. Because of you no longer may boldness and courage go into the field to match their strength. / Many a baron, many a knight now lies in the earth, and so shall many more on your account, before this war is ended which has brought tears to all the world but most of all to Italy. I have said it, and I speak no lie: the man who invented such abominable contraptions was crueller by far than all the most evil of evil geniuses the world has known."
"I think that if one were to order all mankind to bring together into a single pile all that each individual considered shameful, and then again to take from this mass what each thought seemly, nothing would be left, but they would all, severally, take away everything."
"When your interest is aroused in some subject, when you want to know all about it - what it represents, how it is linked with its surroundings and what significance it has for me and my contemporaries - you look first of all for a suitable book where all this might be described. You hope that, reading it, you will find peace and be able to pass to other matters until the demon of curiosity again seizes your heart."
"We also live in such unsmelly times, with most everyone bathing and washing clothes regularly, and public sanitation working invisibly and reliably to sweep away the foul detritus of the day, that the ordinary person may find herself sensitive to fragrance the way you might find yourself sensitive to noise after spending a week at a spiritual retreat where everyone talks in whispers and walks in cotton socks. If you'd like to overcome a general oversensitivity about perfumes, the best cure is to find perfumes you like and to let them teach you to enjoy smelling beautiful things. If instead you'd rather demand that the world be utterly scent-free, you're a drag."
"He was a hard shrewd politician, whose acts of kindness served his interest and whose interest was himself. His type is panhuman. I had met him on Earth, and on Hain, and on Ollul. I expect to meet him in Hell."
Ex Libris Kirkland (formerly known as "I Just Read . . .") is where I quote, at length, something I found interesting in my reading. The selected passages might be funny, or sad, or true, or false, or irritating, but they all bear thinking about - or at least writing down.
