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Quote by Steven Erikson

“Sapper, listen to me. It’s easy to listen and even easier to hear wrongly, so pay attention. I’m no wise man, but in my life I’ve learned that knowing something—seeing it clearly—offers no real excuse for giving up on it. And when you put what you see into words, give ’em to somebody else, that ain’t no invitation neither. Being optimistic’s worthless if it means ignoring the suffering of this world. Worse than worthless. It’s bloody evil. And being pessimistic, well, that’s just the first step on the path, and it’s a path that might take you down Hood’s road, or it takes you to a place where you can settle into doing what you can, hold fast in your fight against that suffering. And that’s an honest place, Cuttle.”

Quote by Steven Erikson

Work

Dust of Dreams

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Author

Steven Erikson
Steven Erikson

Steven Erikson (born October 7, 1959) is a renowned Canadian novelist, best known for his epic fantasy series Malazan Book of the Fallen. Born in Toronto, he holds a background in archaeology and anthropology, having worked on archaeological projects in Canada and the UK. Erikson's writing is characterized by complex world-building, multi-perspective narratives, and profound philosophical themes, blending history, mythology, and human nature. The Malazan series is widely regarded as a landmark in modern fantasy literature, influencing countless readers and writers. His works have been nominated for major awards, including the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award. more

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“12. So then, he that is left without chastisement is so left by the Divine judgment, and God is long-suffering towards some sinners, not without reason, but because it will be good for them, having regard to the immortality of the soul and eternal life, that they be not too soon assisted in the attainment of salvation, but be slowly brought thereto after they have had experience of much evil. For as physicians, though they might quickly cure a man, will adopt the opposite of remedial measures whenever they suspect lurking mischief, because by so doing they mean to make the cure more permanent, and think it better to keep the patient for a long time in feverishness and sickness, so that he may make a sounder recovery, than that he should soon seem to pick up strength, but suffer a relapse, and the too hasty cure prove to be only temporary: so God also, knowing the secrets of the heart and having foreknowledge of the future, in His long-suffering perhaps lets things take their course, and by means of outward circumstances draws forth the secret evil, in order to cleanse him, who through neglect, has harboured the seeds of sin; so that a man having vomited them when they have come to the surface, even if he be far gone in wickedness, may afterwards find strength when he has been cleansed from his wickness and been renewed. For God governs the souls of men, not, if I may so speak, according to the scale of an earthly life of fifty years, but by the measure of eternity; for He has made the intellectual nature incorruptible and akin to Himself; and the rational soul is not debarred of healing, as if this present life were all.”

“What are we going to tell the Intergalactic Council of Ministers the first time one of our teenage mothers threw her newborn baby into a dumpster, huh? How're we gonna explain that to the space people? How are we gonna let them know that our ambassador was only late for the meeting because his breakfast was cold and he had to spend half an hour punching his wife around the kitchen? What are they gonna think when they find out that it's just a local custom that over 80 million women in the Third World have had their clitorises forcibly removed in order to reduce their sexual pleasures so they won't cheat on their husbands? Can't you just sense how eager the rest of the universe is for us to show up? Can't you see them out there?”

“Si quelqu’un a volé, ou porté atteinte à autrui, ou même tué un autre homme, on envoie quérir la Clairvoyante. Car certains font le mal sans en ressentir aucune honte. Et nombre d’entre eux parviennent à cacher leurs scrupules au plus profond de leur conscience en se trouvant de multiples excuses. Ils vont parfois même jusqu’à se convaincre qu’ils étaient dans leur bon droit en commettant leur crime. Mais lorsqu’ils rencontrent la Clairvoyante, ils ne peuvent plus se cacher leurs méfaits ni les dissimuler aux autres. La plupart des hommes connaissent le repentir. Et quand il m’arrive de rencontrer quelqu’un qui n’en éprouve pas ou presque, je fais en sorte qu’il ressente une douleur. Car j’ai appris à utiliser ce don inhabituel qui est aussi le tien.”

“It sets one dreaming—to interchange thoughts with beings whose thinking had an organic background wholly different from ours (other senses, other appetites), to be unenviously humbled by intellects possibly superior to our own yet able for that very reason to descend to our level, to descend lovingly ourselves if we met innocent and childlike creatures who could never be as strong or as clever as we, to exchange with the inhabitants of other worlds that especially keen and rich affection which exists between unlikes; it is a glorious dream. But make no mistake. It is a dream. We are fallen. We know what our race does to strangers. Man destroys or enslaves every species he can. Civilized man murders, enslaves, cheats, and corrupts savage man. Even inanimate nature he turns into dust bowls and slag-heaps. There are individuals who don’t. But they are not the sort who are likely to be our pioneers in space. Our ambassador to new worlds will be the needy and greedy adventurer or the ruthless technical expert. They will do as their kind has always done. What that will be if they meet things weaker than themselves, the black man and the red man can tell. If they meet things stronger, they will be, very properly, destroyed.”