77 Quotes by C. J. Cherryh

He watched the desert slip under the airship’s nose, and the land roughened into highlands over which he had traveled at great cost, in great pain – dreamlike, such speed, looking down on a world where time moved more slowly, where realities were different and immediate and he had learned for a time to live.

It lent a Man a certain peace of mind... to ride through threats and terrors unhearing: it even lent a man a certain real protection, for he could not hear temptation and bad advice to be swayed by it, but it was no protection at all when power reached out with tangible results and brought down the lightning.

Average people didn’t analyze what they thought: they thought they thought, and half of it was gut reaction.

It represents a real point of consensus we haven’t got now, and a lot of people were willing to give up things they wanted so they could get that agreement. It was a point in human history where all of Union agreed to a set of priorities, and now we’ll either prove that agreement still binds everybody, or we’ll prove somebody with enough guns can run everything at any given moment; and that means no peace, even for them.

If you’re up against a smart opponent, make him think himself to death.

He had read about evil in Efanor’s little book, and how it permeated the doings of Men, but he had never foud such doings evil, rather good and bad... but none without self-interest, none he could not understand even in terms of his own will to have his way.

The world was full of life, more life than they could hold back with guns or fences; it came into the town at night; it seduced the children and year by year crept closer.

Rattle a lawyer’s door and you get more lawyers.

You know its shape, since you have it. Give it up, and be paid. Or don’t – and be paid, hani, be paid then too.