Charles E. Gannon

“Nice bluff—but I was born on the planet that invented poker.”

“Beings that can laugh at themselves, particularly their own foibles, stand the greatest chance of attaining wisdom.”

“Zkhee’ah Drur the Elder had once observed that while one is yet alive to complain of misfortune, the greatest of all misfortunes has not yet occurred. But this turn of affairs seemed very close to disproving that ancient axiom.”

“You are to be congratulated on your talent for deception.”

“Richard, we have fallen into the common trap of seeing ourselves at the center of the universe: all that goes on around us somehow has us as its subject and raison d’etre. But in reality, all the events, all the plans, all the acts we interpret as intentionally malign—or benign—to us may, in fact, have almost nothing to do with our species.”

““You are a traitor to your own race, servitor.”“No. I am its true servant, because the prerequisite of success is a ruthlessly clear understanding of reality, of the facts with which we must contend. Without that, all plans begin in error, and so, they must end in disaster.””

““Stosh, you are insane.”“I am inspired. They are frequently confused.””

“The only proper course of action regarding humanity was to leave it alone, and, if possible, isolate it. Just as one would handle any other sophont that was quite irremediably and dangerously insane.”

“Sometimes, thinking just didn’t do any good, didn’t provide any answers. Because for some questions—such as the arbitrariness of life and death during wartime—there weren’t any answers.”

“You gotta remember that in war, you’re not deciding between the bad thing to and the good thing. You’re choosing between the bad and the worse. And you can’t control the shit that happens after you choose.”

“The total lack of information is a kind of information in itself.”

“That means we have nothing to shoot at, no efficacious response. So we do something pointless. And we feel better.”

““Damn,” muttered Opal, staring after him, “guess he flunked charm school.””

“I find it interesting how many of you, when watching a plan go awry, are so blinded by your frustration that you are unable to learn from what you have witnessed.”

““Caine has a serious flaw when it comes to working for the government.”“Which is?”“Well, he has this real bad habit of telling the truth.””

“It’s bad enough that you’re plying a trade for which you haven’t the aptitude or integrity, but you could at least check your conclusion against the facts.”

“If there are any competent journalists here, I’m ready for their inquiries.”

“Besides being grossly unprofessional and misinformed, just why is that a relevant inquiry?”

“What gives with him? Does he take jerk pills?”

““And saying that doesn’t get you in trouble, does it?”His smile broadened. “Nope. Not a bit.” He straightened up, stuck out his hand. “I’m glad I was able to come and give you the inside scoop on—absolutely nothing. And on the people who have absolutely nothing to do with it.”Caine smiled. “Your failure to impart any information has been very illuminating.””