The recent spate of reviews

If you were paying attention--actually, even if you weren't it would be hard not to notice--I did something like 50 reviews yesterday (give or take 46), all books by the same author. Basically, I wanted to review them, but knowing that most of you wouldn't be that interested in them I figured I'd just get them all out of my system at once instead of dragging them out over days or weeks, and Sunday's a pretty slow blog day anyway, so there they were. Anyway, that logic seemed to make sense at the time.

I'm going to draw from those books once more, though, to share with you some quotations from some of those books that I found interesting or amusing.

“There are many who are contemptuous of the intellectual process. But those who aren’t afraid of it sometimes discover that the further you go from the ordinary, day-to-day world, the more understanding you can achieve of it; and the more you understand of the world, the more you can act, instead of being acted upon.” – Athyra

Not knowledge for its own sake, but knowledge in the service of understanding, for the purpose of living better.

“I filled a pocket with some extra biscuits to eat on the way. They weren’t all that bad, really, as long as you didn’t compare them to anything good.” – Dragon

Heh. It's all relative.

“You know we hardened soldiers are all philosophers, and philosophers are all poets. Well, actually, we hardened soldiers are usually drunks and whoremongers, but philosophy’s a good way to pass the time in between.” – Dragon

I was amused by this, but there's also a lot to be said for philosophizing that occurs in the context of life rather than wholly apart from it.

“There is a subtle but important difference, Vlad, between thinking only of yourself, and seeing the world as it affects you.” She smiled suddenly. “And the difference, by the way, is exactly what courtesy is all about.”
…
“Morrolan is generous, and self-sacrificing, and always glad to be of help to a friend, but sometimes he sees things first from how they affect him. It means he will sometimes go into a situation wondering what he should do, rather than wondering what needs to be done.”
 “That’s pretty subtle, Teldra.”
 “Not as subtle as you might think. Or, rather, it is a case where subtleties can become very large. Sometimes, for example, you step into a situation where the thing that needs to be done is nothing at all; someone looking at it from his own perspective is unlikely to realize this.” –Issola

I think he kind of blurs his distinctions here a bit. Seeing how the world affects oneself is fine, as long as it isn't necessarily the first reaction. It's more important to see what needs to be done in a given situation and then worry about how that affects oneself. It's about finding a balance between the objective and the subjective, ultimately.

[What are young humans like?]
 “Brash, cocky, and convinced we can beat anything that walks, flies, or swims, and that we know all the answers to everything.”
 “Rather like Dzur, then.”
 “I guess. I’m generalizing from one example here, but everyone generalizes from one example. At least, I do.” – Issola

True, true, and funny.

“doubt is less easily dispelled than illusion, and with doubt come[s] tentative half-measures—and nothing worthwhile has ever been accomplished through tentative half-measures.” – Issola

When you've been told lies or when you've believed something that turned out to be true, those illusions are easy enough to deal with. Doubt, however, is far more insidious. The former is a question of knowledge, while the latter is a question of understanding. It's understanding that is necessary to act.

Your thoughts?

tags: quotes of the day  books  "serious"  

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