He walked down the corridor, lined with his soldiers, who looked at him with love, with awe, with trust. Except Bean, who looked at him with anguish. Ender Wiggin was not larger than life, Bean knew. He was exactly life-sized, and so his larger-than-life burden was too much for him. And yet he was bearing it. So far.
Orson Scott CardOh, Val," said Father. "All you have to do is live your life, and everyone around you will be happier." "No greatness, then." "Val," said Mother, "goodness trumps greatness any day." "Not in the history books," said Valentine. "Then the wrong people are writing history, aren't they?" said Father.
Orson Scott CardI will love you forever, he thought. I am lying, he thought, and this time he was right
Orson Scott CardWriterโs block is my unconscious mind telling me that something Iโve just written is either unbelievable or unimportant to me, and I solve it by going back and reinventing some part of what Iโve already written so that when I write it again, it is believable and interesting to me. Then I can go on. Writerโs block is never solved by forcing oneself to โwrite through it,โ because you havenโt solved the problem that caused your unconscious mind to rebel against the story, so it still wonโt work โ for you or for the reader.
Orson Scott CardThe tribe is whatever we believe it is. If we say the tribe is all the Little Ones in the forest, and all the trees, then that is what the tribe is. Even though some of the oldest trees here came from warriors of two different tribes, fallen in battle. We become one tribe because we say we're one tribe." Ender marveled at his mind, this small raman [member of another sentient species]. How few humans were able to grasp this idea, or let it extend beyond the narrow confines of their tribe, their family, their nation.
Orson Scott Card