We write dust epitaphs for our vanquished enemies and watch them blow away in the desert wind.

Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to respect but never yield to. Pain was simply a message, telling him which limbs he could still use to slaughter his enemies, how far he could still run, and what his chances were in the next battle.

Killing isn't free. It takes something out of you every time you do it. You get their life; they get a piece of your soul. It's always a trade.

I do not fight battles that cannot be won. Do not confuse that with cowardice.

Laws are confusing documents. They get in the way of justice.

At first, when California started winning its water lawsuits and shutting off cities, the displaced people just followed the water-right to California. It took a little while before the bureaucrats realized what was going on, but finally someone with a sharp pencil did the math and realized that taking in people along with their water didn't solve a water shortage.

Knowledge is always two-edged. For every benefit, there is hazard. For every good, evil.