he was too set in his ways to recognize my brilliance

a reformed man is worth ten men virtuous from birth, for he understands temptation and will strive the harder to not stray

Rui and Dasu foamed at their mouths and called the edict a crime against civilization. But Mapidéré knew perfectly well that what they were really objecting to was the loss of power

The world was still so imperfect, and great men were always misunderstood by their own age

If you try to obey the law, and the judges call you a criminal anyway, then you might as well live up to the name.”

We are outlaws only because Xana’s laws leave no room for honest men

Of course. Parents always want their children to run as far as they can on their chosen path. If you’ve chosen to be a bandit, be the best bandit you can be, and your mother will be proud of you

You’re the mount I have been seeking, just as you have been seeking your rider. For too long we both languished in obscurity, away from our true roles on the world-stage. It is only when beings of true quality are matched to their stations that the world can prosper again.

These men have simple dreams: a plot of land, a few possessions, a warm house, conversation with friends, and a happy wife and healthy children. They remember the smallest acts of kindness and think me a good man because of a few exaggerated stories. They’ve raised me on their shoulders and called me duke, and I have a duty to help them get a little closer to their dream

We are old friends,” Cogo said. “But men have roles and masks that they wear, and these have a reality of their own. Authority is a delicate thing, and it must be carefully cultivated by proper ritual and action from the governing and the governed alike

people won’t take you seriously if they see your old friends treat you as an equal. It will confuse them. An actor playing a king on stage will make the audience believe that he really is king when all his fellow players behave as if he were king and follow the proprieties. But if one of the troupe winks at the audience, the illusion is broken. You’re the Duke of Zudi now, and it’s best if you make it clear that you are in charge, no matter who you’re talking to

brevity of life compared to the eternal indifference of the natural world

A dandelion is a strong but misunderstood flower.” Remembering his courtship with Jia, Kuni felt his eyes grow warm. “It cannot be defeated: Just when a gardener thinks he has won and eradicated it from his lawn, a rain would bring the yellow florets right back. Yet it’s never arrogant: Its color and fragrance never overwhelm those of another. Immensely practical, its leaves are delicious and medicinal, while its roots loosen hard soils, so that it acts as a pioneer for other more delicate flowers. But best of all, it’s a flower that lives in the soil but dreams of the skies. When its seeds take to the wind, it will go farther and see more than any pampered rose, tulip, or marigold.

Seems to be a lot of effort aimed at keeping up appearances,” Mata said. “Show, not substance.”
“Show is substance

You would have won more hearts by being merciful.”
“Being compassionate to one’s enemies means being cruel to one’s own soldiers

Forget about the fickle woman. She has played with both of your affections, and she is not worthy of your anger

All his life, he realized, had been a prologue to this moment.
It was time to fulfill his promise to his father

Will you soar as high as a Mingén falcon though you might die trying, or will you spend a lifetime safely pecking at grains of rice scattered under someone else’s eaves

achievement had a way of lowering a man’s tolerance for risk

Then you do not know young people at all, Chief Kyzen. The young often want that which the old detest and fear. The yearning for the new, for something different glimpsed but faintly through legends and shadows, cannot be taken from them—not unless you freeze their hearts and imprison their minds. Yet, you say you wish Tan Adü to remain free

The soft invasion of your traders and preachers may do far more damage to us than your arms ever would. The lure of your wealth and novel ways and your fantastical possessions may prove irresistible to those who are too young to understand their danger. If your men poison and corrupt the hearts of our young, then we are doomed. As you say, the young often want that which is harmful because they lack experience

Collecting talented friends was one of Kuni’s favorite hobbies, and Luan Zya was one of Kuni’s most prized acquisitions

Politics is the highest of the arts, and perhaps someday you will understand

The common people are like unruly children. If you give them candy always, they will think they should be given even more. But if you slap them hard and then hand them candy, they will come crawling to you and lick your hand.”

Friendships among men tend to not survive great rises or falls of fortune

It is how actions are seen that matters, not what was intended

My gambit was designed to cut off the empire’s head in one swift stroke and lessen the number of good men who might have to die. Though I knew well that you could have vanquished the Imperial army on your own, yet was it not a good thing to try to preserve the lives of your loyal followers from Tunoa? If I could, by my actions, prevent one mother from losing a son, one wife from losing a husband, one sister from losing a brother, would it not have been my duty to act?”

Sometimes those who lit the spark that began a conflagration must be consumed by it lest the fire burn on indefinitely.

You’ve followed me and suffered a great deal of hardship. I’m sorry I can’t give you more

I’ve always thought it nonsense to believe something true simply because it was written in a book long ago. Mata is the one who thinks the past was perfect, but I think we must perfect the present for the future. I believe she did what she did because she thought it necessary, and I would not act the hypocrite

You cannot take refuge in toothless platitudes when it suits you, Jia

Some believe that the world is a fate-shaken sieve where men and women are sorted out by their innate qualities; others believe that we carve out our own destinies by luck and skill. Yet, either way, those in high places have a duty to do more because they’re more powerful. If you value safety so much, you should never have said yes the day Kuni asked you to yoke your fate to his.

There’s never going to be an end to suffering if ‘he deserves it’ is all the justification people need for inflicting pain.

isn’t authority itself a form of smokecraft too? It relies on performance, stage management, and the power of suggestion

The misunderstanding between Mata and me may appear to be a matter of competition for honor, for credit and empty fame. But the roots go far deeper than that. Now that I have seen the larger world, I wish to change it, as does Mata. But while he wishes to restore the world to a state that never was, I wish to bring it to a state that has not yet been seen

She wasn’t just teaching the officers and foot soldiers; she was also teaching them how to teach. The Dasu army was going to have to grow a lot if the snake was going to swallow an elephant, and she needed to install values and practices that would scale

Even a brilliant mind sometimes needs a dull stone to sharpen itself

We talk often of the hundreds of thousands who died in Mapidéré’s wars, but we rarely speak of the many lives that might have been lost had he not stopped the incessant petty wars between the Tiro states. We talk often of the many who were forced to labor in his Mausoleum, but we rarely speak of the many who would have died from diseases or starvation without the reservoirs and roads he built. Only the gods know if the emphases and omissions in our histories will sway the opinions of men down the ages. A man’s legacy is a hard thing to foresee, especially when passions still run hot, and it is so much easier to speak ill than well.

I’ve always told myself I loved the people, but how can I speak of love when I can’t even raise my own children? I’ve always told myself I’m a compassionate lord, but how can I speak of compassion when I’ve killed so many and betrayed so many others?
“I cannot say that I’m a good man, only that I’m a man who tried to do good. I like to believe that the people will remember me fondly, but I also know that the legacies of men cannot be foreseen during their lifetimes. I do not know if I’m the man who will complete the task you dream of, for that is a question that must be asked of our descendants in a thousand years.”

If it’s a mask, it’s a very good mask. How can you ever truly know the heart of someone? You and your husband are both natural actors, but if you’re performing, you’ve kept up that performance for your servants, for the powerless, for the low and base. Sometimes there is no distinction between the role and the player.”

this is the only way to get the common people to be interested.”
“I know that. But this seems . . . too much. We’ve done some things that we are not proud of either, and we may yet commit more sins in the future. If we denounce Mata like this, people will think us hypocrites.”
“Hypocrisy troubles only the unrighteous

Whether the path is well-lit or dark,” said Rin, “what matters is that we get there.”

To know the future is to have no choice,” Luan continued, “to be words fixed on a page by someone else. We can only do what we think is best, trusting that it will all somehow work out

The more perfect the ideals, the less ideal the methods

The judgment of history cannot be ascertained from up close. You see the condemnation of the people of this generation, but you cannot foresee how their descendants will view your deeds in the future. If you do not attack now and end this war, the killing will never stop. In another ten years, or twenty, Dasu and Cocru will again face each other on the battlefield, blood will again stain the Liru River, and the people of Dara will again suffer and die

The grace of kings is not the same as the morals governing individuals

We’ve worked hard to win the hearts of the people,” said Kuni. “But let’s not lose them carelessly now that success has been achieved.”
Cogo immediately apologized and begged forgiveness, but he didn’t say what he was apologizing for.
Kuni laughed. “I’m not angry at you, Cogo. I understand that if the water is too clear, we will have no fish. A certain amount of privilege is allowed to those who hold power. But let’s keep it reasonable, all right

in some ways, Kuni and his advisers were too optimistic, as the judgment of history may not be final even a thousand years later.