Richard Swan > Quotes

“Beware the idiot, the zealot and the tyrant; each clothes himself in the armour of ignorance.”
― Richard Swan, The Justice of Kings

“Tyranny loves apathy, but it fears a sword in the hand of a good man.”
― Richard Swan, The Trials of Empire

“They just gleefully spouted mistruths that were so outrageous and stupid there was no way to properly engage with them.”
― Richard Swan, The Tyranny of Faith

“Power does things to a man’s mind. It unlocks his baser instincts which the process of civilisation has before occluded. Powerful men are closer in mind to wild beasts than they are to their supposed human inferiors.”
― Richard Swan, The Justice of Kings

“Few things in this life can be guaranteed with greater certainty than the incredible contrivances men will go to to generate money from nothing at all.” PHILOSOPHER AND JURIST FRANCIS GERECHT”
― Richard Swan, The Justice of Kings

“Few people will thank you for being cleverer than them. A man will prefer the ravings of his neighbour over the word of the most learned scholar in Sova.” SIR WILLIAM THE HONEST”
― Richard Swan, The Justice of Kings

“When one is faced with such naked evil, there is a temptation to believe that the commonfolk will see it for what it is. In reality it is tenacious, like a weed. It alters perceptions and tolerances slowly, insidiously. It must be fought constantly, and cut out at the roots.”
― Richard Swan, The Trials of Empire

“Forgive me; I was taking my cue from you. I thought we had reached the point in the session where we simply spoke whatever nonsense entered our brains.”
― Richard Swan, The Tyranny of Faith

“Beware the tyrant – he clothes himself in the armour of ignorance’.”
― Richard Swan, The Trials of Empire

“Death is the reward for hope.”
― Richard Swan, The Tyranny of Faith

“It is a curious thing, is it not, that you can be more like him than he is himself.”
― Richard Swan, The Trials of Empire

“von Osterlen was a pragmatic and intelligent woman. Such people rarely indulged in religious practice save what was required of them.”
― Richard Swan, The Trials of Empire

“There is something so contemptible about newsmen. Their salt is misery, their butter woe. Their job is to distil the wretchedness of millions into inches on a sheet, and capture its most despondent and salacious essence.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“About his feet was a large pool of fresh blood – and crushed to a fine paste between the shut gates, like a burst sausage, was a body. A single green eye, hanging from a smear of gore, looked out accusingly at us from the gap.”
― Richard Swan, The Tyranny of Faith

“The father of misfortune sires many children.”
― Richard Swan, The Tyranny of Faith

“Sova in all things.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“There was never a good time to die, but it also seemed like now was a particularly bad one.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“Stupidity loves company, whilst wisdom must prepare for a lifetime of solitude.” SIR WILLIAM THE HONEST”
― Richard Swan, The Tyranny of Faith

“The ambassador is more warrior than any member of the general staff. By the power of his words alone are entire nations disassembled.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“Bad tidings and wise counsel are as easily ignored as one another.”
― Richard Swan, The Justice of Kings

“It was hard not to be coloured by the swamp of prejudice when you were anchored to its bed.”
― Richard Swan, The Justice of Kings

“In the same way that we would not tolerate a man walking up to our house and smashing it down with an axe, so must we find intolerable the actions of a man who would destroy the scaffold about which we construct our society.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“Peter once again took the time to unburden himself, wary that he was treating Furlan like a Neman confessor.
“The first casualty under my command,” he said.
Furlan grunted, tiring of this dynamic. “There will be others.”
“You seem uniquely inured to it.”
“Is that what you think?”
“Well, yes,” Peter said, doubtfully. “Perhaps not.”
“Perhaps not indeed.”
There was an awkward pause. “You know, moments before the accident, I heard something.”
“What do you mean?”
“A voice whispered in my ear.”
Furlan considered this for a moment. “What did it say?” he asked, in a tone of voice which suggested he didn’t particularly want to know the answer. His lips glistened with brandy in the light from the cookfire.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“She had been careful not to give the men – boys, really, in spirit – the satisfaction of her ire. Instead she had simply rolled her eyes and left, biting down the fury which had filled her.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“That night Peter was awoken from a broken and unsatisfactory sleep by a blood-curdling scream – a real one this time. The rain had stopped, though the trees dripped so persistently that it might as well not have.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“Yours has always been a life of wealth, and privilege. You face adversity only because you confect intrigues. You could have spent your time, your life, in unutterable luxury. Everything you have ever wanted is merely on the other side of a coin. You cannot fathom what my life is, what it is like to live it, who I am and where I have come from. You simply do not have the mental scaffolding upon which to build the thoughts. The complexity of my explanation is not something that can be picked apart and analysed and solved, it is one of emotion which is beyond your ability to comprehend. I am here for a thousand reasons which defy reason. And if you cannot turn your mind to it, do not burden me with the responsibility of educating you.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“I’ve known graveyards with more bustle,” the lieutenant of the Fusiliers murmured to his men.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“Truth is found at the bottom of the brandy glass and the top of the scaffold.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“His clothes, now damp and in no way designed to accommodate rapid movement, chafed his groin and armpits and neck.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire

“Furlan gave him a strange look, almost as though he had been betrayed. “Good thinking, Lieutenant,” he said tightly.
Peter turned to Cathassach. He gestured to the hall. “Go and have a look, would you?”
The Black Mountain appeared singularly unimpressed with this instruction, but nonetheless complied.”
― Richard Swan, Grave Empire