Carlo Zen > Quotes

“Those who can adapt to the sudden paradigm shift and new environment do. Obey the rules. Search for the loopholes. Sneer at the guidelines despite being bound by them. In the end, everyone learns that rules are necessary to make the system run smoothly.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“The moment a person loses the capacity to think, to question, Tanya considers them no longer human but a machine. And that is why the individual Tanya Degurechaff reveres thought, loves debate, and sneers at dogmatism from the bottom of her heart.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“In an isolated space, humans would submit to power and authority, while those in dominant positions would wield it without restriction. Analysis of this phenomenon, known as "obedience to authority," yielded shocking results. Surprisingly, this deference had nothing to do with a person's rationality, sensibility, or personality but instead the product of remarkable deindividuation triggered by the assignment of roles.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“She had a thick aura of battle around her, and her face was almost doll-like, it was so pleasant to look at. Vacant blue eyes, blond hair tinged dark gray.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“I wish the enemy would hesitate to shoot when they see me, but you can't expect humanitarianism on the battlefield.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“I want to weep for lack of such a noble concept -- a soldier's right to refuse.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“If you're claiming to be the Supreme Being (even if you're not doing a very good job at it), I wish you were a bit more mentally mature.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“The shovel is truly an implement born of civilisation.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 2: Plus Ultra

“The worst thing was that even if you did your own job, if your teammate failed to do theirs, you could be blown away along with them. And yet, if you focused only on strengthening your own defenses, someone else could get killed. All we could do was trust our teammates, and those who failed were mercilessly culled. We'd been thrown into an extreme situation that was just like the front lines. In the end, we barely slept at all.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“Messing with people's lives is quite honestly a lot of fun, but it's completely unacceptable for me to be on the receiving end like this. Why can't I decide how to live my own life? Isn't my existence as an individual the least I should be able to control?”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“Obey the rules. Search for the loopholes. Sneer at the guidelines despite being bound by them.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult

“Everything comes down to how work is outsourced. There are more options out there than the subpar you-get-what-you-pay-for. The saying "Every man to his trade" is true in the same way as the Ricardian formulation of comparative advantage*. Tanya's quiet voice is a good excuse to delegate this job.

Ricardian formulation of comparative advantage - Also known as the comparative cost theory. The basis of commerce theory. To put it in extremely simple terms, it says that everyone should make what they are good at and trade it.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 4 Dabit deus his quoque finem.

“Children are taught that they are all equally unique and irreplaceable. But it isn't hard to find disparities that contradict these familiar maxims.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult

“Freedom without laws means anarchy; laws without freedom means tyranny. So as much as they hate restrictions, they fear unlimited freedom.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult

“I feel like a circus monkey being forced to perform for other monkeys.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 2: Plus Ultra

“But ironically, now having seen those qualities made incarnate, Lergen realized that the highest form of the Imperial Army's desires was simply another way to describe a monster. And it filled him with fear.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 (1) Deus lo vult

“The moment they hear what she says, her subordinates erupt together in laughter and whistles; none of them looks worried. They all wear cheerful smiles that say, Let's give it to 'em!
Well, even if it's nothing more than pre-sortie bravado, I'm glad they have wherewithal to put on a brave face. It means they trust me enough not to complain in my presence.
A superior who isn't trusted by their subordinates is liable to be dismissed for lack of management ability, so this is key.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 4 Dabit deus his quoque finem.

“As Tanya gazes at the enemy unit through her binoculars, shells plow the earth right where they were meant to, turning people into fertilizer. In other words, this is the correct way of waging war—taking organic life and rendering it past tense through the use of ammunitions.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult

“You weren't supposed to break treaties; you were supposed to force the other party to break them.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 2: Plus Ultra

“Attn: Service Corps, Imperial Army General Staff Office We guide him always, abandon him never, go where there is no path, never yielding, forever on the battlefield. Everything we do, we do for victory. We seek mages for the worst battlefields, the smallest rewards, days darkened by a forest of swords and hails of bullets, and constant danger with no guarantee of survival. To those who return go the glory and the honor. General Staff Office 601st Formation Committee”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult

“Incidentally, people say there is a fine line between the brilliant and the insane, but I feel like it’s actually fairly easy to tell them apart. If by the end of a conversation you’re filled with the urge to empty an entire magazine into someone, they’re nuts. If you can hold another amicable conversation with them, they’re brilliant.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult

“Napoleon France’s great revolutionary soldier and politician. Just like Germany’s fellow with the toothbrush mustache, he’s an example of how an outsider manipulated the powers that be. This one lost, but he is well regarded, so you won’t get thrown in jail for talking about him in France.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult

“Captain Tanya von Degurechaff, who isn’t getting any taller even though she should be growing and has trouble with equipment sizes, can’t avoid feeling conscious of her height issue—especially when she is surrounded by battle-hardened women mages (rare as they were) with great bodies.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 1: Deus lo Vult

“This is the wonderful Rhine front, where the Republican Army will throw periodic welcome parties for any useless bodies who deserve to be disposed of, and you can get promoted two ranks in no time at all.”
― Carlo Zen

“This is where a human’s life is worth the least. No, the lowest price is updated each day after hitting limit-down at this nearest station to hell. This is where the god of the dead and evil spirits make bank. A world where human lives plunge into dreadful deflation relative to lead bullets. This is a purgatory where the boundary between life and death is the haziest it ever gets.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 2: Plus Ultra

“If you don’t admit your mistake, that mistake will crush you.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 5: Abyssus Abyssum Invocat

“Of course, statistics lie. But they’re the best kind of lies.”
― Carlo Zen, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 3: The Finest Hour

“Though it depends on the time and place, putting on a silly grin and countering a joke with a joke has its merits. Clowning around can ease nerves and serve as a tool for employing some of humanity's highly developed linguistic abilities: criticism and cursing.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 4 Dabit deus his quoque finem.

“So in the worst case, we continue delaying and try to cause as much damage as possible?”
“That’s our only choice. Either way, a soldier is a rotten thing to be.”
― Carlo Zen

“Even if it doesn't have anything to do with the current mission, that human tendency toward certain modes of thinking must be important for mental stability.
We need to believe in freedom, fairness, and the market. Humans are political animals by nature.
If that's the case... we should act politically as well, competing freely and fairly in the market.
...
Conversely, in an environment where there is no market, there's no need to play fair.”
― Carlo Zen, 幼女戦記 4 Dabit deus his quoque finem.