Rick Partlow > Quotes

“Once upon a time, it would have made me sick to do that to another human being...but after nearly a decade as a cop, I wasn't quite so forgiving with my definition of humanity.”
― Rick Partlow, Birthright

“Don’t fucking worry about that,” I’d assured him. “I may be shooting before I get out of the fucking dropship.” Everyone had laughed like they’d thought I was joking.”
― Rick Partlow, Contact Front

“The only easy day was yesterday, and the only good time was last time.”
― Rick Partlow, Contact Front

“didn’t want to hope. Hope was counting on shit I couldn’t control,”
― Rick Partlow, Contact Front

“The world breaks everyone and afterward, many are stronger in the broken places. But those it cannot break, it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure that it will kill you, too, but there will be no special hurry."---Ernest Hemingway.”
― Rick Partlow, Duty, Honor, Planet: The Complete Trilogy

“tachypsychia”
― Rick Partlow, Judgment Day

“reading the text copy. “Where three protestors against the launch of the armed American space mission to investigate the landing of the Visitor starship on Mars set themselves on fire. The identities of the dead have not yet been determined, but nothing of the sort has been seen since the Vietnam War protests in the 1960s.” “Jesus,” Lee murmured. “The tumult and chaos outside the houses of power in the Capitol were mirrored by the violence within the halls of the House of Representatives.” “Warmongering terrorists from this administration are going to drag us into a war!” Morales recognized the congressman screaming the accusation. He was from California because of course he was, a slender dagger of a man dressed in a suit that cost more than Morales made in a month, though he styled himself as a champion of the poor. “Not just with the Russians, but with advanced aliens who could destroy this entire planet!” Spittle flecked from his mouth as he clutched the microphone against the grip of the sergeant-at-arms who tried to pull him away, and the Speaker of the House slammed her gavel. “You”
― Rick Partlow, World War Mars

“no plan ever got implemented if you just sat around coming up with contingencies.”
― Rick Partlow, Return Fire

“fair?”
― Rick Partlow, Retribution

“It was something that had taken me a long time to figure out and might have explained all the bad decisions I’d made in my personal life, when I’d had the luxury of sitting around and kicking different possibilities back and forth until I came up with the exact wrong one.”
― Rick Partlow, Enemy Forces

“Things are not so bad,” Papa said. “We have a closet full to the top with rice and beans. We have a solid house and the rain will not get you wet unless you run outside like a squawking chicken.”
― Rick Partlow, Kinetic Strike

“Fuck,” Wade commented, punching at the controls of the communications console like it owed him money. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” “Yeah, well put,” I murmured.”
― Rick Partlow, Home Front

“So that’s why God made 2nd lieutenants, to block that shit before it can hit the NCOs.”
― Rick Partlow, Danger Close

“grim frown that could have been weaponized and declared a war crime with little effort.”
― Rick Partlow, The Acheron

“Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become."---Brooke Foss Westcott.”
― Rick Partlow, Duty, Honor, Planet: The Complete Trilogy

“Offices are such a human thing, he thought silently as Vala-Kel closed the door behind them and secured it. A place where work is done alone, apart from others, as if work is such a dirty thing that no one should see it, or such a private thing that no one should share it.”
― Rick Partlow, The Acheron: The Complete Series: A Military Sci-Fi Box Set

“Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor”
― Rick Partlow, Kinetic Strike

“Here they come!” Wade said, in what might have been one of the most redundant warnings I’d ever heard.”
― Rick Partlow, Fire Base

“Before that, we got an opening act, and like most opening acts, it’s bound to be smaller, shorter and probably disappointing.”
― Rick Partlow, Danger Close

“Whether it’s a fire team or a company or the whole damned brigade, look out for your people and accomplish the mission without wasting them.”
― Rick Partlow, Direct Fire

“John Stuart Mill. Old Earth, nearly a thousand years ago. He had other ideas about war. War, he said, is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”
― Rick Partlow, Archangel: Avenging

“And that was enough for them. Jets glowed white and red and the surviving enemy troopers were gone just as quickly as they’d arrived, leaving me standing in a cloud of smoke and holding my proverbial dick.”
― Rick Partlow, Contact Front

“he could see the brilliant field of stars that stretched out into infinity. They called to him, as they always did, distracting with their siren song, promising new worlds and alien horizons”
― Rick Partlow, Hybrid

“It grabbed at the air and rode its coattails rather than brute-forcing its way into the sky”
― Rick Partlow, Contact Front

“theory had a nasty way of running headlong into reality.”
― Rick Partlow, Archangel: Fallen

“Because it has to get done. And if I don’t do it, someone else will have to. Maybe someone who doesn’t understand how to forget about themselves and take care of their Marines first.”
― Rick Partlow, Kinetic Strike

“And to coin a phrase, no battle plan survives contact with battalion staff.”
― Rick Partlow, Contact Front

“Gonna take a while to fill all those empty slots.” A few weeks ago, I might have jumped or sprang to attention at First Sergeant Campbell’s voice, but instead, I just nodded to the woman. “It sure is, Top.” I looked at the gaping hole where Gunny Guerrero’s suit had been stored. “I don’t know how you’re going to do it.” “Same way they do in any war, son,” she said, her tone surprisingly casual, even friendly. I found it a little disconcerting, like I should be checking over my shoulder for an ambush. “We promote what’s left and let them train the next group of newbies.”
― Rick Partlow, Contact Front

“Well, I’ll drink to that,” Clines agreed, taking a swig of beer, “mostly ‘cause I’ll drink to anything.”
― Rick Partlow, Home Front

“There are no stupid questions, Sarrat, only stupid people who ask questions. Go ahead.”
― Rick Partlow, Direct Fire