Marko Kloos > Quotes

“Keep in mind that without the law, we’re not a military, just an armed gang that dresses alike.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“In truth, warfare has changed very little since our great-great-grandfathers killed each other at places like Gettysburg, the Somme, Normandy, or Baghdad. It’s still mostly about scared men with rifles charging into places defended by other scared men with rifles.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“Action beats reaction most of the time.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment

“There’s no perfect place, you know. You always end up trading one kind of shit for another. Me, I’ll stick with the shit I know.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment

“The Commonwealth—humanity—is in deep shit, and we’re the people with the shovels.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“You can’t read good-night stories to your bank account, or brush its hair, or teach it how to ride a bike for the first time.”
― Marko Kloos, Angles of Attack

“Well, it was nice being all introspective, Andrew. Now let’s get back to shooting people.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“I fight because it’s the only way I have to control my destiny at least a little bit.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“You’ve been in long enough, Grayson. Never assume malice if you can explain it with lack of planning.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“When you do exactly as you’re told, and you’re neither the best nor the worst at any task, you can disappear in the crowd and have a small measure of solitude.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment

“Nobody gives a shit what we want. We take what we’re served, and we ask for seconds, and that’s the way it goes.”
― Marko Kloos, Angles of Attack

“Combative is her default setting.”
― Marko Kloos, Angles of Attack

“When he says “jump,” the entire battalion is usually in midair before asking for an altitude parameter.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment

“This is more like it,” Elin says. “What’s that?” I ask. “Decent weather. Clear line of sight. A bunch of subjects to observe in the wild. And only a medium-high risk of violent death.” “Living the dream,” I say.”
― Marko Kloos, Orders of Battle

“Astrophysics. 'It's a super-long shot' is practically the motto of our profession.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late; and how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?’ ”
― Marko Kloos, Angles of Attack

“Paranoia is one of the defining traits of the experienced combat soldier.”
― Marko Kloos, Angles of Attack

“That’s why I hate positions of authority. Everyone always bugs the shit out of you.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“You can choose to follow orders without question, or you can choose to follow the law. Keep in mind that without the law, we’re not a military, just an armed gang that dresses alike.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“It’s amazing how much stuff you can accomplish when you don’t give a shit whether or not it’s feasible.”
― Marko Kloos, Angles of Attack

“When the Combat Stations alert blares and everyone around you loses their head, it’s too late to be standing in line at the armory to sign out your pistol.”
― Marko Kloos, Points of Impact

“Is no such thing as overkill,” Dmitry replies. “Anything worth breaking is worth breaking a lot.”
― Marko Kloos, Fields of Fire

“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens,” he says. “Where did you get that?” I ask. “Oh, an old novel that I like. Orcs and elves and high adventure, that sort of thing.”
― Marko Kloos, Angles of Attack

“The universe is falling apart around us, and we still have nothing smarter to do than to try and kill each other.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“If one of you sons of bitches gets killed for lack of shooting back because you ran out of ammo, I will personally violate your carcass. Understood?” “Yes, Master Sergeant,” the enlisted grunts shout back. I grin behind the shield of my visor. Nobody does motivational premission pep talks better than Sergeant Fallon. I”
― Marko Kloos, Chains of Command

“This is the military, and nobody gives a shit about what we want. We take what we’re served, and we ask for seconds, and that’s the way it goes.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment

“Decaf is an abomination, and serving it to someone should be considered a human rights violation,”
― Marko Kloos, Points of Impact

“We have more computing power in the drop ships’ tactical integrated neural network computers than existed on the entire planet fifty years ago, and somehow mission planning goes better when you’re outside in the fresh air and drawing diagrams and maps into the dirt with a pointy stick. “Two”
― Marko Kloos, Chains of Command

“In a way, I am an angel of death as well, but the power I serve is even more vengeful and merciless than the god of Israel. I’m the one who marks the doorposts in the night, and we pass over none.”
― Marko Kloos, Lines of Departure

“The coffee is truly awful, but there’s something soothing and familiar about its perfect awfulness.”
― Marko Kloos, Angles of Attack