Daniel Villines

“Man constantly prayed to God for peace, but peace never happened, so he decided that his god must really want war because the other side was sinful. Man invented and extolled virtues which could only be exemplified under conditions of war, like heroism and gallantry and honor, and he gave himself laurel wreaths or booty or medals for such things, thus rewarding himself for behaving well while sinning. He did it when he was a primitive, and he went on with it after he thought he was civilized.”
― Sheri S. Tepper, Raising the Stones

“[Lieutenant Fitzpatrick] would not have dared to make a gesture of reconciliation towards his friend [Seaman Warrington], nor speak the word that would have launched them...on one of the old conversations. Neither could Warrington have made the gesture or spoken the word...The very stress between them, largely monopolizing his emotions and reflections, was, in its polarization, a misery rich in significance, as rich, in that sense, as their harmony had been. Like the officer, if he could not restore the harmony, he clung to the conflict that still bound them. However, the striking think was not that they clung to the only bond that still seemed possible to them; but that they both actually seemed to be striving to protect and preserve, surviving carefully and with a kind of cold desperation, the framework of their quarrel as such.”
― Marcus Goodrich, Delilah

“An unedified palate is the irrepressible cloven foot of the upstart. The”
― Thomas Hardy, A Pair of Blue Eyes

“Blanchet himself turned his attention to the rivers, establishing observation posts on the Chagres, Trinidad, Obispo, and the Río Grande; these were equipped with fluviographs, which confirmed the challenge that the rainy season would bring to the successful construction and running of the canal, with rivers rising 20 feet in as many hours and their rate of discharge increasing overnight from 3,000 to over 60,000 cubic feet per second. By”
― Matthew Parker, Panama Fever: The Epic Story of the Building of the Panama Canal