Kevin Xu

“Although mercenaries are paid to fight, they spend only a tiny fraction of their time actually fighting. The average life expectancy of a mercenary is lower than in most professions, but if they were to go into battle every day, few would be expected to last more than a week or two,
The great majority of a mercenary's tie is spent waiting. Travelling comes a distant second. Fighting a very distant third. And all that waiting needs filling with distraction. Which in part accounts for how good mercenaries are at taking prisoners. A prisoner who can be ransomed provides money, and money is the reason most mercenaries claim to do what they do. A prisoner who can't be ransomed provides entertainment, filling those empty days when there would otherwise be nothing else to do but sharpen blades and think about the battles to come.”
― Mark Lawrence, Daughter of Crows

“But nothing lasts, not even stone, not even despair.”
― Kim Stanley Robinson, Green Mars

“You know what a hero is? It's what you're left with when you cut away half the story, when you spill blood, then hide it under the rushes Wars aren't just glory and courage, they're sickness and starvation, a hundred suffering victims for every warrior who rides home triumphant. Heroism's a lie we tell ourselves so we can live with the loss. There are no heroes in the real world.”
― Andrew Knighton, Forged for Destiny

“The power of magic comes mainly from an emotional collection to whatever the intention of any given spell happened to be.”
― Jim Butcher+, Twelve Months