“Never throw the first punch. If you have to throw the second, try to make sure they don't get up for a third.”
― Steelheart
― Steelheart
“A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them...A king does not expend his substance to enslave men, but by his conduct and example makes them free.”
― Gates of Fire
― Gates of Fire
“Since it is so likely children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.”
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“There are only two ways we can be beaten: we die or we give up. And we're not giving up.”
― Against All Enemies
― Against All Enemies
“There is a point in the history of society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining "punishment" and "being supposed to punish" hurts it, arouses fear in it. "Is it not enough to render him undangerous? Why still punish?
Punishing itself is terrible." With this question, herd morality, the morality of timidity, draws its ultimate consequence.”
― Beyond Good and Evil
Punishing itself is terrible." With this question, herd morality, the morality of timidity, draws its ultimate consequence.”
― Beyond Good and Evil
Charles’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Charles’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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