Ann Leckie

Good necessitates evil.

The single word that directs a person__ fate and ultimately the fates of those she comes in contact with is of course a common subject of entertainments and moralizing stories, but if everyone were to consider all the possible consequences of all one__ possible choices, no one would move a millimeter, or even dare to breathe for fear of the ultimate results.

In the nineteen years since then, I had learned eleven languages and 713 songs. I had found ways to conceal what I was__ven, I was fairly sure, from the Lord of the Radch herself. I had worked as a cook, a janitor, a pilot. I had settled on a plan of action. I had joined a religious order, and made a great deal of money. In all that time I only killed a dozen people.

I love analogies! Let__ have one.Imagine that you dearly love, absolutely crave, a particular kind of food. There are some places in town that do this particular cuisine just amazingly. Lots of people who are into this kind of food hold these restaurants in high regard. But let__ say, at every single one of these places, every now and then throughout the meal, at random moments, the waiter comes over and punches any women at the table right in the face. And people of color and/or LGBT folks as well! Now, most of the white straight cis guys who eat there, they have no problem__fter all, the waiter isn__ punching them in the face, and the non-white, non-cis, non-straight, non-guys who love this cuisine keep coming back so it can__ be that bad, can it? Hell, half the time the white straight cis guys don__ even see it, because it__ always been like that and it just seems like part of the dining experience. Granted, some white straight cis guys have noticed and will talk about how they don__ like it and they wish it would stop.Every now and then, you go through a meal without the waiter punching you in the face__hey just give you a small slap, or come over and sort of make a feint and then tell you they could have messed you up bad. Which, you know, that__ better, right? Kind of?Now. Somebody gets the idea to open a restaurant where everything is exactly as delicious as the other places__ut the waiters won__ punch you in the face. Not even once, not even a little bit. Women and POC and LGBT and various combinations thereof flock to this place, and praise it to the skies.And then some white, straight, cis dude__ne of the ones who__ on record as publicly disapproving of punching diners in the face, who has expressed the wish that it would stop (maybe even been very indignant on this topic in a blog post or two) says, __ure, but it__ not anything really important or significant. It__ getting all blown out of proportion. The food is exactly the same! In fact, some of it is awfully retro. You__e just all relieved cause you__e not getting punched in the face, but it__ not really a significant development in this city__ culinary scene. Why couldn__ they have actually advanced the state of food preparation? Huh? Now that would have been worth getting excited about.__hink about that. Seriously, think. Let me tell you, being able to enjoy my delicious supper without being punched in the face is a pretty serious advancement. And only the folks who don__ get routinely assaulted when they try to eat could think otherwise.

Any attempt to list the ten best science fiction novels is doomed to failure.

I think a lot of times our culture has an attitude toward art and the production of art that separates artists from the rest of us, like making art or music or painting or whatever is some magical thing that you have to be inspired to do, and special people do it.

Libraries are a tremendous and valuable resource, and I'm note sure it's possible to have too many of them.

The point is, there is no point. Choose your own!

Good necessitates evil and the two sides of that disk are not always clearly marked.

You are so civilized. So polite. So brave coming here alone when you know no one here would dare to touch you. So easy to be all those things, when all the power is on your side

The gender thing is a giveaway, though. Only a Radchaai would misgender people the way you do."I'd guessed wrong. "I can't see under your clothes. And even if I could, that's not always a reliable indicator.

It all goes aroundIt all goes aroundThe planet goes around the sunIt all goes aroundMy mother said it all goes aroundIt all goes aroundThe ship goes around the station

...if anyone who speaks up to criticise something obviously evil is punished merely for speaking, civilisation will be in a bad way.

Unity, I thought, implies the possibility of disunity. Beginnings imply and require endings.

The problem is knowing when what you are about to do will make a difference. I__ not only speaking of the small actions that, cumulatively, over time, or in great numbers, alter the course of events in ways too chaotic or subtle to trace ... if everyone were to consider all the possible consequences of all one__ possible choices, no one would move a millimetre, or even dare to breathe for fear of the ultimate results.

Without feelings insignificant decisions become excruciating attempts to compare endless arrays of inconsequential things. It's just easier to handle those with emotions.

Please, sir._ Tisarwat seemed not to have heard either of them. __e can__ leave things the way they are, and I have an idea._ That got the translator__ full attention. She looked up from the game, frowned intently at Tisarwat. __hat__ it like? Does it hurt?_ Tisarwat only blinked at her. __ometimes I think I might like to get an idea, but then it occurs to me that it__ exactly the sort of thing Dlique would do.

When you grow up knowing that you deserve to be on top, that the lesser houses exist to serve your house__ glorious destiny, you take such things for granted. You__e born assuming that someone else is paying the cost of your life. It__ just the way things are. What happens during annexation__t__ a difference of degree, not a difference of kind.