9 quotes
Ghosts are not the souls of the dead, but the souls of people written out of history when history changes.
Deep Navigation (2010)
And even if what they showed you is true, that doesn’t begin to make it right. The cause might be just, Felka, but history’s littered with atrocities committed in the name of righteousness.
Redemption Ark (2002)
By and large these attempts to rewrite history were not taken seriously, but it was disconcerting to hear that they had gained even a toehold.
Chasm City (2001)
“Could be worse, as they say.”
“That’s the sum story of human history, isn’t it? Could be worse. As if that’s the very best that we can manage.”
On the Steel Breeze (2013)
“You weren’t there.”
“I didn’t have to be—I know my history.”
Poseidon's Wake (2015)
Civilisations beyond number had risen from obscurity, considering themselves masters of all creation, before fading back into the footnotes of history.
House of Suns (2008)
“Imagine a permanent, shivering gloom, and never a moment without hunger, thirst and exhaustion. Imagine the constant fear of suffering illness or injury.”
“You’ve just described nine-tenths of human history.”
Belladonna Nights and Other Stories (2021)
This is a kindness, a thing done to another human being for no reason other than compassion. A private, dignified act of basic human decency, which history, being the bastard that it is, will probably neglect to commemorate.
On the Steel Breeze (2013)
“I gather you were all too busy killing each other.”
“That’s a fairly reductive summary of our history, but I don’t suppose it’s too far from the truth.”
Chasm City (2001)