Karen Traviss Quotes

I refuse to believe that gods want to make mortals unhappy and torment them. That's what humans do. And humans are very definitely not divine.

And knowing my luck ... that'll be the Engineer sign for Your mom's a skank.

Humans believed they thought things consciously when most of the time they were simply rationalizing instinctive reactions as basic as the amoeba's, and after those reactions had already taken place.

I've got a particular way of writing novels, and that carries over into the way I write comics and games, too. I'm a news journalist by background, so I approach everything as reporting - I treat it as real, I ask the questions I'd ask in a real situation, and I let the characters speak for themselves.

Visit Mandalore before Mandalore visits you. Take home some souvenirs - a slab of uj cake and a smack in the mouth.

The thing about games is, players often say they don't care about story, but then if you took the story out, what would their reaction be? If no one cared about story, we'd all still be playing Pac-Man. There's nothing wrong with Pac-Man, but the point is, there's a genre of games in which you want to become part of that world.

And the maximum number extracted. You know what your bosses say about attachment, littl'un. Don't get too attached to me.

I wish you'd get one thing straight - I'm not a traitor. I was never on your side. I'm called the enemy.

I'd probably play games obsessively if I didn't write, although I admit I don't read novels partly because I don't enjoy it, not just because it's the wrong side of the creator-consumer barrier for me. I'm a visual writer. I think in moving 3D images and write down what I observe.

The art of storytelling is in development, not fact sheets. There are posts you have to hammer into the ground from the start just to get going, but if they don't hold up the house you build, you can change them or take them out.

It was as if the small differences mattered more than the really big ones - like you had to recognize something before you could hate it properly. No

The ambition of most beings is just to stay alive, overeat, spend too much, and avoid hard work. I'm happy that I can achieve much more than that ... and we all die sooner or later. A death in service of a great ideal is a fine thing.

Why should I cooperate with you now?"
"Because you're stuck in a ship with four creatively sadistic people who hate your grey guts, and maybe the Jedi and the strill aren't that fond of you either, and all you've got are the clothes you stand in. See how long you last…

Family took a lot more than genes to hold it together

Real evil wasn't about bending the law to suit justice: evil was acting out of small, intensely personal expedience and losing sight of the bigger picture so often that you never got it back again.

Regular people said they couldn't tell the difference between one clone and another, did they? That was what came of spending too much time looking at faces and not enough wondering what shaped people and went on inside their heads.

[After a horrible, crazy speeder race by Bardan]
"Thank you for flying Jedi Air." Jusik grinned and shook their hands. "Have a nice afternoon."
"You're all insane," said Sev.

I shouldn't have to do the foot-soldier work, Tahiri. Be my eyes and ears. I'd hate to have to use ch'hala trees. You're smarter than a tree
aren't you?
Darth Caedus to Tahiri Veila

People lose it when I say this, but I'm a novelist who doesn't read novels. There are lots of good reasons for not reading novels! I'm also a game writer who doesn't play games - I keep everything very separate. The only crossover with me is comics. I write them, and I read them passionately.

I've never met a soldier who knew he was a hero. It's not false modesty. They simply decide to do something that they know they must do, usually for there comrades, because if they don't, those people will suffer in some way. For them, that compulsion is far stronger than any fear. The fact we find it exceptional is a sad indictment of the human race. I'd like to live in a world of heroes. If we did, there would be no wars.

Somehow, though, they managed to ignore the fact that being the dominant species on Earth meant that absolutely nothing about their position was inevitable or beyond their control.

As a writer, I have a moral deal with you, the reader - if I hook you with a story, my part of the deal is to follow through and give you a satisfying outcome.

Maze: "I'm alerting HQ. Stand by."
*on the private comlink*
Corr: "How are you Omega? Can we help? We're really concerned that you're stranded on a shabla rock surrounded by an infinite number of natives who'll cut your gett'se off when they haul you screaming from the summit.

They had both been raised in complete isolation from the everyday world, with their own set of values and disciplines, not because they had been chosen to be different but because they had been born that way. Their calling was random, genetic - unfair.

Humans have too many rights and not enough responsibilities.
-Aras

BB didn't say a word. Maybe integrating into Naomi's systems had shut him up for once. Mal decided to keep a watchful eye on the relationship. Everyone was getting on fine: better than fine, in fact, a really close-knit and easy-going team. The last thing they needed was a Spartan saddled with an AI she didn't want. But that wasn't a problem he could solve, given that they were the two most advanced and expensive pieces of defense technology the UNSC had ever produced. They were stuck with each other.

We have complete choice as individuals: the only decisions we can take are our own. And yet so many species use the state of being an individual as an excuse for inaction, helplessness and irresponsibility.No situation is so overwhelming that action is pointless.
Targassat of Surang.

Success is everyone's child. Failure is an orphan." Omas smiled ruefully.

Let's revise the old adage for our times. All that it requires for evil to succeed is that enough lazy, stupid bastards believe everything they're told.

Games are getting more interesting. I mean, when we talk about books, they can be anything from a summer blockbuster to 'War and Peace' - well, games are the same. I think the creative side is catching up with the technology.

Humans would never tell the simple truth when a lie was available ...

A novel can do something that films and TV usually can't - a glimpse inside the characters' heads. I write very tight third person point of view, so the reader is right behind the eyes of each character, seeing what they see and feeling what they feel.

If you're not prepared to do something in public, don't do it at all.

Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaasla. (Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.) - Mandalorian saying

Your prowess with a lightsaber is childish vanity. Your physical Force powers are no more than a conjurer's trick, sleight of hand to dazzle the ordinary beings you should be serving. You profane these powers by using them as weapons in war. And you fail to grasp the single, simple, uncompromising duty of the true Jedi. The Jedi is the rock-lion at the gate who says, "I will defend these beings with my life, and that is the sum of me." Etain Tur-Mukan died to save one life, a man she did not even know, but felt compelled to save, and that is what made her stronger in the Force and a truer Jedi than any of you acrobats, tricksters, and specious, empty philosophers.

I bet you were a Boy Scout."
"You are incomprehensible."
"It's just a compliment.

We don't do psyop. We've never worked with Spartans before. And we're definitely not trained for this spook stuff. But how hard can it be? They were ODSTs. They could do anything. It was all about the right attitude - a commando's state of mind. "Hi, BB," Mal said. "Take us to Hinge-head World, then.

I don't know who the good guys are anymore. But I do know what the enemy is. It's the compromise of principles. You lose the war when you lose your principles. And the first principle is to look out for your comrades.

Diplomacy is about dealing with those you rather avoid.

We have an understanding. I don't laugh at his skirt, and he doesn't rip my head off.
-Fi Skirata

Recreating the experience of, say, bereavement in my own head is pretty rough. I was used to switching off from emotions every day of my working life as a journalist, but in fiction, you have to feel it 100%, or else it's a flat experience for the reader.

Time means lives. Time means more chaos. We always think that time will resolve things, but it never has.

There's rights, and there's right.

Think of yourselves as a hand. Each of you is a finger, and without the others you're useless. Alone, a finger can't grasp, or control, or form a fist. You are nothing on your own, and everything together.

All ships ... we are now at battle stations. I expect this will now be known as the Second Battle of Fondor.

I know genes are a big deal, son, but they're not the be-all and end-all." Rob slowed to a halt at the lights, wishing the dickhead behind would back off. "If they were, you'd be in a seafood salad and I'd be in prison.

Oh, you are a little ray of sunshine today, aren't you? Now, look at your progesterone levels. Still higher than normal. Are you pregnant? Have you been throwing up?"
"No. But I get cravings. Will I get stretch marks?" said Fi.
Gilamar kept a straight face. "Yeah, say goodbye to your figure. Everything sags from now on.

Any sign of what killed him, Scorch?"
"Let's ask Sev. He's a dead-body-ologist."
[Sev examines the body and its arm falls off]
"Yep, he's dead alright."
"Sure you don't want a second opinion, Doc?"
"Nah, I'm ready go out on a limb.

Long memory, short fuse, big revenge.

Oh, I'm coming too." BB rotated and moved in Naomi's direction. "A fragment of me will remain here to pilot the ship, but I'll transfer to the Mjolnir. We've never done this for real before, by the way. Have we, Naomi?" "Why now?" "Why not? I know I'm not your dedicated AI, but I can do anything Cortana can." Mal picked up a little rivalry there. He'd have to ask about Cortana later.

You think she's got a personality disorder?"
"No, she's just a nasty bitch. An unpleasant personality isn't a medical condition. Just a symptom of not being slapped around the head enough.

So you want a knife, a nice sharp knife. You hone that blade to its limits. It even cuts through stone when you want it to. It saves your life. And then you're outraged when it cuts you accidentally. You see, knives don't switch off. And neither do people, not when you hone them to a fine edge.

G.I. Joe has a heart and an attitude that feels right and familiar to me, so they could have ray guns, and they'd still feel more like real troops than many other franchises.

Hope was evil. It seduced you, then it dropped you on your ass so hard and so fast that you were worse off than when you started.

I don't mind being shot at. It's having a government that lies to me that I hate.

Prep for docking," said the pilot's voice over the intercom. "You're off watch, and I'm not, you barves ... " "Shower, food, sleep," said Darman, prioritizing. Atin shook his head. "Food, shower, sleep." "Sleep," said Niner. "Then more sleep." They looked at Corr. "Glorious revolution, then installing a military junta," he said. Etain stared, not at all sure about his hidden depths, but he laughed. "Or a nice big plate of minced roba patties. I'm easy.

We're all going to die sometime, so you might as well die pushing the odds for something that matters.

Hatred can be pushed aside, but it will always whisper in your ear.

Is it better to not get to know them?' 'No. It's not. It's sharking your responsibility, and it's disrespectful. Get to know them, and then you fully understand the price you're asking them to pay.

Bury me the ONI way. Fill me up with explosives and use me as a booby trap.

The best way to stop worrying about your inevitable demise is to dwell on it morbidly until you're so bored that you forget it.

Your boys okay?"
"Tired, edgy, but giving it all they've got. One of 'em has sworn to get Vau, another is having a love affair with a woman he shouldn't even look at, I'm collecting waifs and strays like an animal shelter, and we nearly killed a treasury agent. But if I told you the really bad stuff, you'd think I have problems.

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If you go back and look at the early promos for Gears 1, you'll see just how different the characters were from the actual first game, both in appearance and background. And it's an evolutionary process.

Covering his tracks by randomizing his route back to the apartment had become routine for Skirata now, which was a bizarre irony in itself.

Characters have changed my mind about some very fundamental moral issues, and that's the real satisfaction in the way I write - the ultimate learning experience.

I do still read comics since I started writing for DC, but nowhere near as much as I used to, and I'm finding now that it's becoming harder to read comics as a consumer, so I think I'll have to make the call there and stop reading them.

It's okay to be scared as long as you use it.