“Wars do not combust without warning. They begin as little fires over the horizon. Wars approach. A wise man watches for the smoke, and prepares to vacate the neighborhood just like Ayrs and Jocasta. My worry is that the next war will be so big, nowhere with a decent restaurant will be left untouched.”

“After the nuclear war, kids like them’ll rule what’s left. It’ll be hell.”

“Ayrs let long moments fall away. ‘You’re young, Frobisher, you’re rich, you’ve got a brain, and by all accounts you’re not wholly repugnant. I’m not sure why you stay on here.’……Couldn’t say if Ayrs felt humor, pity, nostalgia or scorn…Jocasta seemed angry with me. ‘What?’ I hissed. ‘My husband loves you,’ said the wife, dressing.”

“Wars are never cured, they just go into remission for a few years.”

“War's never a picnic. Although obviously soldiers do end up eating outdoors quite a lot.”

“War may be an auction for countries. For soldiers it's a lottery.”

“If war's first victim is truth, its second is clerical efficiency.”