“Empty words show an empty mind, and silence speaks most eloquently of all.”

“Dexter thrust a pamphlet into Samuel's hand. "Greenstreet Mission. We're doing a Christmas dinner. You can get a meal and hear the word of God."Samuel smiled in relief. This, finally, he understood. "Which word?""What?""Well, God's said a lot of words, you know, and a word like 'it' or 'the' wouldn't be worth hearing again but its always fun listening to Him try and say aluminum.”

“Most people don't care who's in charge as long as someone is.”

“A quick check on the platoon showed everyone more or less enjoying the flight."Whatever it is you're eating, Ressk, swallow it before we land," [said Staff Sergeant Kerr]."No problem, Staff.""More like whoever he's eating," Binti muttered beside him."You ought to count your fingers," he suggested. "You're too serley stupid to notice one missing.""Maybe you ought to gren sa talamec to.""That's enough, people."When the Confederation first started integrating the di'Taykan and the Krai into what was predominantly a human military system, xenopsychologists among the elder races expected a number of problems. For the most part, those expectations fell short. After having dealt with the Mictok and the H'san, none of the younger races - all bipedal mammals - had any difficulty with each other's appearance. Cultural differences were absorbed into the prevailing military culture and the remaining problems were dealt with in the age-old military tradition of learning to say "up yours" in the other races' languages. The "us against them" mentality of war made for strange bedfellows.”

“But I am a knight of the Round Table," he protested, weakly. "I am a protector of the realm, a slayer of evil, I defeat all those who raise their swords in opposition to Arthur, King of all Britain." "Trust me, kid, women prefer a man who can cook.”

“He read disappointment at his response and wondered if she realized that she expected a certain amount of effusive sympathy from the people she told. Rejecting that sympathy made her feel strong, compensating for what she perceived as her weakness. He suspected that the disease was the first time she hadn't been able to make everything come out all right through the sheer determination that it would be.”

“Isn't that just like a man. 450-fucking-years-old and he's still thinking with his balls!”