The Book That Broke the World
by Mark Lawrence
⦁ The one that had tried to teach him that some things could not be saved--that the knight sometimes arrived too late. She had meant to add that a tragic ending didn't erase what had gone before. The shared kisses, the love beneath satin sheets, none of it was a waste, none of it was rendered meaningless, anymore than a well-lived life was undone by the inevitable death waiting at the end. C18 ⦁ Doubts assailed her. She wasn't intended for decisions this big. She had never wanted anything but a chance at comfort, the right to earn respect, a life not overshadowed by constant fear. C20 ⦁ The library puts knowledge in your hands and it's up to you to understand it, judge it, use it. It gives you the opportunity and leaves you to take it or ignore it. C20 ⦁ …it's technology that wins wars. People keep building cities at the foot of the mountain, and burning them down, for a reason. C22 ⦁ No matter how nuanced debate might be at the start, if lots of people are involved then it ultimately condenses around two poles deemed to be irreconcilable. And then you have war. C22 ⦁ If you pick the solution you think is best out of a host of possibilities then everyone is going to have a slightly different answer to the problem. You need support, so you accept a few small changes and move to someone else's solution. Now there are two of you behind one idea. You need more. The process repeats and repeats. You see people coalescing behind an idea you hate, and it becomes more important to be lined up behind something vaguely palatable that has the numbers to oppose them than it does to get exactly the solution you wanted. In the end there are two solutions, aligned against each other. C22 ⦁ A story is how you tell yourself truths you're not brave enough to hear. ~ Carved into a desk by Livira Page C23 ⦁ It turns out that the most important lesson that history teaches us is that history should not teach us. Lessons should be learned, not taught. Wisdom has to be earned, and no number of words can wrap the gift of knowledge sufficiently to keep it safe from misuse. The definition of madness is repeating the same action and expecting a different result. C28 ⦁ Did you ever meet someone clever who was truly happy? C28 ⦁ It would be easier if the black was bad, and the white was good. C28 ⦁ Right or wrong--and fuck knows which it is--it's not going to happen. So, best just admit it, and start working out how to sell the decision to your brain. C28 ⦁ "I'm not strong enough to see you die." C43 ⦁ …the rest he could slip away from--he could fall through the floor like when he was a ghost, leave it all behind him. But her tears would fall, and he would feel them no matter how deep he sank. C43 ⦁ "You said you weren't strong enough to watch me die. Well, I'm not watching you die either, and I'm not looking away. So, that only leaves you one choice." Her voice cracked. "Don't die." A tear fell. "Please don't." C43