David Weber Quotes & Sayings

Well, thank the gods,' he sighed.
'Oh? And what would it be you're thanking them for?' Bahzell inquired, and Brandark grinned.
'For making roads and letting us find one. Not that I'm complaining, you understand, but this business of following you cross-country without the faintest idea where I am can worry a man. — David Weber

Hamish Alexander stood on Benjamin the Great's flag deck with his hands clasped behind him and tried very hard not to feel a sense of godlike power. — David Weber

A people or a faith divided against itself became the sum of its weaknesses, not its strengths, and anyone who didn't know that was doomed. — David Weber

Recipient and that, as a surprise honeymoon gift, I'd — David Weber

Sweeping, simplistic solutions to complicated problems are much more appealing than tackling the real thought that might actually solve them. — David Weber

This just gets worse and worse," Rob Pierre sighed as he skimmed Leonard Boardman's synopsis of his latest gleanings from the Solarian League reporters covering the PRH. "How can one person - one person, Oscar! - do this much damage? She's like some damned elemental force of nature!"
"Harrington?" Oscar Saint-Just quirked an eyebrow and snorted harshly at Pierre's nodded confirmation.
"She's just happened to be in the right places - or the wrong ones, I suppose, from our perspective - for the last, oh, ten years or so. That's the official consensus from my analysts, at least. The other theory, which seems to have been gaining a broader following of late, is that she's in league with the Devil. — David Weber

It hadn't really percolated through my brain that I was going to see real, live TV from the surface of the Moon, and boy, oh, boy, had that Saturn V launch been exciting! And then, there it was - late at night, sitting up, watching, and there was Neil Armstrong actually standing on the surface of the Moon. — David Weber

Hot, bright heat filled him like some ecstatic poison, and Hartan's pony shied in terror as a wordless howl burst from his throat. His dripping ears were flat to his skull, fire crackled in his brown eyes, his huge sword blurred in a whirring figure eight before him, and the brigand running at him gawked in sudden panic. The raider's feet skidded in mud as he tried to brake, but it was far too late. He was face-to-face with the worst nightmare of any Norfressan, a Horse Stealer hradani in the grip of the Rage, and a thunderbolt of steel split him from crown to navel. — David Weber

Insurgent, terrorist, guerrilla, or patriot. As far as he was concerned, anyone who chose violence against the helpless as his means of protest deserved the same label: barbarian, and — David Weber

mercy and justice are deadlier than any rifle or bayonet. — David Weber

It had to be the greatest irony in the history of mankind, he thought. The last Christian in the entire universe was a machine. — David Weber

There are two sides to every dialogue, but if you accept the other side's terms without demanding equal time for your own, then they control the debate and its outcome. — David Weber

I think it's like that for people who don't remember 1969 first-hand. It's that sense of 'old hat.' Of 'been there, done that.' Space shuttles, space stations, communications satellites, GPS - they're all part of our everyday, taken-for-granted world in 2009, not part of an incredible odyssey. — David Weber

Oh, bother!, said Pooh, as Piglet came back from the dead. — David Weber

WAGs ... That's a technical term we engineers use. It means 'Wild-Assed Guess'. — David Weber

Shergahn and friend lay like poleaxed steers, and the Daranfelian's greasy hair was thick with potatoes, carrots, gravy, and chunks of beef. His companion had less stew in his hair, but an equally large lump was rising fast, and Brandark flipped his improvised club into the air, caught it in proper dipping position, and filled it once more from the pot without even glancing at them. He raised the ladle to his nose, inhaled deeply, and glanced at the cook with an impudent twitch of his ears.
"Smells delicious," he said while the laughter started up all around the fire. "I imagine a bellyful of this should help a hungry man sleep. Why, just look what a single ladle of it did for Shergahn! — David Weber

Nuts didn't need religion to make them nuts, Allison had long since decided, but it did seem to give them a certain added sense of commitment to whatever goals their nutdom decided to embrace. — David Weber

They could hate her guts all they liked as long as they did their duty. — David Weber

War may represent the failure of diplomacy, but even the best diplomats operate on credit. Sooner or later someone who's less reasonable than you are is going to call you, and if your military can't cover your I.O.U.s, you lose. — David Weber

Spies could be invaluable in peacetime, once the fighting actually started, their value dropped steeply. When the swords were out, it was the information your own scouts provided that mattered, not reports from unknown people whose veracity you couldn't prove. — David Weber

It was rumored she held grudges till they died of old age, then had them stuffed and mounted. — David Weber

Whatever it took, she would discharge her own duties and meet her own responsibilities. Not just to protect her career, but because they were her duties and responsibilities. — David Weber

Extremists tend to grow more extreme, not less, as problems get closer to solutions, — David Weber

What's conquered by the sword depends on the sword to stay conquered. — David Weber

liars ultimately destroy the things they lie to protect, and corruption, ambition, and betrayal inevitably betray themselves, as well. — David Weber

It's not what you don't know that hurts you; it's what you think you know that isn't so. — David Weber

All things considered, Her Grace's plan may not have been the single rashest, most foolhardy, do-or-die, all-or-nothing throw of the dice in the history of the Royal Manticoran - or Grayson - Navy. If it wasn't, however, I have so far failed to find the plan that was. — David Weber

If you think it's bad now, my friend, wait till we reach a town!' He shook his head and brushed at his tattered, dirty shirtsleeve. 'Do try to remember we're visitors-and not welcome ones-if you should feel moved to reason with anyone. — David Weber

Henke sensed her terrifying aptitude for destruction as never before. Henke had feared for her sanity; now she knew the truth was almost worse than that. Honor wasn't insane - she simply didn't care. She'd lost not only her sense of balance but any desire to regain it. — David Weber

God, I love the "fine morality" of the wealthy and powerful. You'll spill tears over your own, in a heartbeat. And then never even look twice at people below you, whose very lives are ground under every day, day after day, year after year. — David Weber

I am an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy, Sir - " Venizelos felt an undeniable rush of adrenaline and pleasure as he faced the burly captain squarely " - and the Royal Manticoran Navy does not 'bluff. — David Weber

They didn't agree on everything. They didn't share all the same opinions. In fact, there was enormous scope for disagreement, argument, even quarrels. But where it mattered - where the wellsprings of their personalities rose and gave meaning to their lives - they were the same. — David Weber

Yet i say to you, do not rush to marriage for it is a deep and perfect thing. Test first, that you may be certain you are called to it by love, and not simply by pleasures of the flesh which will consume themselves and leave only ashes and misery — David Weber

But Haven had become a threat. After almost two T-centuries of deficit spending to shore up an increasingly insolvent welfare state, Haven had decided it had no choice but to turn conquistador to acquire the resources it needed to support its citizens in the style to which they had become accustomed, and the People's Navy had proven its capacity to do just that over the course of the last five decades. — David Weber

There's a reason I've always relied on you for the necessary political miracles, Emily," Hamish told her with a smile. "Give me a fleet problem, or a naval battle to fight, and I "know exactly what to do. But dealing with scum like High Ridge and Descroix - ?" He shook his head. "I just can't wrap my mind around how to handle them."
"Be honest, dear," Emily corrected him gently. "It's not that you really can't do it, and you know it. It's that you get so furious with them that you wind up climbing onto your high moral horse so you can ride them under the hooves of your righteous fury. But when you close your knight errant's helmet, the visibility through that visor is just a little limited, isn't it? — David Weber

Those highly trained armor specialists were responsible for major repairs, upgrades, and modifications, but in Alicia's opinion, anyone who didn't want to stay hands-on with the standard maintenance and, especially, troubleshooting of her own armor just before a drop ought to be confined somewhere in a nice, soft-sided room where she couldn't hurt herself or anyone else. — David Weber

We heads of state really prefer to have some sort of an agenda before we sit down at the high-stakes table, you know. All bad novelists notwithstanding, surprise and improvisation are not the best basis for successful diplomacy! — David Weber

How do I know where my doubts over their capability stop being genuine love and concern? When my belief that they must be reeducated before they can become my equal stops being a realistic appreciation of the limitations they've been taught and becomes sophistry to bolster the status quo and protect my own rights and privileges? — David Weber

My favorite's toxophilia, arousal from archery. You wouldn't believe the poses people get into. Remember: one overnight bag, that's it. — David Weber

Giving orders you know won't be obeyed is one of the best ways I know to destroy your own authority. — David Weber

Overtures from a cold-blooded consideration of advantages to an emotional rejection based on their own bigotry. And if I've learned one thing over the years, it's that when it comes down to raw emotion against reason, emotion wins. * — David Weber

Other folk thought the Rage was simple bloodlust, a berserk savagery that neither knew nor cared what its target was, and so it was when it struck without warning. But when a hradani gave himself to it knowingly, it was as cold as it was hot, as rational as it was lethal. To embrace the Rage was to embrace a splendor, a glory, a denial of all restraint but not of reason. It was pure, elemental purpose, unencumbered by compassion or horror or pity, yet it was far more than mere frenzy. — David Weber

Mother's casting hungry looks at my exec again," she complained. "Not to worry," her father replied. "She looks a lot, but she's never had any reason to roam." "You're as bad as she is! — David Weber

We will maintain heading until he's committed, then I want a hard
skew-turn to starboard. As hard as you can make it, Chief. I want our starboard broadside on him as he passes below us, and then I want to cut down across his stern and stick it right up his kilt. Clear? (Honor Harrington) — David Weber

Nothing in the universe had a shorter half-life than a politician's memory for inconvenient facts, — David Weber

It wasn't his fault he'd been reared in a nice, safe, civilized society that protected him from the harsh reality of an older and grimmer set of imperatives. — David Weber

I want manned spaceflight, not just back to the Moon, but beyond that. And I want my daughters and my son to have their own July 20, 1969, to remember. Apollo 11 didn't give us wings; it only showed us how far the wings we had would take us. — David Weber

I can't say for certain. I can paper over the cracks for a while, maybe even maintain a facade of affluence, by robbing Peter to pay Paul — David Weber

Manticore System's G0 primary and its G2 companion were dim behind her, reduced to two more stars amid millions, for the Junction lay almost seven light-hours from them. — David Weber

I suppose I ought to think up some dramatic, quotable phrase for Public Information and the history books, but I'm damned if any of them come to mind. Besides, admitting the truth wouldn't sound too good ( ... ) The truth, Russell, is that now the moment's here, I'm scared shitless. Somehow I don't think even Public Information could turn that into good copy. — David Weber

All right, Chief Killian." She allowed herself an airy gesture at the forward visual display. "That away - full military power. — David Weber

The splendor of that moment, its transcendent glory and aliveness, haunted him. He could thrust it aside by day, but it poisoned his dreams by night, calling to him and pleading with him to unlock the chains he'd bound about it. — David Weber

Son, you'll know you're in love when a woman's voice settles into your spine. — David Weber

My duty is not affected by what others may or may not do to discharge their own. — David Weber

And for the whole system to be healthy, all parts of it must enjoy equal freedoms. And the most fundamental of all those freedoms is this: that persons must be free to read, write, say, and think what they will. Without that, all other freedoms are not merely meaningless, they are shams. — David Weber

The bigger the lie, apparently, the more likely the uninformed were to accept it, simply because they couldn't believe any government would tell such an absurd story unless it were true. — David Weber

Let's be about it, people. — David Weber

Shut not your minds to the new because the chains of the bast bind you tight, for it is those who cling most desperately to the old who will turn you from the new way and lead you once more in to the paths of the unclean — David Weber

Jaime Rivera gaped in disbelief as the cadreman took at least five direct hits and didn't go down. And then the trooper who should have been dead was coming straight at him, pistol in one hand and some sort of sword in the other.
The pistol came up, and Rivera recoiled as the first penetrator spalled his visor. It didn't punch through, but the incredible impact, less than ten centimeters in front of his eyes half-stunned him. It was only for an instant, no more than a single heartbeat, but that was long enough.
His vision had just begun to refocus when the force blade in Alicia DeVries' right hand decapitated him in a fountain of blood. — David Weber

rights, a physician with his experience and demonstrated skill should have been home in the Star Kingdom on the staff of one of the major base hospitals, or else assigned to one of the lavishly equipped hospital ships which accompanied the Fleet Train. — David Weber

The problem is that we won't ever know that, and a lack of data never wins debates. — David Weber

But every time I told myself one lie, I had to tell another to justify the ones that came before it. — David Weber

If one of her officers needed reprimanding, she would attend to it in private, just as she made it a point to deliver praise in public. — David Weber

That thought let her banish the grin at last, because if independent command was what every good officer craved, a captain all alone in the big dark had no one to appeal to. No one to take the credit or share the blame, for she was all alone, the final arbiter of her ship's fate and the direct, personal representative of her queen and kingdom, and if she failed that trust no power in the galaxy could save her. — David Weber

There was an almost terrifying lack of intelligence in his eyes. — David Weber

Oh, hell," Thandi muttered, her heart lower than ever. "I really blew it, didn't I?"
"Don't be silly," Berry scolded. "It's just your first lovers' spat. You accused of him of being an inhuman fiend, and he got a little miffed. No big deal. — David Weber

That was about as good as it was going to get this side of a hot tub, a good-looking man, and a chocolate milkshake. — David Weber

Without love, there can be no true marriage; with love, there can be nothing else. — David Weber

Victor smiled politely in return, the way someone smiles when they're thanked for having done a minor favor in times past. Held open a door in the rain, lent someone a small amount of money, butchered an ex-lover, that sort of thing. — David Weber

McKeon: "You know Hauptman is going to deny they had anything to do with it [smuggling]."
"Forty-three million in illegal peltries? Of course they will, just as Mondragon's captain insists the space fairies must have brought them," Honor said ironically. — David Weber

The only problem is, if you tell the yammerheads to shut their gobs, you don't have real representation anymore. If everyone isn't free to speak his mind, then, ultimately, no one is, and in the end, that will come home and bite everyone involved on the ass. Noise and disagreement are part of the price you pay for freedom." "The — David Weber

Apparently, for some reason known only to themselves, these people ... have chosen to cling to hydrocarbon-fueled power generation well past the point at which they could have replaced it with nuclear generation. — David Weber

The world's best swordsman doesn't fear the second best; he fears the worst swordsman, because he can't predict what the idiot will do. — David Weber

One of the first signs of a self-destructing aboriginal culture always seems to be an increase in the use of drugs and intoxicants, — David Weber

Ben Belkassem had boned up on the alpha-synths after DeVries stole this ship. Too much was classified for him to learn as much as he would have liked, but he'd learned enough to know her augmentation didn't include the normal alpha-synth com link. Without it, the AI should have been forced to communicate back by voice, not some sort of ... of telepathy!
Yet he was beyond surprise where DeVries was concerned. After all, she'd survived multiple disrupter hits with no more than a few minor burns, killed eleven men saving his own highly-trained self, taken out a few ground-to-space weapon emplacements, escaped through the heart of Wyvern's very respectable fortifications, and polished off a destroyer as an encore. As far as he was concerned, she could do anything she damned well liked. — David Weber

Your Grace," she said, "I have only one question. Do you wish this man crippled, or dead? — David Weber

Never keep a lawyer waiting. They have friends in low and infernal places. — David Weber

That sounds strangely little like "justice," Tisipohone jibed gently.

"On the contrary." Alicia jacked a discarding sabot round into the M-97's chamber and settled her left hand briefly on the forestock to activate its computer systems. "I won't do a thing to them unless they intend to do something to me."

Indeed?

"Indeed. But if they do have something planned, I intend to do unto them first."

So there are times you see things my way after all.

"Never said there weren't. — David Weber

The moral, Lieutenant, is that there is no such thing as a deadly weapon. There are only deadly people, — David Weber

Fail not in this charge at your peril. — David Weber

Parallel worlds, right?" Aston nodded. "Our sci-fi writers love 'em." "They still do back home," Ludmilla assured him. — David Weber

Falderson," he said quietly to Bahzell in passable Navahkan, "is as stupid as the day is long." He craned his neck to gaze up at the hradani and shook his head. "In fact, he's even stupider than I thought. You, sir, are the biggest damned hradani-no offense-I think I've ever seen. — David Weber

Were significantly more — David Weber

There are two sides to any war-game, Your Highness, and the other side is trying to win, too. — David Weber

Eleven men and women, exhausted, battered, and armed with captured weapons, against fifty battle-armored foes desperate to kill them. Every one of those eleven knew exactly what their odds of living through the next three minutes were, but it didn't matter. They were all that stood between six hundred civilians and cold-blooded murder, and Alicia's green eyes were hard as she watched the gaps being punched through the western wall.
"Make it count, people," she said, almost conversationally. — David Weber

Courtesy seldom costs anything, and the willingness to extend it can be its own subtle declaration of strength. There — David Weber

Jesus, look at that idiot!" Waters' exec muttered, and the citizen captain shook his head in disgust. Having — David Weber

Agreement not to discuss. "He never gets tired of comparing one physical artifact to another," Anders went on, "even if they all look pretty — David Weber

as his mother had always told him, ignorance could be fixed; stupid was forever. "My — David Weber

There was no real need for her to tell them that yet again, but that was all right with her. She wasn't worried that they were going to think she didn't trust them to get it right, but she couldn't tell them what she really wanted to. Couldn't tell them how much each and every one of them meant to her, especially now, when they were the only Cadre family she had left. When she was the one who had decided for them that they were going to throw themselves into the furnace.
When so many of them were about to die.
No, she couldn't tell them that ... but they heard it anyway. She knew they did, and that was enough.
"We go in three minutes," she said quietly. "God bless. — David Weber

You can't waste resources reinforcing failure ... — David Weber

She was thirteen T-years older than he, but there was something uncannily familiar about his emotions where she was concerned. Somehow, without realizing it was happening, she'd acquired a MacGuiness with a gun, and she suspected her life would never be quite the same again. She — David Weber

Vegtables, what food eats before it becomes food. — David Weber

...the one certain thing in life is that no one can make the truth untrue simply because it hurts. — David Weber

She really should be careful about imputing sordid motives to the First Lord. Not because she doubted that he had them, but because not even Sir Edward Janacek could have only sordid motivations. That would have completely devalued his ability to do such things out of simple stupidity, instead of calculation. — David Weber

you people's departments — David Weber

I see you're closer to on time than usual! — David Weber

All men begin as good men. What they are taught as children, what is expected of them as young men, is either the armor about that goodness or the flaw that allows evil in. — David Weber