Jack Campbell Quotes & Sayings

Let's get going. I don't like being alone out here. The sooner we can blend in with the Imperial population the safer we'll be. It's not hard to cross here," Mari added as they waded through the stream.
"We are fortunate," Alain told her. "It is more difficult downstream."
She felt a shadow cross her mind. "Where that bridge was? Where you almost died?"
"Yes."
"I'm really proud of you for that, but don't do it again. I'm being selfish. I need you." Mari waved one finger at Alain. "Don't be a hero?"
He regarded her impassively. "Even if you need a hero? — Jack Campbell

Doubt about your wisdom can be the clearest sign of wisdom — Jack Campbell

What are you going to do for fun if you can't devastate planets anymore?"
"I'll have to find another hobby, I guess. — Jack Campbell

Most having reached the places they needed to be and devoted themselves to what needed to be done. — Jack Campbell

How many dragons does a girl have to slay to get some respect around here? — Jack Campbell

all of the garbage associated with that, — Jack Campbell

How can you be so cold-blooded about everything?"
She could have sworn that one corner of the Mage's mouth twitched upward for just an instant as he gestured toward the sun beating down upon them. "I am actually quite warm at the moment. — Jack Campbell

Mari took one more look at the Mechanic boiler, bit her lip, then looked at him. I'm going to say this because in another minute we may be dead, and I don't want to die not having told you. I love you. — Jack Campbell

Data that conflicts with beliefs is often ignored, — Jack Campbell

Sir, winning is usually a matter of making one less mistake than the enemy or just getting up one more time than you get knocked down. — Jack Campbell

Humanity's gift to the universe. Duct Tape. — Jack Campbell

Security is not a license for people in authority to hide the tactics they would never openly admit to using. — Jack Campbell

If we run into any legionnaires we'll say we're out hiking and show them our forged imperial identity papers."
"What is hiking?" Alain asked. "Walking for fun," Mari explained. "I mean, you're walking long distances, but not because you have to. For fun."
Alain gazed steadily at her. "Walking long distances, for fun. Are you saying a joke?"
Mari shook her head. "I know it sounds like that, but people really do it. — Jack Campbell

If the people of Old Earth, our ancestors and their descendants today who remain, could keep building, could keep trying, how can we do less? We are their children, and while we bought to the stars with us all the faults and the problems and the flaws of the past, we also bought the good things, the determination, and the willingness to help others, and the imagination to build things greater then every shortcoming humanity has ever known. — Jack Campbell

You can't win unless you try to win, but you can lose by trying not to lose. — Jack Campbell

You should remove your jacket," the Mage said. "Use it to shade your head."
She didn't want to remove her one sign of authority, her one piece of armor, though in both respects the jacket offered little right now. "I'm a Mechanic."
"I know that. Is there anyone around that you need to impress? — Jack Campbell

From the stars we came, and to the stars we return. — Jack Campbell

I respect you far too much to think that empty pride is the only motivator you could call on. I think what you call pride is something much more than that. Belief in yourselves, perhaps, or perseverance in the face of adversity. Those are things to be proud of. That's not the same as being proud. — Jack Campbell

Unfortunately, he had no training in the healers' arts. But if he ever encountered the person who had struck Mechanic Mari like that, Alain knew he would use the skills he did have to even the score. He did not know why he resolved to do that, but he did.
At least he was fairly sure that his reason was not love. Whatever love was, other than something to be avoided. Master Mechanic Mari had shown clear signs of being concerned when Alain spoke of it, and had denied experiencing love with other Mechanics, so perhaps Mechanics also were warned to avoid love. It must be a very dangerous thing. — Jack Campbell

Fast and stupid is still stupid. It just gets you to stupid a lot quicker than humans could on their own. Which, I admit, is an accomplishment," she added, "because we're pretty damn good at stupid. — Jack Campbell

What are you doing?" Alain asked.
"Starting a fire, of course." Mari held up the thing in her hand. "It's a fire-starter. A really simple device. Haven't you ever seen one?"
Alain shook his head. "Never. That thing seems very complicated. I do not understand how it can work."
"How do you start fires?"
That was a Guild secret. Or was it? The elders had told him that no Mechanic could understand how it worked. What would this Mechanic say if he told her? "I use my mind to channel power to create a place where it is hot, altering the nature of the illusion there," Alain explained, "and then use my mind to put that heat on what I want to burn."
"Oh," Mechanic Mari said. "Is that actually how you visualize the process?"
"That is how it is done," Alain said.
"That's ... interesting." She grinned. "So, instead of making fire by doing something complicated or hard to understand like striking a flint, you just alter the nature of reality. That is a lot simpler. — Jack Campbell

That's the difference between good military commanders and good politicians, John Geary. You've shown me that a good military commander spends the lives of their people reluctantly and with regret, but does spend them when necessary. The good politician does the same thing with principles. There aren't any fine burials for sacrificed principles, though. — Jack Campbell

You know, like that old Catch 42 expression that stands for the meaning of life is that in the end you always get screwed. — Jack Campbell

Desjani pulled out a ration bar. 'Hungry?' she asked Geary.
'I had something earlier. Is that a Yanika Babiya?'
'No. It's ... ' She squinted at the label. 'Spicy chicken curry.'
'A chicken curry ration bar? How are they?'
Taking a small bite, Desjani chewed slowly, pretending not to be aware that everyone on the bridge was watching her instead of staring at the representation of the alien hypernet gate. 'It's definitely got curry in it. Spicy, not so much. Some of the other stuff tastes like chicken.'
'That doesn't narrow it down too much, does it?' Geary said.
'Every kind of meat in a ration bar tastes like chicken, Captain,' Lieutenant Castries suggested. 'Except the chicken.'
'You're right, Lieutenant,' Desjani said. 'Real chicken in ration bars tastes like, what, mutton?'
'Ham,' Yuon tossed in. 'Bad ham.'
'So this can't be chicken because it tastes like chicken,' Desjani concluded. — Jack Campbell

What were the Mechanic's elders like? She had said they were like his own, strange though that sounded. Did they listen to her? Had she passed on the warning, only to have her elders dismiss her words as Alain's elders had dismissed his?
He suddenly felt certain that this Mechanic had no choice but to go onward to danger. Once again, he knew how she must feel. A strange sensation, worrisome. How to make it go away? How to release the hold she had placed upon him?
She had saved his life. Alain almost smiled before he caught himself. That was it. Several times she had "helped" him. The Mechanic had used that to influence him. No wonder the elders warned against helping. How to cancel it out? Like cancelled like. Power could defeat power. She had saved him, she had helped him. He would help her, perhaps even save her life. That would cancel whatever the Mechanic had done to him. He would be free of her.
The logic had no flaws. — Jack Campbell

The road my elders dictate is a narrow one, and I no longer believe it to be the road to wisdom. I choose my ow road. I choose to do the right thing, as you call it. I would not choose another companion for that road, and should you choose to walk that road with me, it would be.., his voice faltered, unable to put words to Alain's feelings, but he met her eyes, trying to let his feelings show. Perhaps he succeeded this time, because once again Mari blushed and bent her head. — Jack Campbell

It is well that war is so terrible, because otherwise people would grow too fond of it, — Jack Campbell

You're not fighting for abstractions. No one does. Humans pay lip service to that, to big causes and great purposes, but any politician of any skill soon learns that what really motivates people is the small, personal things. Close friends, family, the small area they call home. They wrap those things around ideals and call them precious, but they're precious for the smallest and closest of reasons. Soldiers may swear to fight for their flag, but they really fight because of the soldiers next to them. — Jack Campbell

Sagas wouldn't be interesting if terrible things didn't happen to the people in them. — Jack Campbell

I'm scared and overwhelmed and my mind is racing. But," she paused and looked at him. "You're here. You just gave me hope. You also just scared the blazes out of me. I'm no longer sure that I'm the most difficult person in this relationship."
"I remain sure of it," Alain said.
"Did you just make a joke?" She pulled away a little and stared at him, smiling more like she usually did. "Are you making fun of me, Mage?"
Alain couldn't remember how long it had been since he had laughed. The act was completely alien to Mages, to the training he had endured since he was a small child. But now he laughed, the sound rusty and halting, yet he knew it was a laugh, and it felt so good to be laughing and holding Mari that Alain wondered what Mage art or other promised reward could possibly be worth giving up such things. — Jack Campbell

Love needs expression, Captain Geary, or doubts grow amid the silence. Doubts of the other and doubts of yourself. — Jack Campbell

Just realize that the Mechanics do not exist and are not worthy of your attention.
Unless they threaten you, and then you must kill them, Mage Alain. Mechanics are as merciless as they are mercenary. If any appear dangerous, kill them ...
What if he had remembered that advice during the bandit attack, when the Mechanic had pointed her weapon at his face? He could have killed her then. He could have tried at least. Then, when she was dead, the bandits would have found Alain and killed him, too.
Clearly the advice of his elders was lacking in some respects. — Jack Campbell

There are things we don't do. From this moment forth, let us all ensure our every action reflects well on us and our ancestors. Let us live to the highest standards, lest we win this war only to find ourselves staring in the mirror at the face of our late enemy. — Jack Campbell

I need to stop getting into situations where all my options are potentially bad. — Jack Campbell

You should have know this, Mari, that I would help you."
She was smiling again as she wiped her eyes. "Maybe I should have known. But I didn't, Alain. You are a Mage, and sometimes my memories of what happened in the waste and in Ringhmon and at Dorcastle have seemed like some kind of hallucination. I didn't know how you would react when I found you. I was actually ... Alain, I was afraid that when I found you I'd discover that you'd gone back to being like you were when we first met. That you'd just look at me as if I didn't exist and walk away. I should have realized that wouldn't happen. I should have known that you'd help without question. You keep saying that truth doesn't exist, buy you are true. There's nothing false about you. — Jack Campbell

I never liked cows," General Carabali added. "I like heavily armed cows even less. And I like at least thirty billion heavily armed cows least of all. — Jack Campbell

She settled into a sitting position, wincing. "Oh, my poor rear end. I hope you appreciate what I went through to get here."
Alain watched her anxiously. "You have hurt your ... "
"My butt. Yeah." She returned his gaze, puzzled. "I'll survive. Why are you blushing?"
"Blushing?" His face felt warm. What did that mean?
"Yes." Mari laughed. Does talking about my butt embarrass you? I'm sorry. It's nothing special."
"I ... " His face felt even warmer. "I think it is."
"You do, huh? Where have you been all my life?"
This time he gave her a mystified look. "I sent almost all of it inside a Mage Guild Hall. The one in Ihris. You know this."
Mari laughed again. — Jack Campbell

The teachings of the Mage Guild were that none of these others was real, no one else and nothing anywhere was real, that everything around him was merely a shadow born of Alain's own illusions. He had accepted that wisdom - until he had met Mari. In a world where nothing was allowed to change, Alain had been changed.
He could let himself feel emotions again. He had learned what it meant to help someone else. He had learned what a friend was. He had forgotten what love was. Until he had fallen in love. — Jack Campbell

Her hand gripped his, and even amid the fear and danger he marveled at the feeling that came with the contact. If we die holding hands in this way, will we enter the next dream together? — Jack Campbell

The longstanding thorn in your side Captain Numos is stupid. In fact, Numos is so dense that I'm surprised he doesn't have his own event horizon. — Jack Campbell

Hungry for breath
like a kite falling stray,
the wire grows slack
the child within pulls at the empty air. — Jack Campbell

Anyone who really believed what they were saying could get it said in a lot fewer words. — Jack Campbell

Courage, real bravery, is being afraid and doing what you need to do anyway. — Jack Campbell

People didn't fight for grand causes or great purposes, but for the closest and most personal of reasons. They might say the fought for high ideals, but in practice they fought for the comrades beside them and their loved ones at home. — Jack Campbell

Mari managed to fall asleep now and then, only to awaken with a start of fear that she had been making noise. "Do I snore when I'm sleeping?"she finally whispered to Alain.
He didn't answer.
"Alain? Are you awake?"
"Yes," he's reply finally came. "I just do not know which answer would be right."
"Just tell me!"
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Mari moved her eyes enough to glance at Alain. "Loud or soft?"
"Sometimes."
"Does it ever bother you?"
Alain hesitated again. "Sometimes."
"Are you going to give me any plain yes or no answers to this?"
"Not if I can avoid doing so," he replied. — Jack Campbell

He felt the comfort of being part of an eternal cycle symbolized by the gold strips on either side of the black mourning band he wore. Light, dark, light. The dark was just an interval. — Jack Campbell

Fine." Desjani sighed. "Admiral, I recommend we get our intelligence officer up here to see if he can craft lovely poems for the singing spider wolves. — Jack Campbell

Deplorable practices adopted during the last century were repeatedly declared necessary if regrettable in order to win the war. Oddly enough, we've yet to win. You'd think somebody would have asked before this why the regrettable but necessary measures haven't actually produced the promised results. — Jack Campbell

Are you all right? With your Guild, I mean?"
Alain considered the question. "They suspect me of being attracted to a Mechanic. They are right, but so far lack proof. They do not suspect that I love you, or who you are, but I have no doubt of what they will do if they discover either of those things."
"Oh, blazes." Mari lowered her head to rest her brow against the cool stone of the fortification. "I have ruined your life."
"You have given me back my life. — Jack Campbell

We should have suspected that nonhumans were involved right from the start when the activation process didn't involve a lot of arcane commands that had to be done in just the right order, and the destination was displayed as a name rather than using some counterintuitive code. No human software engineer would produce a device that easy to use. — Jack Campbell

I do not know how you have done this to me. I thought that if I returned the help you had given me that I would be free of the inexplicable influence you have over me. But it does not seem to be working, and you say you cannot break the thread."
Mari realized that her mouth had fallen open as she stared at Mage Alain. "Are you serious?"
"What would I be if not serious?"
"You're saying that I put a spell on you that controls your thoughts and actions?"
"Why else am I here?" The Mage asked.
"Because it was the right thing to do!"
"The ... what? I am still uncertain about what right thing means - " the trace of puzzlement had retired to him.
"Listen ... Mage Alain! I don't ... put spells on boys! Or men! Or anybody! I have no idea why you think that you are thinking about me, but I assure you that it has nothing to do with me thinking about you or making you think that you want to think about me! — Jack Campbell

Oh, by the way, you left out one step in the plan."
"What step was that?"
"The one where we pray this works, Admiral. — Jack Campbell

Mari reached over and retrieved her cup of stew, sipping at it. "It's cold. Yours must be, too. Sorry."
Alain picked up his and finished it off quickly. "Between the fire and your presence, I am warm enough. — Jack Campbell