Karen Traviss Quotes & Sayings

My books deliberately provide no answers or messages. I'm drilled in the habit of objectivity and also aware that the steady drip of fiction has more power than facts to shape opinion, so I handle it with caution. — Karen Traviss

If we don't stand up for others, who will be left to stand up for us? — Karen Traviss

Oh, you are a little ray of sunshine today, aren't you? Now, look at your progesterone levels. Still higher than normal. Are you pregnant? Have you been throwing up?"
"No. But I get cravings. Will I get stretch marks?" said Fi.
Gilamar kept a straight face. "Yeah, say goodbye to your figure. Everything sags from now on. — Karen Traviss

It's okay to be scared as long as you use it. — Karen Traviss

If you can't beat them, divide them. — Karen Traviss

Scorch: "I think Sev might have an anger problem."
Sev: "I think you have an intelligence problem. — Karen Traviss

It never ceased to amaze Skirata how much simpler it was to buy and sell death than it was to pay taxes. — Karen Traviss

We have an understanding. I don't laugh at his skirt, and he doesn't rip my head off.
-Fi Skirata — Karen Traviss

Darman was determined to make him welcome. "'Cuy, vod'ika." He slapped the seat next to him. "Park your shebs there. We'd pour you some of the GAR-issue caf but we like you too much for that. We're waiting for Sergeant Kal." Corr sat down as ordered, and Niner and Atin leaned across to clasp his arm. — Karen Traviss

Hatred can be pushed aside, but it will always whisper in your ear. — Karen Traviss

Is it me? Is it me? Am I deluding myself, Jaina? Am I making the same mistake as Grandfather? I have days - most days - when I'm as certain of this as I've ever been certain of anything. And then I have sleepless nights when I wonder if the path of the Sith is a lasting solution for peace in the galaxy, or if that's my ego speaking for me. It terrifies me. But if I were motivated by ambition, then I wouldn't suffer this doubt, would I? Jaina, I can't tell you all this, not yet. You wouldn't see it. But when you do, remember that you're my sister, my heart, and that part of me will always love you, no matter what. Good night, Jaina. DELETE — Karen Traviss

Whether I build a character from the ground up or develop one, whether within my own copyright or in licensed work, I can step into that character's mind. It takes a kind of voluntary dissociation akin to method acting, military planning, marketing, or detective work: to think like the other guy and work out what he's going to do next. — Karen Traviss

I shall remain vigilant and unyielding in my pursuit of the enemies of the Coalition.
I will defend and maintain the Order of Life as it was proclaim by the Allfathers of the Coalition in the Octus Canon.
I will forsake the life I had before so I may perform my duty as long as I am needed.
Steadfast, I shall hold my place in the machine and acknowledge my place in the Coalition.
I am a Gear. — Karen Traviss

Let's revise the old adage for our times. All that it requires for evil to succeed is that enough lazy, stupid bastards believe everything they're told. — Karen Traviss

It ain't what you say: it's how you say it. — Karen Traviss

As a writer, I have a moral deal with you, the reader - if I hook you with a story, my part of the deal is to follow through and give you a satisfying outcome. — Karen Traviss

Diplomacy is about dealing with those you rather avoid. — Karen Traviss

Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaasla. (Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.) - Mandalorian saying — Karen Traviss

I'd probably play games obsessively if I didn't write, although I admit I don't read novels partly because I don't enjoy it, not just because it's the wrong side of the creator-consumer barrier for me. I'm a visual writer. I think in moving 3D images and write down what I observe. — Karen Traviss

I've never met a soldier who knew he was a hero. It's not false modesty. They simply decide to do something that they know they must do, usually for there comrades, because if they don't, those people will suffer in some way. For them, that compulsion is far stronger than any fear. The fact we find it exceptional is a sad indictment of the human race. I'd like to live in a world of heroes. If we did, there would be no wars. — Karen Traviss

We have complete choice as individuals: the only decisions we can take are our own. And yet so many species use the state of being an individual as an excuse for inaction, helplessness and irresponsibility.No situation is so overwhelming that action is pointless.
Targassat of Surang. — Karen Traviss

We're all going to die sometime, so you might as well die pushing the odds for something that matters. — Karen Traviss

Humans have too many rights and not enough responsibilities.
-Aras — Karen Traviss

And the maximum number extracted. You know what your bosses say about attachment, littl'un. Don't get too attached to me. — Karen Traviss

They had both been raised in complete isolation from the everyday world, with their own set of values and disciplines, not because they had been chosen to be different but because they had been born that way. Their calling was random, genetic - unfair. — Karen Traviss

You never have perfect knowledge in combat, gentlemen. It's what we call the fog of war. You can either sit around worrying what's real and what's not, or you can realize the enemy hasn't got a clue either and fire off a few rounds of psychology. A truly great army is one that only has to rattle its saber to win a war. — Karen Traviss

Think of yourselves as a hand. Each of you is a finger, and without the others you're useless. Alone, a finger can't grasp, or control, or form a fist. You are nothing on your own, and everything together. — Karen Traviss

Revenge might give you a warm feeling, but unless it delivers some lasting results you might as well have a nice cup of mocha instead. — Karen Traviss

Sev, feeling embarrassed by his reaction, examined the bones. The left arm came off in his hand. "Yep, he's dead all right." Scorch sucked his teeth noisily. It was extra-amplified in the scuba trooper helmets. "Sure you don't want a second opinion, Doc?" "Nah, I'm prepared to go out on a limb. — Karen Traviss

Nobody touches my wife and kids. Han — Karen Traviss

I bet you were a Boy Scout."
"You are incomprehensible."
"It's just a compliment. — Karen Traviss

G.I. Joe has a heart and an attitude that feels right and familiar to me, so they could have ray guns, and they'd still feel more like real troops than many other franchises. — Karen Traviss

Nowhere does it say free speech is carte blanche to be a jerk. And don't cheapen real free speech by hijacking an honourable concept bought dearly with people's lives just to get a little spotlight. Spotlights run hot, and they can burn. — Karen Traviss

Ugliness is an illusion, gentlemen. Like beauty. Like color. All depends on the light. The only reality is action. — Karen Traviss

Writing is like a rollercoaster ride for me, an adventure. I love exploring the world through 'playing' people who are absolutely nothing like me. — Karen Traviss

Any sign of what killed him, Scorch?"
"Let's ask Sev. He's a dead-body-ologist."
[Sev examines the body and its arm falls off]
"Yep, he's dead alright."
"Sure you don't want a second opinion, Doc?"
"Nah, I'm ready go out on a limb. — Karen Traviss

MARK DONALDSON WAY, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIA DAY, TWO MONTHS AFTER THE BATTLE OF EARTH, JANUARY 26, 2553. — Karen Traviss

People lose it when I say this, but I'm a novelist who doesn't read novels. There are lots of good reasons for not reading novels! I'm also a game writer who doesn't play games - I keep everything very separate. The only crossover with me is comics. I write them, and I read them passionately. — Karen Traviss

If you can't take a joke, you shouldn't have joined. — Karen Traviss

If you take a shot at someone, you keep firing until they can no longer return fire. Wound them, and you have an angry enemy who knows your position. — Karen Traviss

A novel can do something that films and TV usually can't - a glimpse inside the characters' heads. I write very tight third person point of view, so the reader is right behind the eyes of each character, seeing what they see and feeling what they feel. — Karen Traviss

Every miracle's got a mundane explanation. [ ... ] and you can choose - you can look at the wonderous surface or you can look at the crud beneath. I want to see the wondrous, believe me. I just know it isn't going to be there when I've finished looking. — Karen Traviss

I wish you'd get one thing straight - I'm not a traitor. I was never on your side. I'm called the enemy. — Karen Traviss

anything that was aware of its actions was capable of making choices about them. — Karen Traviss

Hope was evil. It seduced you, then it dropped you on your ass so hard and so fast that you were worse off than when you started. — Karen Traviss

All ships ... we are now at battle stations. I expect this will now be known as the Second Battle of Fondor. — Karen Traviss

The art of storytelling is in development, not fact sheets. There are posts you have to hammer into the ground from the start just to get going, but if they don't hold up the house you build, you can change them or take them out. — Karen Traviss

Good grief, Rex, doesn't Skywalker tell his underlings to put clothes on? What does he think this is, a cruise liner?"
It was at times like this that Rex savoured the true value of his bucket. He silenced his helmet audio for a moment with a quick eye movement, roared with laughter, and then switched the speaker back on.
"Would you like me to ask him, sir?"
"Rex, you're enjoying this ... "
"Me, sir? Never, sir. — Karen Traviss

Politics were the ultimate frustration. — Karen Traviss

I don't want to worry you," he said, "but some Kig-Yar have put out a mev-ut on you and Vaz for shooting up their buddies on Reynes." "That's bad, is it?" "If they catch you, yes. It's a reward for bringing back body parts as proof of a kill." "Any parts in particular? I use some of mine more than others." "With UNSC, it's heads and cervical vertebrae. And they love ones with neural implants." "Dearie me. — Karen Traviss

If you're not prepared to do something in public, don't do it at all. — Karen Traviss

That's how tyranny succeeds. When folks think it won't affect them until eventually it does. — Karen Traviss

Humans believed they thought things consciously when most of the time they were simply rationalizing instinctive reactions as basic as the amoeba's, and after those reactions had already taken place. — Karen Traviss

The trouble with taking away the certainty of evil was that its vacuum was filled by all kinds of more nebulous threats, rivalries, and feuds. It became increasingly difficult to judge where the threat was coming from. — Karen Traviss

Humans would never tell the simple truth when a lie was available ... — Karen Traviss

And knowing my luck ... that'll be the Engineer sign for Your mom's a skank. — Karen Traviss

I fail to understand why gethes (Humans), talk about individuals versus society. They are the same thing. The action of every individual counts, and those individual acts of personal responsibility accumulate to create society. Snowflakes are equally blind to their role in causing avalanches. — Karen Traviss

I tell you this: think what you like, hate who you like, because that's between you and God, but you will act as the community requires, or the community will no longer require you. — Karen Traviss

And nobody has the right to judge a soldier from the warmth and safety of their armchair. — Karen Traviss

It was as if the small differences mattered more than the really big ones - like you had to recognize something before you could hate it properly. No — Karen Traviss

All the things worth writing about are outside me. I'm a lens, not a source. And even if it's not always a comfortable journey, it's always a stimulating one. — Karen Traviss

Recreating the experience of, say, bereavement in my own head is pretty rough. I was used to switching off from emotions every day of my working life as a journalist, but in fiction, you have to feel it 100%, or else it's a flat experience for the reader. — Karen Traviss

The Engineer began dismantling the helmet at a breakneck speed, stacking the components - faceplate, lining, mikes, data processor, even microfans - on the nearest flat surface, a hydroplane-like structure on a small vessel. — Karen Traviss

Family took a lot more than genes to hold it together — Karen Traviss

Prep for docking," said the pilot's voice over the intercom. "You're off watch, and I'm not, you barves ... " "Shower, food, sleep," said Darman, prioritizing. Atin shook his head. "Food, shower, sleep." "Sleep," said Niner. "Then more sleep." They looked at Corr. "Glorious revolution, then installing a military junta," he said. Etain stared, not at all sure about his hidden depths, but he laughed. "Or a nice big plate of minced roba patties. I'm easy. — Karen Traviss

I refuse to believe that gods want to make mortals unhappy and torment them. That's what humans do. And humans are very definitely not divine. — Karen Traviss

The best way to stop worrying about your inevitable demise is to dwell on it morbidly until you're so bored that you forget it. — Karen Traviss

I shouldn't have to do the foot-soldier work, Tahiri. Be my eyes and ears. I'd hate to have to use ch'hala trees. You're smarter than a tree
aren't you?
Darth Caedus to Tahiri Veila — Karen Traviss

Humans don't connect their actions with what befalls them. Don't they perceive time as linear?"
"They do," said Aitassi. "They just don't see why they should do anything individually to change their future to the one they want. All eight billion of them. — Karen Traviss

I do still read comics since I started writing for DC, but nowhere near as much as I used to, and I'm finding now that it's becoming harder to read comics as a consumer, so I think I'll have to make the call there and stop reading them. — Karen Traviss

Is it better to not get to know them?' 'No. It's not. It's sharking your responsibility, and it's disrespectful. Get to know them, and then you fully understand the price you're asking them to pay. — Karen Traviss

Long memory, short fuse, big revenge. — Karen Traviss

Games are getting more interesting. I mean, when we talk about books, they can be anything from a summer blockbuster to 'War and Peace' - well, games are the same. I think the creative side is catching up with the technology. — Karen Traviss

I've got a particular way of writing novels, and that carries over into the way I write comics and games, too. I'm a news journalist by background, so I approach everything as reporting - I treat it as real, I ask the questions I'd ask in a real situation, and I let the characters speak for themselves. — Karen Traviss

I love being pushed out of my comfort zone. — Karen Traviss

You think she's got a personality disorder?"
"No, she's just a nasty bitch. An unpleasant personality isn't a medical condition. Just a symptom of not being slapped around the head enough. — Karen Traviss

Regular people said they couldn't tell the difference between one clone and another, did they? That was what came of spending too much time looking at faces and not enough wondering what shaped people and went on inside their heads. — Karen Traviss

I know genes are a big deal, son, but they're not the be-all and end-all." Rob slowed to a halt at the lights, wishing the dickhead behind would back off. "If they were, you'd be in a seafood salad and I'd be in prison. — Karen Traviss

Your prowess with a lightsaber is childish vanity. Your physical Force powers are no more than a conjurer's trick, sleight of hand to dazzle the ordinary beings you should be serving. You profane these powers by using them as weapons in war. And you fail to grasp the single, simple, uncompromising duty of the true Jedi. The Jedi is the rock-lion at the gate who says, "I will defend these beings with my life, and that is the sum of me." Etain Tur-Mukan died to save one life, a man she did not even know, but felt compelled to save, and that is what made her stronger in the Force and a truer Jedi than any of you acrobats, tricksters, and specious, empty philosophers. — Karen Traviss

I'm a visual person - when I write, my input is always visual. I worked in television for several years. — Karen Traviss

The biggest battles in human history can only ever be seen through the eyes of the bloke on the front line, and that's by definition a very focused view and one that will vary from individual to individual. — Karen Traviss

Why doesn't the fact that I'm human matter to human beings — Karen Traviss

Somehow, though, they managed to ignore the fact that being the dominant species on Earth meant that absolutely nothing about their position was inevitable or beyond their control. — Karen Traviss

Maze: "I'm alerting HQ. Stand by."
*on the private comlink*
Corr: "How are you Omega? Can we help? We're really concerned that you're stranded on a shabla rock surrounded by an infinite number of natives who'll cut your gett'se off when they haul you screaming from the summit. — Karen Traviss

BB didn't say a word. Maybe integrating into Naomi's systems had shut him up for once. Mal decided to keep a watchful eye on the relationship. Everyone was getting on fine: better than fine, in fact, a really close-knit and easy-going team. The last thing they needed was a Spartan saddled with an AI she didn't want. But that wasn't a problem he could solve, given that they were the two most advanced and expensive pieces of defense technology the UNSC had ever produced. They were stuck with each other. — Karen Traviss

If you go back and look at the early promos for Gears 1, you'll see just how different the characters were from the actual first game, both in appearance and background. And it's an evolutionary process. — Karen Traviss

I'm still an old-school reporter at heart. Writing fiction satisfies my journalistic need to hear and relay the testimony of everyday people at the center of events. — Karen Traviss

The thing about games is, players often say they don't care about story, but then if you took the story out, what would their reaction be? If no one cared about story, we'd all still be playing Pac-Man. There's nothing wrong with Pac-Man, but the point is, there's a genre of games in which you want to become part of that world. — Karen Traviss

Covering his tracks by randomizing his route back to the apartment had become routine for Skirata now, which was a bizarre irony in itself. — Karen Traviss

So you want a knife, a nice sharp knife. You hone that blade to its limits. It even cuts through stone when you want it to. It saves your life. And then you're outraged when it cuts you accidentally. You see, knives don't switch off. And neither do people, not when you hone them to a fine edge. — Karen Traviss

Life was a trade-off between loneliness and inevitable peaks of joy or agony. — Karen Traviss

I don't mind being shot at. It's having a government that lies to me that I hate. — Karen Traviss

I don't know who the good guys are anymore. But I do know what the enemy is. It's the compromise of principles. You lose the war when you lose your principles. And the first principle is to look out for your comrades. — Karen Traviss

If we were given one word of information in our entire history, how we'd treasure it! how we'd pore over ever syllable, divining it's meaning, arguing its importance; how we'd examine it and wring every lesson we could from it. Yet today we have trillions of words, tidal waves of information and the smallest detail of every action our government and businesses take is easily available to us at the touch of a button. And yet ... we ignore it, and learn nothing from it. One day we'll die of voluntary ignorance — Karen Traviss

In this job, you handpick your people. You need the best. You need the most loyal. You need the most ruthless. — Karen Traviss

killed in a way I didn't think I ever could. I'm appalled at what I can do. I don't enjoy this." "If you enjoyed it, Jacen, you would not be the one destined to become the Sith Lord." The — Karen Traviss

We don't do psyop. We've never worked with Spartans before. And we're definitely not trained for this spook stuff. But how hard can it be? They were ODSTs. They could do anything. It was all about the right attitude - a commando's state of mind. "Hi, BB," Mal said. "Take us to Hinge-head World, then. — Karen Traviss

Dom decided that when life returned to normal - even after fourteen years, he had to think that it could - he'd follow Cole's example and treat money as easy come, easy go. People were what mattered. You couldn't replace them, and they didn't earn interest. They just slipped away a day at a time, and you had to make the most of every precious moment. When — Karen Traviss

Darman: I want my HUD back. I want my enhanced view.
Fi: But you get to wear face camo instead. Makes you feel wild and dangerous.
Sev: I'm wild. And then I get dangerous. Shut up.
Fi: Copy that. [exits Sev's comlink channel] Miserable di'kut.
Scorch: Don't mind him. He'll be fine once he's killed something. — Karen Traviss

Real evil wasn't about bending the law to suit justice: evil was acting out of small, intensely personal expedience and losing sight of the bigger picture so often that you never got it back again. — Karen Traviss