Valerio Massimo Manfredi · 368 pages
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“History sometimes reproduces, at a distance of many years, the same combinations of circumstances that generate great achievements. But nothing ever repeats itself in exactly the same way.”
― Valerio Massimo Manfredi, quote from Alexander: Child of a Dream
“There are no simple answers to complex problems.”
― Valerio Massimo Manfredi, quote from Alexander: Child of a Dream
“Remember, my boy, I never fight for the pleasure of wielding weapons. War, for me, is simply politics by other means.”
― Valerio Massimo Manfredi, quote from Alexander: Child of a Dream
“They passed the Gates of Thermopylae the following day and Alexander stopped to visit the tombs of the Spartan soldiers who had fallen one hundred and forty years previously during their battle with the Persian invaders. He read the simple inscription in Laconian dialect that commemorated their ultimate sacrifice and he stood in silence listening to the wind blowing in from the sea.
How ephemeral is the destiny of man!’ he exclaimed. ‘All that is left of the thunder of a momentous clash which shook the whole world and an act of heroism worthy of Homer’s verses are these few lines. All is quiet now.”
― Valerio Massimo Manfredi, quote from Alexander: Child of a Dream
“واعتبر اليونانيون أن الدولة التي تبنى على روابط الدم بدلا من حقوق المواطنة والتي يحكمها ملك بطريقة مطلقة بحيث يكون فوق القانون هي دولة بربرية”
― Valerio Massimo Manfredi, quote from Alexander: Child of a Dream
“قال الأسكندر:"وماذا بشأن العبيد؟هل في الإمكان وجود عالم من دون عبيد؟"
أجاب أرسطو:"كلا طالما يستحيل وجود نول ينسج القماش من تلقاء نفسه,اما إذا أصبح ذلك ممكنا فيمكن عندها ان نتصور وجود عالم من دون عبيد لكنني لا أعتق أبدا أن ذلك سيحدث في المستقبل”
― Valerio Massimo Manfredi, quote from Alexander: Child of a Dream
“A poet, Hephaestion, sings not to narrate human events as they occur, but to make sure that we have the opportunity of living the emotions and the passions of our heroes even at a distance of centuries.”
― Valerio Massimo Manfredi, quote from Alexander: Child of a Dream
“philip closed his eyes and stood upright and immobile in the middle of the silet room. In that moment the roar of battle, the creaking wood of the siege engines, the furious galloping of the horses all faded away; he simply stood stock still and listened to his son's breathing.”
― Valerio Massimo Manfredi, quote from Alexander: Child of a Dream
“feel that God was so very close, so very concerned with my particular life, so very ready to protect and to love. Always nearby. Always listening. Always leading. But”
― Lisa Wingate, quote from The Story Keeper
“If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Be the best you can be at whatever it is you choose to do.”
― Scott Hildreth, quote from Undefeated
“My presentation—the dark, unsmiling, solitary stranger—made me a target for the inchoate rage of the defenders of Vlaanderen. I could, in the wrong place, be taken for a rapist or “Viking.” But the bearers of the rage could never know how cheap it was. They were insensitive to how common, and how futile, was their violence in the name of a monolithic identity. This ignorance was a trait angry young men, as well as their old, politically powerful rhetorical champions, shared the world over.”
― Teju Cole, quote from Open City
“Her name was Jane,” I said, and Olivia stopped walking. “We were together for two years, married after a few months. I was happy, genuinely happy. Even though she was human, and I knew I’d outlive her, I just wanted to enjoy the time that we had together. “It all ended on a damp November morning in seventeen eighty-two. I’d been away working for Avalon for a few months and had been eager to get home. I found her inside the house we’d shared. She’d been butchered. Her blood decorated our bedroom. She was naked and appeared to have been dead for several days. My rage was…terrifying. I buried Jane with my own hands, placing her near a field that we used to love going to. And then I burnt the house to the ground.” Olivia’s shoulders sagged, but she didn’t turn and face me. “I hunted her killer for a year. I didn’t care who I hurt to get the information I needed. I was so single-minded, so determined to have vengeance. Eventually, I discovered that her murderer had been part of the king’s army, which had been going through the area. “The killer was an officer by the name of Henry. No idea what his last name was. It didn’t matter. He liked hurting women, and once he’d finished with them, he kept their hair as a souvenir. The rest of his squad had waited outside while he brutalized and murdered the woman I loved. No one had helped Jane, and no one had tried to stop him. “I discovered that they’d been on training maneuvers the day of the murder, just their squad of thirty. And after all my searching, I found them and I killed them. They died in one night of blood and rage. All but one. I left Henry until last. I took him away to a secluded place and had my fill of vengeance. It took a week for him to die, and when he finally succumbed, I buried Hellequin with him.” The memory of Henry’s blind and bloody form flashed in my mind—his pleas had long since silenced because I’d removed his tongue. I hadn’t wanted information from him; I’d just wanted to make him suffer. Before he’d lost his ability to talk, he’d told me that someone had paid him to do it, but he never said who. No matter what I did to him, he took that secret to his grave. And after a few years of searching, I decided he’d been lying. Trying to prolong his life for a short time more, hoping for mercy where there was none to give. “I no longer had the desire to go by that name,” I continued, still talking to Olivia’s back, “I no longer wanted to instill fear with a word. I hoped that the legend would die, but it didn’t, it grew, became more…fanciful. “You’re right, I’m a killer. I’ve killed thousands, and very few of them have ever stained my conscience. I can go to a dark place and do whatever I need to. But for those I care about, those I love, I will move fucking mountains to keep them safe. And I care about Tommy and Kasey, whether you grant permission or not.”
― Steve McHugh, quote from Born of Hatred
“Too many people would rather fight to the death to defend their bullhead positions. Tyrone was impressed whenever someone changed their mind. It meant acting on reason, and with reason came self-improvement.”
― Jack Kilborn, quote from Trapped
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