J.Z. Colby Quotes

#1. There are a million things out there that can kill you, and about half of them are invisible. If you're going to stick your body parts into them just to see what will happen, even after I've warned you about them, then you won't live long, and you certainly can't work on my ship.

J.Z. Colby

#2. It is not the purpose of the universe to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible. That's a mortal preoccupation, especially strong in monkey mammals, but we all feel it to one degree or another ...

J.Z. Colby

#3. The universe has no place for creatures who foul their nest and then set out on a journey they cannot survive.

J.Z. Colby

#4. If you can't see the feelings in a donkey, a ship, or a delicate tool, then it's just as easy to not see them in your brother or sister when you can profit by treating them badly.

J.Z. Colby

#5. I think you will like your life in the Transport Service, but it'll be far from normal. Being a slave ... or a goatherd's wife ... is closer to normal. A deep-space response ship pilot is a very, very rare thing.

J.Z. Colby

#6. I can't feel too sorry for them. Every gift has to run out someday. Anyone but a child knows that.

J.Z. Colby

#7. No, this isn't right. I don't think the people doing it know or care about right and wrong. This is all some kind of show, but I don't understand it either.

J.Z. Colby

#8. I think I see your point. It wouldn't be fair for me to judge your answers without having had a life experience similar to yours. Do I understand you correctly?

J.Z. Colby

#9. I come from a place where everyone has great power, by your standards, and they steadfastly refuse to use it for self-aggrandizement ... anywhere ... ever.

J.Z. Colby

#10. The sea is very beautiful and gives us many things, but it must be understood and respected, or it will slap you ...

J.Z. Colby

#11. We only refer to sapient creatures as civilized when their society is willingly self-correcting. That means that any problem or imbalance that arises is fixed, and I mean really fixed - not ignored, not hidden, and not passed off to a future generation.

J.Z. Colby

#12. On a ship, knowing when to be silent is just as important as knowing when to speak.

J.Z. Colby

#13. The world has many places that can make us uncomfortable. Calling them evil, or any other bad name, doesn't make them go away.

J.Z. Colby

#14. I'm just a girl trying to learn where to put my feet ... and where not to.

J.Z. Colby

#15. Personal power is the ability to stand on your own two feet with a smile on your face in the middle of a universe that contains a million ways to crush you.

J.Z. Colby

#16. One thing I can guarantee, is that the world will never change itself because of our weaknesses. In fact, it has ways of actually becoming more dangerous when we approach it with a bad attitude.

J.Z. Colby

#17. No, I will finish what I started, here, at Glimpa's Arch. The act belongs to me, the consequence, pleasing or not, belongs to the gods.

J.Z. Colby