Business for the Emperor. I don’t think he ever saw the Imperial City as people and lights—to him it was just power and opportunities.

Timothy Zahn, The Last Command [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library]

Hermetic quote Zahn The Last Command business emperor city people lights just power opportunities

Consider also:

  1. “But liberty, as we all know, cannot flourish in a country that is permanently on a war footing, or even a nearwar footing.”
  2. Omnium Gatherum: 2may2021
  3. “These things are symptoms of political inefficiency. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic. Conditions have got to be thoroughly unstable before the occasion can arise.”
  4. “One such example is Hugo Ball’s Karawane, the text of which in part reads, ‘hollaka hollala / anlogo bung / blago bung / blago bung.’ From Ball’s perspective, the impulse to stand on stage and address an audience with sounds and gibberish was a reaction to the society that led to World War I. Such a bankrupt society deserved meaningless poetry.”
  5. “You may also be surprised to find that some of the things you write on the list will actually come to pass, almost without your making any conscious effort to make them happen. If you acknowledge the power of the imagination to foster changes in perception and performance, it’s easy to see how having a Someday/Maybe list out in front of your conscious mind could potentially add many wonderful adventures to your life and work. We’re likely to seize opportunities when they arise if we’ve already identified and captured them as a possibility.”