Nero Au Augustus Quotes
18"Society has three stages: Savagery, Ascendance, Decadence. The great rise because of Savagery. They rule in Ascendance. They fall because of their own Decadence."
Red Rising, ch. 16: The Institute, p. 121
"This school is not life,” he recites to me. “It is not life. Here you are king. In life, there are no kings. There are many would-be-kings. But we Peerless lay them low. Many before you have won this game. And those many now excel beyond this school. So do not act as though when you graduate, you will be king, you will have loyal subjects—you will not. You will need me. You will need a foundation, a supporter to help you rise. There can be none better for you than I."
Red Rising, ch. 44: Rise, p. 380
"Steel is power. Money is power. But of all the things in all the worlds, words are power."
Red Rising, ch. 44: Rise, p. 381
"Darrow, Lancer of House Augustus. Rise, there are duties for you to fill. Rise, there are honors for you to take. Rise for glory, for power, for conquest and dominion over lesser men. Rise, my son. Rise."
Red Rising, ch. 44: Rise, p. 384
"A fool pulls the leaves. A brute chops the trunk. A sage digs the roots."
Golden Son, ch. 4: Fallen, p. 29
"Whether missile or boarding craft come, die like Golds"
Golden Son, ch. 20: Helldiver, p. 182
"Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another."
Golden Son, ch. 26: Puppet Master, p. 240
"My father taught me it is weak to ask others what they think of you,” he says, clasping his hands behind his back. “But I must. Do you think I am a cold monster?"
Golden Son, ch. 51: Golden Son, p. 429
"I know that Blues can command fleets. I know Obsidians can use technology, lead men. That the quickest Orange could, if given a proper chance, be a fine pilot. Reds could be soldiers, or musicians, or accountants. Some few—very few—Silvers could write novels, I wager. But I know what it would cost us. Order is paramount to our survival. Humanity came out of hell, Darrow. Gold did not rise out of chance. We rose out of necessity. Out of chaos, born from a species that devoured its planet instead of investing in the future. Pleasure over all, damn the consequences. The brightest minds enslaved to an economy that demanded toys instead of space exploration or technologies that could revolutionize our race. They created robots, neutering the work ethic of mankind, creating generations of entitled locusts. Countries hoarded their resources, suspicious of one another. There grew to be twenty different factions with nuclear weapons. Twenty—each ruled by greed or zealotry. So when we conquered mankind, it wasn’t for greed. It wasn’t for glory. It was to save our race. It was to still the chaos, to create order, to sharpen mankind to one purpose—ensuring our future. The Colors are the spine of that aim. Allow the hierarchies to shift and the order begins to crumble. Mankind will not aspire to be great. Men will aspire to be great."
Golden Son, ch. 51: Golden Son, p. 429
"I do not truly fight because I want to be king or Emperor or whatever word you slap above my name in the history texts. The universe does not notice us, Darrow. There is no supreme being waiting to end existence when the last man breathes his final breath. Man will end. That is the fact accepted, but never discussed. And the universe will continue without care. I will not let that happen, because I believe in man. I would have us continue forever. I would shepherd us out of the Solar System into alien ones. Seek new life. We are barely in our infancy as a species. But I would make man the immutable fixture in the universe, not just some passing bacteria that flashes and fades with no one to remember. That is why I know there is a proper way to live. Why I believe your young ideas so dangerous."
Golden Son, ch. 51: Golden Son, p. 430
"I treated you poorly, because I feared your brashness, your impudence. But I promised I would make amends, and so I will, because you have shown the capacity for growth, for learning. Become my heir. Not my Praetor. I have enough lords of war. What I need … what I want is a son."
Golden Son, ch. 51: Golden Son, p. 431
"Promises were necessary to gain their support. When we have defeated Octavia, I will put the Reformers in prison, or execute them for treason."
Golden Son, ch. 51: Golden Son, p. 432
"Never trust the man who sleeps under siege. He’s either lazy or disloyal."
Dark Age, ch. 19: Virginia: Stiletto, p. 155
"Self-pity is the plebeian’s luxury. All that occurs is either endurable or unendurable. If it is endurable, endure it. If it is unendurable, follow your mother."