Jack Vance - Emphyrio (1969)

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What, given the circumstances, would have been Emphyrio's course of action?
Truth.
Very well, thought Ghyl: it shall be Truth, and let the consequences fall where they may.

Jack Vance
IF THERE BE HERE LESSON OR MORAL, IT LIES BEYOND THE COMPETENCE OF HIM WHO INSCRIBES THIS RECORD.

Jack Vance
Tomorrow?
Sh. She put her hand across his lips. Never say the word!

Jack Vance
Ghyl laughed also. If I'm too serious, you're too irresponsible.
Bah, retorted Floriel. Is the world responsible? Of course not! The world is random, vagrant, heedless. To be responsible is to be out of phase, to be insane!
Ghyl pondered a moment. This is perhaps the case, in a world left to itself. But society imposes order. Living in a society, it is not insane to be responsible.

Jack Vance
Shanne said, You are quiet; are you sad?
In a way. Do you know why?
She put her hand across his mouth. Never speak of it. What must be, will be. What can never be—can never be.
Ghyl turned to look at her, trying to divine every last scintilla of her meaning.
But, she added in a soft voice, what can be—can be.

Jack Vance
Control is necessary and even good—so long as I do the controlling.

Jack Vance
Happiness is fugitive; dissatisfaction and boredom are real.

Jack Vance
Freedom, privileges, options, must constantly be exercised, even at the risk of inconvenience. Otherwise they fall into desuetude and become unfashionable, unorthodox—finally irregulationary.

Jack Vance