Tad Williams Quote

Not everyone can stand up and be a hero, Princess, he said quietly. Some prefer to surrender to the inevitable and salve their conscience with the gift of survival.
Miriamele thought about the obvious truth of what Cadrach had said as they walked on, but could not understand why it made her so unutterably sad.

Chapter 2, Masks and Shadows (p. 37) - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn - Stone of Farewell (1990)