The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks
The man who is content to live alone is either a beast or a god. —ARISTOTLE
"You cannot give up and die," Karris said angrily. "You’re the best there is. No one can replace you." Unexpectedly, the White chuckled. "Words every megalomaniac longs to hear. But true only of the truly bad and the monumentally great. I am neither, Karris. I am merely competent, my failures significant and sadly frequent. That I am not bad perhaps makes me better than many a White before me, but the good and the great are two disparate camps that rarely overlap."
Updated: Feb 18, 2023
Kip quickly filled in the relevant blanks, and as Quentin watched him, perplexed, he walked over to Commander Ironfist. "Can you sign this for me, sir?" He handed him the quill, already dipped in ink. "Breaker, do you know how many ways I could disable you with this quill?" "No, sir." "Do you want to find out?" "Only if that knowledge is academic rather than experiential, sir." The corner of Ironfist’s mouth twitched, but it might have been Kip’s imagination.
Updated: Feb 18, 2023
"Unavailable. I may have missed things." But he was examining Kip sharply. "Boy, I am ferocious when crossed, I don’t deny it. I find being led by fools intolerable. But I am magnanimous in victory. I do what needs to be done to win and without putting on a false display of sorrow or reluctance; you think that makes me hideous? Others pay homage to common pieties with their lips but betray them by their actions. I am simply more forthright. Orholam needs even honest men, does he not?"
"Knowing I would die for you, how would you live if you were worthy of that sacrifice? Live that way," Cruxer said. "Simple, huh?" Kip asked sardonically. "Simple. Not easy."
Updated: Feb 18, 2023
"Well, not personally. Brandy?" "No, I don’t want your damn brandy!" "That’s too bad." Andross poured two glasses anyway, and put one in front of Kip. He sat in his chair and gestured for Kip to sit across from him. "Knowledge of fine alcohols is mostly an affectation, but an important one. Men respect those who have greater knowledge of the trivial than they do, when that trivia is costly. Nothing more so than spirits."