In one line: This was the original book Orson wanted to write, however he ended up writing Ender’s Game first to set the stage to properly contextualize this book–another great work and very different than Ender’s Game–more philosophical, slower, less game theory & tactical strategy.
- Why is marriage necessary for anyone? Fools say, “Why should we marry? Love is the only bond my lover and I need. To them I say, “marriage is not a covenant between a man and a woman. Even the bees cleave together and produce their young. Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman on the one side and their community on the other. To marry according to the law of the community is to become a full citizen. To refuse marriage is to be stranger. A child. An outlaw. A slave. Or a traitor. The one constant in every society of human kind is that only those who obey the laws, taboos, and customs of marriage are true adults. (ch10)
- Sickness and healing are in every heart. Death and deliverance are in every hand. – Human (ch14)
- Do not grieve for what you do in ignorance (ch14)
- If people only react to the way others treated them, then nobody is responsible for anything. If your sins are not your own to choose, then how can you repent? – Bishop Pellegrino (ch15)
- The truth is what will set you free (ch16)
- I think you can’t possibly know the truth about somebody unless you love them (ch16)
- When you really know somebody, you can’t hate them. Or maybe it’s just that you can’t really know them until you stop hating them. (ch18)
- Most truths can only be expressed in circular paradoxes (ch18)
- No human being, if you understand their desires, is worthless. No ones life is nothing. Even the most evil, if you understand their hearts, some generous act at least redeems them from their sins.
- “Thou art fertile ground, and I shall plant a garden in thee.” – Ender
- The idea of a “Speaker for the Dead” was someone who gets up and tells our story after we die. But NOT as we would want it told or presenting the image we would like to be presented but instead presenting what we actually were…What I realized was that if you really understand someone well enough to speak for them when they’re dead, you will end up probably, loving them. I really think if we know enough about someone, we can start to understand how they got set on the road that may lead to the terrible things they do. And you don’t pull any punches. Name their sins for what they were. Talk about their flaws, their horrible choices…this is what being a speaker for the dead is about. (ch18)
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