# The Asutra

- Author: [Jack Vance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance.md)
- Quotes: 8
- Book page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-vance/the-asutra

## Quotes

> “Bah,” muttered Sul. “I am unable to chop logic with you; you have the superior sleight with words.”

p. 179

> “I made no such assertion,” Ifness said. “You drew a faulty inference, for which I cannot accept responsibility. In any event the situation is more complicated than you suppose, and you must be prepared for subtlety.”
>
> “Subtlety or deception?” demanded Etzwane. “The effect is much the same.”
>
> Ifness held up his hand. “I will explain the situation, if only to reduce the flow of your reproaches.”

p. 25

> I am not the man for this sort of business; I detest puzzlement.

p. 126

> Which is better: cheap submission or expensive independence?

p. 195

> “Where are the Red Devil bones?”
>
> “Not far distant: beyond the ridge. Can you not sense the presence of so much death?”
>
> Ifness responded in a measured voice: “An intellect in full control of itself unfortunately must sacrifice that receptivity which distinguishes the primitive mentality. This is an evolutionary step I have, on the whole, been happy to make.”

p. 55

> I know now what I should have known every moment of my life; that unless you help yourself, you die a slave. The fact is basic.

p. 181

> Drowsing in the warmth, Etzwane could find no occasion for haste; indeed, the prospect of docking the boat and stepping ashore aroused in him a curious mood of melancholy. The adventure would then be definitely finished; for all its misery and black despair, he had lived to his utmost capacity; he had augmented and enriched his life.

p. 194

> “I consider myself a fortunate men, more so than most. I have often wondered why it was given to me to live the life of Kyril Fabrache.”
>
> “These reflections, at one time or another, have occurred to all of us,” said Ifness, “but unless we are agreed upon a religion of gradated reincarnation, the question is ingenuous.”

p. 74