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72817d6
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How did you sleep?" Cutting through the quiet with total disregard, came Arcadius's voice... "I don't know, I just sort of put my head down and closed my eyes." The old man smiled. "You should be a student here. It usually takes months to break the habit of making unwarranted assumptions. Try the hot cider. It's soft but if you get it with cinnamon it adds a little zest to your morning."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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ad70fc3
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This isn't over," Merrick replied. "DeLancy is dead. You have no idea what that means. The scales are balanced. The demon is unleashed."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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32351ef
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He gave him a second, then in a bright tone said, "How is it we never had king and emperor on our list of potential careers? When you think about it, it beats the heck out of winemakers, actors, and fishermen." "You always think everything is so easy," Royce replied, wiping his eyes. "I'm just a glass-half-full kinda guy. How's your glass looking these days?" "I have no idea. I'm still trying to get over the sheer size of it." Hadrian nodde..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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c73d2d3
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Modina lowered her voice and said, "I'll tell you a secret--it's not me at all, really. Sure, on occasion, I come up with something intelligent--and I am usually surprised by it myself--but the real genius behind my throne is Nimbus. Amilia deserves everything this empire can give her for hiring him. The man is a wonder: quiet, unassuming, but utterly brilliant. If he had a mind to, he could replace me in a heartbeat. I am convinced he coul..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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b4cc930
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Snake," Wyatt announced. "A big black one." "There's dozens of them," Royce explained. "Where?" Alric asked. "Mostly behind you on the walls." "What?" the king said, aghast. "Why didn't you say something?" "Knowing would only make traveling slower." "Are they poisonous?" Mauvin asked. They could all see the silhouetted shoulders of Royce's shadow on the far wall shrug. "I demand you inform me of such things in future!" Alric declared. "Do y..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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13d92b2
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The two slept most of the next day, waking only when a boy delivered what he thought might be breakfast, or perhaps lunch, but turned out to be the evening meal. The steaming bowls of vegetable stew and round loaf of brown rye arrived along with a note from Arcadius asking them to visit his office after eating and to do so while being seen by as few students as possible. There was a postscript for Royce explaining it was all right if some s..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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f94da44
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Before you were born, the year ninety-two, lost what was precious, and that what was new. The blink of an eye, the beat of a heart, Out went the candle, and guilt was my part. A king and his knight went hunting a boar, A rat and his friends were hunting for love. Together they fought, till one was alive. The knight sadly wept, no king had survived. The answers to riddles, to secrets and more, Are found in the middle of legends and lov..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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dac7558
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It's hard to explain the feeling of it--the power--it's as if I can do anything. Can you imagine knowing you can do anything? It's exciting, alluring--it draws you in and you want it like a hunger. You feel yourself becoming part of something bigger, joining with it, working with it. You sense every drop of water, every blade of grass, and you become them--everything--the air and the stars. You want to see how far you can go, where the edge..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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012be74
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It has taken a long time to find, but there is a pattern to the world. Wobble it and it corrects, which should be impossible; chaos should beget chaos. Order should be only one possibility and drowned by all the other permutations. But if it corrects again, if order prevails, then there can be only one answer. There is another force at work--an invisible hand--and I think I know what that force is.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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928664f
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They watched each other, staring across the green. Royce walked forward, crossing the distance between them in silence. Two ghosts meeting at a crossroad. "It's been a while--Esra is it? Or should I call you Mr. Haddon?" The man tilted his head, lifting his eyes. "I am delighted to see you as well, Royce." "How do you know my name?" "I'm a wizard, or did you miss that from our last meeting?" Royce paused and smiled. "You know, you're right;..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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8202bdf
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Hadrian was disappointed that she never came to his room, and he, in turn, never visited hers.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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409170e
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Stained upon my hands, the blood of innocents brands my soul with such a crime forgiveness gapes appalled.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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83dec4f
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It was like waiting for the sunrise and a chicken to hatch-- if the sun marked the end of the world and the chicken was an all-devouring demon. --THE BOOK OF BRIN
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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63b3714
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When you leave," Gwen said, "take Mouse. Give Ryn's horse to Myron." "What does Myron need with a horse?" he asked. Gwen just smiled, and Royce knew better than to question further. "Okay, but I'm warning you now. He'll spoil it rotten"
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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3cdcf89
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You don't move like a human," Irawondona said. "And you fight surprisingly well for a talking brideeth." The reaction on Irawondona's face was immediate. His happy grin vanished. Arista looked to Myron. "I don't know that word," the monk replied. "I wouldn't think you would," Royce said. "I taught him that one."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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ff917ad
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If given a choice between a potentially great hardship and doing nothing, people gravitate toward what was most familiar and comfortable. That was why leadership was needed. To do what was necessary rather than what was easy.
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taking-action
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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6822fe0
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What is it?" Hadrian asked. "Fighting," he replied at last. "Fighting? Who?" Hadrian asked. "I can't hear the color of their uniforms." Royce smirked. "Soldiers, though. I hear swords on armor."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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cc2f506
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Gift am I, of Ferrol's hand these laws to halt the chaos be, No king shall die, no tyrant cleaved save by the perilous sound of me. Cursed the silent hand that strikes forever to his brethren lost, Doomed of darkness and of light so be the tally and the cost. Breath upon my lips announce the gauntlet loud so all may hear, Thine challenge for the kingly seat so all may gather none need fear. But once upon a thousand three unless ..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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70bb3c2
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Thank you for checking on me. You even wore your sword." Alric looked down. "I didn't know what beast or scoundrel might be attacking the princess. I had to come prepared to do battle." "Can you even draw that thing?" He frowned at her again. "Oh, quit it, will you? They say I fought masterfully in the Battle of Medford." "Masterfully?" He struggled to stop himself from smiling. "Yes, some might even say heroically. In fact, I believe some ..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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61dde14
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if you can't trust an ancient talking tree, what was the point of having one?
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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f4cfad0
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So you're a sailor," the dwarf muttered. Wyatt, who had been passing the time by playing with the feather in his hat, raised his head and nodded. "And you're a dwarf." "What was your first clue?" The little fellow smirked. "What'd you do?" Wyatt did not see any point in avoiding the question. Lies were told to protect one's future, and Wyatt had no illusions of his. "I'm responsible for destroying Tur Del Fur." The dwarf sat up, interested...
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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340e6f7
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I knew him, you know, your beloved Novron. Ah, but yes, you already discovered that little fact. Here's something the books won't tell you. He was an ass.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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f90253a
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Were you really that powerful before?" Esrahaddon showed him a wicked smile. "Oh, my dear boy, you couldn't begin to imagine."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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8039632
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Their business was profitable but ugly. Just another game he played in a world where heroes were legends and honor was a myth.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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15d6cc8
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A wise man once told me no man can escape death, but it's how we run that defines us. And if I have to run, I think I'd like to go where she's going.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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502baae
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Oh, it can't be as bad as all that. Come on, can't I interest you in some soup? I make a pretty mean vegetable barley, if I do say so myself." "You know I love your food. It's just that my stomach is in knots. I noticed a gray hair in the mirror the other day." "Oh please, you're still just a girl," Ibis laughed, then caught himself. "I guess I shouldn't speak to you that way, you being noble and all. I should be saying, 'Yes, Your Ladyship..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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79edbc9
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You've grown a beard, I see." "You just noticed?" "I noticed before, been kinda busy until now." "I can't really shave, can I? It wasn't a problem while I was in Gutaria, but now--does it look all right?" "You have some gray coming in." "I ought to. I am nine hundred years old."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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0583095
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Your Majesty?" Alric looked up at the thief with a scowl. "I just want to say for the record that as far as royal protectors go, you're not very good." "It's my first day," Royce replied dryly. "And already I'm trapped in a timeless prison. I shudder to think what might have happened if you had a whole week."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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7d734d8
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So," Royce said, "you want us to escape from this prison, kidnap the king, cross the countryside with him in tow while dodging soldiers who I assume might not accept our side of the story, and go to another secret prison so that he can visit an inmate?"
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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a3b89fa
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They came to a bend in the road where it turned more west than north, and there at the turn was a squat fir tree that for the last quarter mile Hadrian had suspected might be a bear. Coincidentally, at the same time as they passed the tree, Hadrian finally reached the conclusion that Arcadius was senile. The man was old to be sure. Older than anyone he'd ever met. Older even than his father, who at the time of his departure was the oldest ..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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fac0144
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Guy's eyes narrowed. "So you are saying that you traveled all the way out here alone-- passing through, as you put it--and just happened to join up with the Pickerings?" Hadrian smiled at the sentinel. It was weak, clumsy, and the fencing equivalent of dropping his sword and tackling his opponent to the ground, but it was all he could do."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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e8000b0
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Hatred. Some people get filled with it and explode. If they survive, they move on. Others just let it dribble out over the years, like a leaky bucket. One day they notice the bucket is empty, and they wonder what had been in it in the first place. Still others use hatred as a weapon, going so far as to pass it on to others--an ugly, unwanted gift disguised as a virtuous heirloom.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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19acede
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Heroes are those who refuse to create or become victims. I failed to see it then, but I lived among many heroes. I think maybe everyone does." --THE BOOK OF BRIN"
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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e230d1f
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he locked the door and waited for you two to find the body." Esrahaddon paused. "That cannot be right you--two--to?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "If this hast been done to language, I fear to know the fate of all else."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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71e8bf7
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Freedom, he discovered, had built a greater prison than his family or clan had.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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3594c4b
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She's different." "Everyone is different." "Then let's say I like the ways in which she's different. A wise man once told me no man can escape death, but it's how we run that defines us. And if I have to run, I think I'd like to go where she's going."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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3a8d7ec
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And the other?" Braga asked. "The other what?" The king looked back and forth between the two. "The other reason you can't appoint Simon as chancellor," Leo reminded him. "Oh." The king presented Braga with a wry smile. "Because I hate him. That's why he's such a pain. He really can't get in any worse with his king. So he needles me and revels in his position of being one of the most powerful and disliked nobles in the realm. Worst thing ab..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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97ee53d
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Lying is] a betrayal to one's self. It's evidence of self-loathing. When you are so ashamed of your actions, thoughts, or intentions, you lie rather than accepting yourself for who you really are... The idea of how others see you becomes more important than the reality of you.
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young-adult
food-for-thought
makes-you-think
fantasy-fiction
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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45b26d5
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From a nearby doorway, a sweaty, shirtless man with a bald head emerged carrying a large copper pot. He unceremoniously cast the pot's contents, the bony remains of several stewed animals, into the street.
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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f5d9ff8
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Well, do you still make that marvelous wine? The pale red one, with a hint of nuts? I've boasted about it all the way here." "There was a vineyard once, up on the slope of the Horn Ridge," Persephone said. "But it was lost to drought decades ago." Nyphron scowled. "Doesn't anything in this place last?" "Hardship," Persephone replied. "We always have an abundance of that." The god looked directly at her. Their eyes met and he smiled. With a..
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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cf944d5
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I'm going?" Malcolm asked nervously. "Yep." "But I don't know anything about hunting bears." "We aren't hunting a bear," Raithe said. "You just heard her." "Then why am I terrified?" "Because it will be dark by the time we get out there, because I'm going, and because the gods are infatuated with me this month." "Tell me again why I'm going." Raithe ran toward the gate. "It's your reward for hitting people with rocks."
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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b7d0df2
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It's easier to believe the most outlandish lie that confirms what you suspect than the most obvious truth that denies it
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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c55ae6c
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That we're both right. One truth doesn't refute another. Truth doesn't lie in the object, but in how we see it." Hadrian"
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Michael J. Sullivan |
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ddd7ffc
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That's the thing about hatred, it can become rancid, and it'll turn into poison if you keep it bottled too long. Hatred will eat through any container and seep into the groundwater of a soul. Revenge is never enough to expel it because it keeps bubbling up anew. What you don't realize-can't really-is that by that time, it's all you are. You don't have the hate in you. The hate is you. When that wine is consumed, you won't ever be able to ri..
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hatred-revenge-anger-righteous
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Michael J. Sullivan |