Honorverse favorite one-liners

"How in God's name did you put that thing together without counter-grav?"

"Some of us," he observed, "seem to be of the opinion that His Majesty's starships actually run on caffeine, not reactor mass.

"Then why didn't you say so in the first place?" Makira demanded with the heat of exasperation. "You've been letting me bitch and carry on about the Captain's obsession with this system for days! Now you're going to sit there and tell me that the whole time you've actually been expecting him to eventually do what I wanted?"

"Well," Honor chuckled, "it's not my fault if what you've been letting yourself hear wasn't exactly what I've been saying, now is it? Besides, you shouldn't criticize the Captain quite so energetically unless you've really thought through what you're talking about!"

"You," Makira said darkly, "are an evil person who will undoubtedly come to an unhappy end, and if there is any justice in the universe, I'll be there to see it happen."

Honor grinned, and Nimitz bleeked a lazy laugh from the table between them.

"You may laugh . . . for now," he told them both ominously, "but There Will Come a Day when you will remember this conversation and regret it bitterly." He raised his nose with an audible sniff, and Nimitz turned his head to look up at his person. Their eyes met in complete agreement, and then Nassios Makira's arms windmilled wildly as a gray blur of treecat bounded off the table and wrapped itself firmly around his neck. The midshipman began a muffled protest that turned suddenly into a most unmilitary—and high-pitched—sound as Nimitz's long, agile fingers found his armpits and tickled unmercifully. Chair and midshipman alike went over backwards with a high, wailing laugh, and Honor leaned back in her own chair and watched with folded arms as the appropriate penalty for his ominous threat was rigorously applied.

It’s like the old saying: ‘yeah, he’s a ruthless son-of-a-bitch, but he’s our ruthless son-of-a-bitch."

"To understand Solly foreign policy, we'd have to be Sollies
 . . . and nothing would be worth that!"
—Queen Elizabeth III of Manticore

You want the House Of Lords - it's the biggest political asylum in the galaxy!

"We all know what's happening here. We all know the script, although the exact schedule may still be in some doubt. And we all know where this little play is headed and who's directing and producing it. So I don't expect truth and rationality to be any sort of effective defense. But the record will show what actually happened in Beowulf that day. Someday, the record of exactly what happened to Admiral Filareta will also be clearly and undisputedly available to anyone looking back at Mr. Reid and his motion and its consequences. A clean conscience and a reverence for the truth may not be much in demand in this Assembly today, but both of those are very much in demand in the Beowulf system. So bring on your inquiry. Present your case, and we will present ours. Not because we give one single solitary damn for your prepackaged, predetermined 'impartial conclusions,' but because we care about truth. And because someday your successors, whoever they may be, will have a record of what you actually do here and will revile your memory with all the contempt and all the disdain your actions will so richly merit."

Valen123456 wrote:It is not a one liner but two whole speeches. Felicia Hadley might have come later to Honorverse character roster, but the two speeches she has given to the League Assembly are incredible. Here is my favorite section, with her calling the League out, in Kolokoltsov's words "look at the emperor, and admit he is bare-ass naked."

"We all know what's happening here. We all know the script, although the exact schedule may still be in some doubt. And we all know where this little play is headed and who's directing and producing it. So I don't expect truth and rationality to be any sort of effective defense. But the record will show what actually happened in Beowulf that day. Someday, the record of exactly what happened to Admiral Filareta will also be clearly and undisputedly available to anyone looking back at Mr. Reid and his motion and its consequences. A clean conscience and a reverence for the truth may not be much in demand in this Assembly today, but both of those are very much in demand in the Beowulf system. So bring on your inquiry. Present your case, and we will present ours. Not because we give one single solitary damn for your prepackaged, predetermined 'impartial conclusions,' but because we care about truth. And because someday your successors, whoever they may be, will have a record of what you actually do here and will revile your memory with all the contempt and all the disdain your actions will so richly merit."