"At forty two years, Sona Kilroy stood tall and strapping, a powerful figure. Rising to the rank of Admiral in the Corsair fleet was no easy feat. It took intelligence, talent, determination, resilience, creative thinking, brute force, and sheer cunning to achieve " and perhaps also a large slice of luck."

"We didn't think anything of it at the time, but we saw several of the bodies of the crew, space pirates all, with what looked like necklaces of garlic around their necks. There was salt strewn on the floor in places, and it made a crunchy sound as we walked over it. Some had died clinging to crude wooden and metal crosses. Religious fanatics, I thought then " after all, isn't it usually the worst sort of people who turn to religion when they suddenly see their end approaching and they fear some kind of reckoning coming their way?"

"Not being treated as equal IS oppression."

"He's dying!' Doctor Cove, one of the ship's two medical officers told me, looking at his med-scanner as he kneeled at the broken body of the only living Corsair on the black ship. I remember the look on his face as he told me " which seemed more to be puzzlement than actual concern. The man was a Corsair after all, and had injuries I could see, but he was conscious, and none of them looked fatal. But then, I'm no doctor. I never was any good at healing anything " and my job was doing the opposite, and I admit I'm pretty good at it. Always have been."

"Those who meet objections to their forcing their religion on others with cries of 'Show respect!' clearly have no grasp of irony."

"Mykl d'Angelo groaned where he sat slumped in his chair. The irritating noise was unsettling his pet dog lying on his lap. The wickerwork garden chair creaked pleasantly under him and some native Earth birds made pleasant sounds above while the cool wind wafted over him as he lazily."

"The moment you hand over YOUR responsibility to manage your own rights, morality, and freedoms - to the government, that is the moment democracy fails."

"It is ironic that the only thing separating 'friend' from 'fiend' - is a single letter."

"You cannot fix racism with more racism."

"Scientific and medical studies, research or evidence is either distorted and misrepresented, or disputed or outright ignored by opponents whose views are threatened by the facts, in public shows of articles, statements, websites and even legislation. Scientific facts are ignored or dismissed as being 'a liberal agenda' or 'merely propaganda'."

"I believe most people are good, even deep down, even if you have to dig a little - although some people can tempt one to pick up a shovel and actually put that to the test."

"This is not your standard "How to restore your VW Beetle book. It's also not a workshop manual. Aside from a basic rundown on the differences between various bug models through the years, there is a section on some things you can do to preserve your bug. Mostly however, what I've done is reviewed all the things I did to my bugsand put those ideas together as cheap, skillful, cheap, d.i.y, cheap means of enhancing your grocery getter's performance and handling."

"Isn't lying supposed to be a 'sin'? Or is it okay to lie when trying to make people you hate look bad?"

"The hatred the 'Christian' right wing harbors for the SA Constitution is not htere because of an absence of 'God' in state machinery and the excised phrase 'in humble submission to almighty God' - but because it no longer places THEM in a position to claim that THEY represent the will of that 'God' and to act as though it were true."

"When facts are misrepresented in order to serve an opinion or to promote it aggressively - especially an opinion which demonstrably results in people being victimized, persecuted, and their lives destroyed in many places in the world, it should be a matter of concern to everyone who wants people to be treated equally, fairly and justly."

"Nobody seems to know which came first; egg or chicken " except of course for agents of the Time Saving Agency " who can find out anything about, well " anything. The only trouble is, they aren't talking " however, you can take it from me " they know. The answer to these and other puzzles are kept safe and secure behind fire-walls and thick security doors secured with, er " time-locks, where one could possibly find answers to many other troubling questions, and not all of them necessarily relating to chickens."

"Don't be a bully, don't be meanBe a hero, don't be afraid to be seen."

"You are strong, tempered like steel in the fire and by the blows of the hammer of life. Nothing will break you again, only make you stronger and more whole. Perfection is the pride of those who have not lived, who know not these things in their arrogance. They remain the same - raw and without form. The hammer never touches them, and they lie on the shelf, gathering dust, slowly tarnishing and fading and crumbling. the blows of the hammer in the fire refine us into bright shining glory for the roles we play in life - until we are one with the anvil, becoming immune to the hammer's little knocks, and smile at it."

"As a South African I honestly cannot understand how people can't see South Africa as a unique nation, untied by ties of history, bonds of suffering, victory, struggles, hope - and in more ways than I ever before thought possible - blood."

"Villainessa Tittel was a hired killer, an assassin by trade. She had enjoyed the best education and had been trained by assassins who had (until then at least) been considered the best in the business. She had turned to 'cleaning' as an occupation because she really enjoyed endings more than beginnings " and anyway, she didn't need to know her mark's entire pedigree or life's story, or to have some kind of facetious moral justification just to collect her fee. Unsurprisingly, when she did read " on those rare occasions " her books were always dog-eared from the back."

"Ortez sauntered over to the nearest wall intercom. "Bridge, this is the captain -- what the hell's going on up there? I didn't schedule a combat drill for today." Hell, it occurred to him -- he hadn't scheduled any kind of drill for at least four months. On the other end of the line, young 2nd lieutenant Cedric Pankow, the com officer, let it fall."

"What other people believe shouldn't (be allowed to) hurt me."

"Disagreeing with someone does not mean that they have to be enemies or opponents."

"An idea was forming in his mind. It was only rudimentary, but in the circumstances, it could be called a plan. He loathed the alien for attacking them, without any provocation. He hated the way it was smashing up his ship " and all of them " with hardly any effort or regard for life at all. "How's that message coming?"Umm " they must be jamming us, sir " I can't get through."

"Money is not respect. Neither is power. And if people respect you for your money or your power, it isn't you they respect - but the money or the power.When you win people over who hate you for what you are or what you believe, and they still come to you to make friends - or to ask you for counsel or assistance - that is respect - and that respect is power."

"Regardless of what language it is said in, "I love you" stays beautiful, and two hearts beating together make the same sound. It is the language of Love."

"Intelligence reports and local folklore together perpetuated tales of his bloody adventures across the rim worlds and badlands of Terran space. It was his trademark and often over the last two decades, history proclaimed in large bloody letters that 'Kilroy woz 'ere."

"The idea that all people can and should live together in peace is not really a new one - but yet in practice it is very young indeed."

"Those who object to human rights protection laws typically do so because they want to be above those laws."

"The simple truth is that the only real 'ex-gay' person is a dead gay person - and even then I am not too sure about the validity of that statement."

"I note the lengths to which Christianist groups are prepared to go to, to influence government and to network hate-churches in order to get their way and to rob people of their human rights, and it gives me cold chills."

"Hate is no respecter of race - as apparently neither is stupidity."

"Make sure you date someone who always makes you want to dance, with or without music."

"All it takes to be a voice against injustice, is to say something against it."

"Isn't unconditional love supposed to work both ways? How can we expect unconditional love for ourselves if we are not willing to grant others the same mercy?"

"Corrigan crept up to the bar, cautiously moving around it. It looked like he was copying all the moves he'd seen in old cop movies and westerns, and doing it rather badly. He lowered the pistol. There was no one behind the bar. There was however, an open trapdoor. And that would mean the bounty hunter was - ."Don't move! Came Beck's distant, slightly muffled, barked order. "My turn, I think!"

"How can you put human rights to a popular vote and call it democracy? How many times do you need to redefine or haggle about the meaning of the word EQUALITY?"

"In my view, any government whose state is perpetually at war, and remains so in spite of initiatives to make peace, is incompetent and unfit and should resign."

"Beauty... Is what you are after a lifetime of struggle in the face of hostility, surviving, and standing scarred and unafraid, triumphant before your enemies."

"The only way a society of diverse people can survive without tearing itself apart over differences in nature is by accepting that ALL people are different, and that no single one of us is more or less deserving of decent treatment, compassion, legal and ethical equality, justice, life, or love, than any other."

"You cannot defend human rights without fighting religious fanatics - regardless of one's own religious experience - it is unavoidable. Why? Because they are the ones who take issue with how other people live their lives instead of minding their own business."

"If I want religion, I know where to look for it - and if for example I don't want it, then why should it be forced on me in media and public spaces?"

"They tell us variety is the spice of life - and yet diversity terrifies them."

"Christians believe their God gave us all free will - strange that for over 2000 years, they have tried to take that choice away."

"If you don't follow Christ or love others in the way Christ said, and let yourself be bogged down instead with fearfulness, hatred, violence and the persecution of others - HOW can you call yourself a 'Christian'?"

"Freedom isn't hard to lose - but it's a hard thing to win back once it's been lost."

"Our community deserves leaders who should know what debates and arguments are better conducted out of the public eye, instead of dumping their baskets of dirty laundry all over the internet. Our community deserves leaders who do not put political expedience or convenience before their commitments to those they supposedly represent. Our community deserves leaders who do not make about-turns on issues such as freedom of speech and accountability to the community they serve when it becomes too embarrassing for them, or too uncomfortable. Our community deserves leaders who can and want to work together, not fling their handbags at each other, hissing like drama queens."

"Sabotage isolated them from their home, thwarting any hope of outside help. Frantic, unreliable sightings of frightening things " horrible things - led to chaos. The crew, terrified, opted to die fighting and went hunting for their attacker. Kaine's only regret was that they found it. It killed them all.Systematically."

"It is interesting how - depending on the person in power - our LGBT issues are either right at the top of the list - or right at the very bottom. And almost always for exactly the wrong reasons."

"Some boys feel they are like girls,They are gentle, and like their hair in curls."