You've thrown us out, then fenced us in. You've called us renegades and murderers, yet you praise us for our resilience and determination. You've despised us in times of weakness and praised us when we were strong. You've alternately abandoned us to our fate and courted us when it suited your pleasure. Is it any wonder that we guard our wallets when you offer us your so-called friendship? Isn't it enough to know that we sicken at the sight of your kind?
-From Commodore Sigur Fonn's speech to the Terran Ambassador, reported in the Osaka Morning Shimbun, Terra, October 15, 2415

The Alliance-fix it or forget it.
Hell no, we won't stay!
No Taxation and No Representation.
-Anti-Alliance graffiti, ca. 2110, printed in Pols on Parade, by Dietrich Hauskopf, Geneva Press, Terra, 2118

Stein was a fool. Worse than that, he was a fool in a general's uniform. He thought only in terms of abstract numbers-so many ships, so many men-and failed to see his adversaries in terms of Human feelings and responses. That was his undoing, and ours.
-From The Road to Freedom, by General Armando Luchesi, Celestial Spheres Publishers, Terra, 2241

Morals are one thing. Survival is everything.
-Samantha Calderon, quoted in October 2252 issue of Modern Explorers, New York, Terra

In the more than 30 years that I have studied history, I have come to one inescapable conclusion: the so-called Great Men of the Past are not the ones who make history. History springs from common, ordinary folk. Those truly responsible for setting in motion the grand, sweeping changes in the course of Human events might easily be passed on the streets without a second glance. As for making history, that's just a matter of being in the wrong place at the right time. Anyone can do that, even me.
-From My Story, by Tiberius Archibald, personal aide to Hector Worthington Rowe, Cadence Press, 2251

The Outworlds Alliance remains a testimony to absurdity that can express itself through Human nature. By all rights, the damn thing should never have come about, and, once it reared its ugly head, we should have throttled it in its cradle. Now see the types of problems we face. See what comes from generosity.
-General Jundaro Ishicara, Fifth Sword of Light Regiment, quoted in Outworlds Alliance: Threat or Menace? by Kobo Takazi, Luthien University Press, 2589

Hello. I represent the Kurita Benevolent Association. I'm calling this evening to see if you would care to contribute to our organization and to the spread of peace throughout the stars. This offer is made possible for a limited time only through the continued growth of Human Enlightenment, brought to you by the always-pacifist Draconis Combine.
-From Yes, Governor-General, vidtape sitcom broadcast from the Rim Worlds Republic, 2772

The Star League never retreats. It will fight to the last Kurita soldier.
-Hikaru Missata, Kurita Ambassador to the Star League, 2582

Come all you young rebels, and list while I sing,
The love of one's land is a terrible thing...
It banishes fear with the speed of a flame,
And it makes us all part of the patriot game...
-Ancient Terran song of rebellion, adopted by the Taurian Concordat

In the final analysis, I was ashamed to have served the Star League that way. We were told that this was for peace, yet we waged war on people whose own intentions toward us had been entirely peaceful. In the pursuit of peace, we fired on unarmed civilians. In the pursuit of peace, we ran over people practicing passive resistance. I was loyal to the Star League only because I believed in its ideals, and when they were betrayed by our leaders, I myself felt personally betrayed.
-From an interview with Commodore Nelson Springtau, former Liaison Officer for Davion/Star League troop coordination, New Avalon Morning Herald, October 15, 2594

The situation was beyond belief. The enemy was everywhere and nowhere. As we advanced, every haystack concealed an armored fighting vehicle, every gully an infantry squad with rockets and mortars, every farmstead partisans armed with gasoline bombs and truckmounted flamethrowers.
My company lost two 'Mechs yesterday when the locals fired a wheatfield. As the unit withdrew, an Orion and a Wolverine stumbled into hidden pits dug out the night before. Before they could climb out, the flames roasted them alive. When the ammo bays blew, it looked like a bloody volcano erupting.
-From A Soldier's Life, by Lance Corporal Mathias Drang, Blood 'n' Guts Press, Warren, 2579

The Concies must be utterly contemptuous of death. That's the only explanation I can see. Whoever heard of infantry armed with slug-throwers going up against armed and armored BattleMechs? What's the point of it all? Why don't they just act civilized and just give up?
-From Memoirs, by Major Samantha Tring, Time/Space Press, Eyewitness Series, New Syrtis, 2579

They didn't even worry about organizing themselves into even a semblance of a line-of-battle. They just swarmed, picking out the largest vessels and hammering away. Through it all, I watched Taurian assault craft blow entire sections of a ship's hull away and send over Marines trained in Zero-g combat (who would have thought they had those!) for boarding actions. Never mind that their parent ships had already been blown to rubble. We lost three light cruisers the first day, captured-captured, by the stars!-in such a manner. I saw four of their destroyers ram our transports. We lost the entire 34th Light Horse that way.
-From SLS Flame Star, by Captain Thomas Gordon Ling, Captain's Table Press, New Avalon, 2579

To say that we successfully "occupy" the Taurian worlds might go down in the drawing rooms of an Altairian nobleman, but not out here. In truth, we controlled the Taurian cities by day, but the Taurian irregulars controlled the cities by night and the countryside all the time. The campaign was an exercise in futility from the very start.
-From a letter by Major Adam Simcom, 14th Sirian Regulars, to his wife, ComStar Archives, 2580

They moved almost exclusively at night. Our IR equipment, faulty at best, was no match for the stealth of this new invader. Slipping among us when we least expected it, these Leaguers were everywhere at once. Four of my battalion's senior staff were killed in one night by knife wounds. Frankly, the thought that the enemy could move among us, striking at will, unnerved us. For the first time, we began to doubt the wisdom of continued resistance.
-From tapes of Davion interrogation of Jason Sedgewick, Fifth Horsham Volunteers, ComStar Archives, 2782

On every rock large enough for a man to stand on was a space-suited Taurian with a missile launcher or heavy laser platform. With a minefield every hundred meters and swarms of small, two-manned gunboats in the airless, Zero-g environment, there was never any question of using 'Mechs and machines. More often than not, it came down to a simple one-on-one fight, with a slight rip in an atmospheric suit or a grazing blast of a laser sufficient for hideous death by decompression. I learned to use a vibro-blade again, a weapon I hadn't held since my academy days. It came in handy, I can tell you.
-From A Star Guard's Memoirs, by Captain Morris T. Senn, Blood 'n' Guts Press, Warren, 2597

People often speak of the Reunification War as though it were a single chunk of history. Nothing could be further from the truth. The war in the Periphery was a collection of four different wars, each with its own distinct flavor and characteristics. Each must be treated separately in light of the different circumstances that each reflected.
-From The Wars of Reunifications, by Professor Helmuth Cogburn Firfthback, Sian Free Press, 2612

This popinjay expects us to hand him the keys to our jeweled cities on a golden platter. That is an absurd notion. We are Humans, yes, but we are also Canopians, and Canopians we shall remain. What does he offer us for the "privilege" of joining his Star League? What can he offer us that we cannot already buy?
-Magestrix Crystalla Centrella, from transcript of Ministerial Minutes, October 7, 2576

The universal scholar would be hard pressed to find a worse collection of self-involved, sadistic tyrants than those of House Amaris. Not only did they damn themselves by their collective hatred of Humanity, but by their actions, they damned us as well.
-From Black Eagles Stained With Blood: A History of the Amaris Family, by Gorden Ballantre, Decameron Press, Lackhove, 2955

It's not so much that the damn Davions keep crossing the borders and destroying our homes all the time, but that their tank shells are all covered with quotations from Michael Hasek-Davion...
-Taurian graffiti of unknown origin