“Gorgik began to learn that most valuable of lessons without which no social progress is possible: If you are to stay in the good graces of the powerful, you had best, however unobtrusively, please the servants of the powerful.”
Source: Tales of Nevèrÿon (1979), Chapter 1, “The Tale of Gorgik” Section 2 (p. 15)
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Samuel R. Delany 131
American author, professor and literary critic 1942Related quotes

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