The Secret of the Machines, Stanza 7.
Other works
Context: But remember, please, the Law by which we live,
We are not built to comprehend a lie,
We can neither love nor pity nor forgive,
If you make a slip in handling us you die!
We are greater than the Peoples or the Kings—
Be humble, as you crawl beneath our rods!—
Our touch can alter all created things,
We are everything on earth—except The Gods!
As quoted in Many Thoughts of Many Minds (1896) edited by Louis Klopsch
“In such times, if you want neither to lie nor to wound, you are reduced to being silent.”
Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 220
“We have a saying where I come from: Power requires neither permission nor forgiveness.”
Source: Ancillary Justice (2013), Chapter 19 (p. 299)
“We know perfectly well that neither love nor peace of mind can be bought with any currency.”
Source: Sculpting in Time (1986), p. 219
"Personal Conduct" http://books.google.com/books?id=IYOcAQAAQBAJ&q=%22The+stupid+neither+forgive+nor+forget+the+na%C3%AFve+forgive+and+forget+the+wise+forgive+but+do+not+forget%22&pg=PA177#v=onepage, p. 51. http://openlibrary.org/works/OL15151528W/The_Second_Sin
The Second Sin (1973)
An argosy of fables, "The Leaves and the Roots" p. 398
The Fables (1883)
1961, Address at the University of Washington
Context: In short, we are neither "warmongers" nor "appeasers," neither "hard" nor "soft." We are Americans, determined to defend the frontiers of freedom, by an honorable peace if peace is possible, but by arms if arms are used against us. And if we are to move forward in that spirit, we shall need all the calm and thoughtful citizens that this great University can produce, all the light they can shed, all the wisdom they can bring to bear. It is customary, both here and around the world, to regard life in the United States as easy. Our advantages are many. But more than any other people on earth, we bear burdens and accept risks unprecedented in their size and their duration, not for ourselves alone but for all who wish to be free.
