“Only a man who doubts his own bravery bristles when called a coward.”
Robert Silverberg book The Gate of Worlds
Source: The Gate of Worlds (1967), Chapter 7 “We Play a Little Game” (p. 122)

In this alternate history novel, the Bubonic Plague sets the stage for a world where the West is powerless. After the Black Death has wiped out most of the European population, there is little defense against Turkish invasion and expansion, and by the 1980s, the major world powers are the Russians, the Turks, the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Japanese. Dan Beauchamp, a young Englishman whose heart longs for fortune and adventure, travels to industrial Mexico and discovers that he has a lot to learn.
“Only a man who doubts his own bravery bristles when called a coward.”
Robert Silverberg book The Gate of Worlds
Source: The Gate of Worlds (1967), Chapter 7 “We Play a Little Game” (p. 122)
“Like all bureaucrats, he was bewildered by an unpredictable development.”
Robert Silverberg book The Gate of Worlds
Source: The Gate of Worlds (1967), Chapter 2 “The Realm of Moctezuma XII” (p. 33)
“A man who lies to himself is the worst liar of all.”
Robert Silverberg book The Gate of Worlds
Source: The Gate of Worlds (1967), Chapter 9 “To the Western Sea” (p. 162)
Robert Silverberg book The Gate of Worlds
Source: The Gate of Worlds (1967), Chapter 9 “To the Western Sea” (p. 158)
“Take this as a bit of easy wisdom: people who try to rule over other people are going to be hated.”
Robert Silverberg book The Gate of Worlds
Source: The Gate of Worlds (1967), Chapter 1 “Across the Ocean Sea” (p. 23)