"Always speak politely to an enraged Dragon"
About this Quote
“Always speak politely to an enraged Dragon” is fantasy advice that doubles as social satire: a reminder that manners aren’t decoration, they’re survival gear. Brust picks the most overdetermined symbol possible - a Dragon, already coded as ancient power, ego, and catastrophic consequences - then adds a simple modifier: enraged. The point isn’t that dragons deserve respect; it’s that your principles get stress-tested precisely when the other party has every incentive to ignore them.
The line works because it’s comically literal and quietly diagnostic. “Always” is doing heavy lifting: politeness isn’t a tactic you deploy when it’s convenient, it’s a discipline you maintain when you’re scared, angry, or cornered. In Brust’s worlds, power is real and unevenly distributed; you can’t “win” an argument with something that can incinerate you. So the quote smuggles in a politics of asymmetry: speak carefully when the stakes are lopsided, because tone is often the only leverage you’ve got.
Subtext: this is also about dealing with human dragons - bosses, institutions, volatile relatives, gatekeepers. Politeness becomes a form of strategic clarity, a refusal to escalate into the other person’s emotional weather. It’s not appeasement so much as choosing the narrow path where communication might still be possible.
Contextually, Brust’s knack is blending streetwise pragmatism with mythic furniture. The humor keeps it from sounding like a self-help bromide; the threat keeps it from sounding like etiquette.
The line works because it’s comically literal and quietly diagnostic. “Always” is doing heavy lifting: politeness isn’t a tactic you deploy when it’s convenient, it’s a discipline you maintain when you’re scared, angry, or cornered. In Brust’s worlds, power is real and unevenly distributed; you can’t “win” an argument with something that can incinerate you. So the quote smuggles in a politics of asymmetry: speak carefully when the stakes are lopsided, because tone is often the only leverage you’ve got.
Subtext: this is also about dealing with human dragons - bosses, institutions, volatile relatives, gatekeepers. Politeness becomes a form of strategic clarity, a refusal to escalate into the other person’s emotional weather. It’s not appeasement so much as choosing the narrow path where communication might still be possible.
Contextually, Brust’s knack is blending streetwise pragmatism with mythic furniture. The humor keeps it from sounding like a self-help bromide; the threat keeps it from sounding like etiquette.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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