"To seek understanding before taking action, yet to trust my instincts when action is called for. Never to avoid danger from fear, never to seek out danger for its own sake. Never to conform to fashion from fear of eccentricity, never to be eccentric from fear of conformity"
About this Quote
Brust’s vow reads like a personal constitution for people who hate being played - by panic, by ego, by the crowd, by their own self-mythology. The rhythm is the tell: paired clauses, mirrored negatives, a steady drumbeat of “never,” as if discipline has to be spoken out loud to exist. It’s not inspirational fluff; it’s a set of guardrails for a life where both cowardice and recklessness are seductive.
The first line stages the central tension: deliberation versus decisiveness. “Seek understanding” signals humility and curiosity, but the pivot to “trust my instincts” admits a darker reality: there are moments when data is a luxury and hesitation is just fear in a smarter outfit. Brust isn’t romanticizing impulsiveness; he’s defending the ethical need to act under uncertainty without pretending you’re omniscient.
Then he nails the macho trap. “Never to avoid danger from fear” rejects timidity, but “never to seek out danger for its own sake” rejects the performative bravery that’s really about status. Courage, here, is not adrenaline; it’s proportion.
The final couplet is the most culturally surgical. Fashion and eccentricity aren’t opposites; they’re twins when motivated by fear. Brust spots how rebellion can be just conformity with different branding, how “being different” can become its own uniform. The intent is autonomy: choices that aren’t coerced by the desire to belong or the desire to look like you don’t.
As a fantasy novelist, Brust is also smuggling in genre wisdom: heroism isn’t the absence of fear or the presence of swagger. It’s agency under pressure, and identity that doesn’t need an audience.
The first line stages the central tension: deliberation versus decisiveness. “Seek understanding” signals humility and curiosity, but the pivot to “trust my instincts” admits a darker reality: there are moments when data is a luxury and hesitation is just fear in a smarter outfit. Brust isn’t romanticizing impulsiveness; he’s defending the ethical need to act under uncertainty without pretending you’re omniscient.
Then he nails the macho trap. “Never to avoid danger from fear” rejects timidity, but “never to seek out danger for its own sake” rejects the performative bravery that’s really about status. Courage, here, is not adrenaline; it’s proportion.
The final couplet is the most culturally surgical. Fashion and eccentricity aren’t opposites; they’re twins when motivated by fear. Brust spots how rebellion can be just conformity with different branding, how “being different” can become its own uniform. The intent is autonomy: choices that aren’t coerced by the desire to belong or the desire to look like you don’t.
As a fantasy novelist, Brust is also smuggling in genre wisdom: heroism isn’t the absence of fear or the presence of swagger. It’s agency under pressure, and identity that doesn’t need an audience.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|
More Quotes by Steven
Add to List
