| Free Men
General “Without this, he said, touching the blade, there is nothing -- no justice, no civilization, no society, no community, no peace. Without the sword there is nothing. Before the sword he said, there is no right, no wrong, only fact--a world of what is and what is not, rather than a world of what should be and should not be. There is no justice until the sword creates it, establishes it, guarantees it, gives it substance and significance. He lifted the weapon, wielding the heavy metal blade as though it were a straw. First the sword--he said, then government--then law--then justice.” Tarnsman of Gor - Page 156 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Flee!” she said. “I am of the Warriors,” I said. “But you may die,” she said. “That is acknowledged in the codes,” I said. “What are the codes?” she asked. “They are nothing and, and everything,” I said. “They are a bit of noise, and the steel of the heart. They are meaningless, and all significant. They are the difference. Without the codes men would be Kurii.” “Kurii?” she asked. “Beasts, such as ice beasts, and worse,” I said. “Beasts such as the face you saw in the sky.” “You need not keep the codes,” she said. “I once betrayed my codes,” I said. “It is not my intention to do so again.” I looked at her. “One does not know, truly what it is to stand, until one has fallen. Once one has fallen, then one knows, you see, what it is to stand.” “None would know if you betrayed the codes,” she said. “I would know,” I said, “and I am of the Warriors.” “What is it to be a warrior?” she asked. “It is to keep the codes,” I said. “You may think that to be a warrior is to be large, or strong, and to be skilled with weapons, to have a blade at your hip, to know the grasp of the spear, to wear the scarlet, to know the fitting of the iron helm upon one’s countenance, but these are things are not truly needful; they are not, truly what makes one man a warrior and another not. Many men are strong, and large, and skilled with weapons. Any man might, if he dared, don the scarlet and gird himself with weapons. Any man might place upon his brow the helm of iron. But it is not the scarlet, not the steel, not the helm which makes a warrior.” She looked at me. “It is the codes,” I said. “Abandon your codes,” she said. “One does not speak to slaves of the codes,” I said. Beasts of Gor - Page 340 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The men of Gor," she said, "are strong. They are not weak and divided against themselves. They are not tortured. They are integrated and coherent, and proud. They see themselves in the order of nature. They see females as females, as slaves, and themselves as men, as masters. If we do not please them they punish us, or slay us. We quickly learn our place in the order of things. Only where there are true men can there be true women." Rouge of Gor - Page 100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is pleasant to have a woman yield to you as a slave. I know of nothing which so exalts the power and manhood of the human male. Too there is apparently nothing which so deeply releases the emotions and yielding sensuality of the human female. In these matters something is touched which obviously bears deeply on the fundamental nature of the sexes. Here, in human relations, is yet another exemplification of one of the major and incessantly recurrent themes of nature, that of dominance and submission. The realities of nature must be denied, I suspect, only at one's own peril. And certainly human beings cannot be fulfilled, nor can they know themselves, until they have become themselves. The nature of human beings precedes the fleeting parades of mottoes and slogans. It lies latent and obdurate, in ambush, if you like, in the genetic codes. Rouge of Gor - Page 105 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “The average Gorean Male , it must be admitted, tends to regard the joys of life somewhat more highly than its duties.” Outlaw of Gor - Page 65 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Gorean men,” I said, “you will learn, are less tolerant of pretense than the men of Earth.” Beasts of Gor - Page 202 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I sat there in the darkness and wondered on honor, and courage. If they were shams, I thought them most precious shams. How else could we tell ourselves from urts and sleens? What distinguishes us from such beasts? The ability to multiply and subtract, to tell lies, to make knives? No, I think particularly it is the sense of honor, and the will to hold one's ground.” Marauders of Gor - Page 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Why then did you interfere?" she asked, puzzled. "Why did you call attention to yourself when obviously there was something between you two, and you would be in danger, if recognized." "Do you truly not know?" I asked. "It was to protect me, surely." "No," I said. "Why then?" she asked, wonderingly. "Because," I said, soberly, "you were serving me." "That is what you said," she said. "And that was the reason," I said. "It was so tiny a thing," she asked, "a point of propriety, of precedence?" she asked. "Yes," I said. "You risked so much for a mere point of honor?" she asked. "There are no mere points of honor," I told her. Vagabonds of Gor - Page 61 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I did not know a scribe could be so courageous," I said. "There are brave men in all castes," said Shaba. Explorers of Gor - Page 433 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “But let us not speak of slaves,” I said, “girls who serve for our diversion or recreation, but of serious matters. of the concerns of men.” “Agreed,” said he. There was a time for slaves, and a time for matters of importance. Explorers of Gor - Page 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The men, save I, rose as one to their feet, for Gorean men commonly stand when a free woman enters a room. Guardsman of Gor - Page 255 |