[...] only old branches can be broken. The young ones bend with the storm. Only the stupid ones resist.

The Western nations have four arms-defensive and offensive-the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Church.

Splendid Things
Chinese brocade. A sword with a decorated scabbard. The grain of the wood in a Buddhist statue. Long flowering branches of beautifully coloured wistaria entwined about a pine tree. (p. 109)