 | "If I lead us into this war, we will lose. A great many people will die for nothing. The result will be a world enslaved by the Imperial Order. If I don't lead our side in battle, the world will still fall under the shadow of the Order but far fewer people will die. Only in that way will we ever stand a chance."
"By losing? You want to lose first, and then fight? . . . How can we even consider abandoning the fight for freedom?"
"Anderith (A small nation where people believed the lies of a ruthless tortuous dictator and joined the dictator instead of Richard) helped teach me a lesson," he said. His voice was restrained, as if he regretted what he was saying. "I can't press this war. Freedom requires effort if it is to be won and vigilance if it is to be maintained. People just don't value freedom until it's taken away."
"But many do," Kahlan objected.
"There are always some, but most don't even understand it, nor do they care to - the same as with magic. People mindlessly shrink from it, too, without seeing the truth. The Order offers them a world without magic and ready-made answers to everything. Servitude is simple. I thought that I could convince people of the value of their own lives, and of liberty. In Anderith they showed me just how foolish I had been."
"Anderith is just one place - "
"Anderith was not remarkable. Look at all the trouble we've had elsewhere. We're having trouble even here, where I grew up." Richard began tucking in his shirt. "Forcing people to fight for freedom is the worst kind of contradiction.
"Nothing I can say will inspire people to care - I've tried. Those who value liberty will have to run, to hide, to try to survive and endure what is sure to come. I can't prevent it. I can't help them. I know that now."
"But Richard, how can you even think of - "
'I must do what is best for us. I must be selfish; life is far too precious to be casually squandered on useless causes. There can be no greater evil than that. People can only be saved from the coming dark age of subjugation and servitude if they, too, come to understand and care about the value of their own lives, their freedom, and are willing to act in their own interest. We must try to stay alive in the hope that such a day will come."
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Faith of Fallen by Terry Goodkind
