I became a virtuoso of deceit. It wasn't pleasure I was after, it was knowledge. I consulted the strictest moralists to learn how to appear, philosophers to find out what to think and novelists to see what I could get away with. And, in the end, I distilled everything down to one wonderfully simple principle: win or die.

Summary

This quote suggests that the speaker has become incredibly skilled in deception, not for personal satisfaction, but to gain knowledge and power. They have studied the teachings of moralists to understand how to present themselves, philosophers to shape their thoughts, and novelists to explore the boundaries of their actions. Ultimately, they have condensed their learnings into a single guiding principle: success or death. The quote implies a ruthless determination to achieve their goals, emphasizing the speaker's committed pursuit of empowerment and the willingness to sacrifice everything for victory.

Topics