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Emperor, king, general, duke,_ he whispered to himself. __hese are just labels. Climb up the family tree of any of them high enough and you__l find a commoner who dared to take a chance.
Ken Liu The Grace of Kings
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Emperor, king, general, duke,_ he whispered to himself. __hese are just labels. Climb up the family tree of any of them high enough and you__l find a commoner who dared to take a chance.

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Yet, my grandfather was not a monster. He was simply a man of ordinary moral courage whose capacity for great evil was revealed to his and my everlasting shame. Labeling someone a monster implies that he is from another world, one which has nothing to do with us. It cuts off the bonds of affection and fear, assures us of our own superiority, but there's nothing learned, nothing gained. It's simple, but it's cowardly. I know now that only by empathizing with a man like my grandfather can we understand the depth of the suffering he caused. There are no monsters. The monster is us.

KL
Ken Liu

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