Top 50 James Luceno Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “If we aren’t willing to do whatever is required,” he said finally, “then we risk losing what we have been mandated to protect.”

— James Luceno

2. “Uncertainty is the first step toward self-determination,” Plagueis said. “Courage comes next.”

— James Luceno

3. “You see how easy it is to go from having everything to having nothing?”

— James Luceno

4. “To say that the Force works in mysterious ways is to admit one’s ignorance, for any mystery can be solved through the application of knowledge and unrelenting effort.”

— James Luceno

5. “The power of the dark side is an illness no true Sith would wish to be cured of.”

— James Luceno

6. “Tarkin smiled. “Someone once said that politics is little more than the systematic organization of hostilities.”

— James Luceno

7. “Deception begins with bureaucracy,” Palpatine said.”

— James Luceno

8. “Triumphing over nature means better lives for sentients, but dominance is sustained only by bringing order to chaos and establishing law where none exists.”

— James Luceno

9. “Qui-Gon was the key to everything.”

— James Luceno

10. “Where Darth Sidious had gained everything, Vader had lost everything, including–for the moment, at least–the self-confidence and unbridled skill he had demonstrated as Anakin Skywalker.”

— James Luceno

11. “We Sith are an unseen opposition, Tenebrous had told his young apprentice. A phantom menace. Where the Sith once wore armor, we now wear cloaks. But the Force works through us all the more powerfully in our invisibility. For the present, the more covert we remain, the more influence we can have. Our revenge will be achieved not through subjugation but by contagion.”

— James Luceno

12. “Five standard years have passed since Darth Sidious proclaimed himself galactic Emperor. The brutal Clone Wars are a memory, and the Emperor’s apprentice, Darth Vader, has succeeded in hunting down most of the Jedi who survived dreaded Order 66.”

— James Luceno

13. “Beings may elect their leaders, but the Force has elected us.”

— James Luceno

14. “Understand this: you no longer represent your homeworlds solely. “Coruscant, Alderaan, Chandrila... All these and tens of thousands of worlds far removed from the Core are cells of the Empire, and what affects one, affects us all. No disturbances will be tolerated. “Interplanetary squabbles or threats of secession will meet with harsh reprisals. I have not led us through three years of galactic warfare to allow a resurgence of the old ways. The Republic is extinct.”

— James Luceno

15. “Under the rule of the ancient Sith, the future of the galaxy had been in the able hands of many dark sovereigns. Now responsibility for maintaining order rested only with Darth Sidious.”

— James Luceno

16. “The time had come to give the rest of the galaxy a look at Darth Vader.”

— James Luceno

17. “For all that sentients have achieved with weapons and machines, life remains an ongoing battle for survival, with the strong or the smart at the top of the heap, and the rest kept in check by firepower and laws.”

— James Luceno

18. “Even the brightest of dreams-come-true had shadowy recesses.”

— James Luceno

19. “Dooku chose his next words carefully. “Qui-Gon returned from Tatooine with a former slave boy. According to the boy’s mother, the boy had no father.”

— James Luceno

20. “Moff Tarkin sends his regards.”

— James Luceno

21. “Not yet,” Shryne said, as if to himself “Then you’re his apprentice?” His eyes darted right and left, searching for some means of escape. “Is Sidious also in league with Emperor Palpatine?” Vader fell silent for a moment, making up his mind about something. “Lord Sidious is the Emperor.”

— James Luceno

22. “Never try to live decently, boy – not unless you’re willing to open your life to tragedy and sadness. Live like a beast, and no event, no matter how harrowing, will ever be able to move you.”

— James Luceno

23. “Could Vader actually be Anakin Skywalker? the two men wondered. Based on Obi-Wan’s account of what had occurred on Mustafar, Anakin’s survival didn’t seem possible. But perhaps Obi-Wan had underestimated Anakin. Perhaps Anakin’s peerless strength in the Force had allowed him to survive.”

— James Luceno

24. “There is no one truth.”

— James Luceno

25. “Tarkin had long nursed suspicions about who Vader was beneath the black face mask and helmet, as well as how he had come to be, but he knew better than to give open voice to his thoughts.”

— James Luceno

26. “Qui-Gon believes that the boy – Anakin is his name – stands at the center of a vergence in the Force, and believes further that his finding him was the will of the Force.”

— James Luceno

27. “How Plagueis would have mocked him for allowing himself to become personally involved in such a seemingly trivial matter; but then his Master had never foreseen that his onetime apprentice would become Emperor.”

— James Luceno

28. “Well, could even a Jedi know the future?”

— James Luceno

29. “Science doesn’t take sides, does it?”

— James Luceno

30. “Time and again the two Jedi Knights attempted to alter their style, but Vader had an answer for every lunge, parry, and riposte. His style borrowed elements from all techniques of combat, even from the highest, most dangerous levels, and his moves were crisp and unpredictable. In addition, his remarkable foresight allowed him to anticipate Forte’s and Kulka’s strategies and maneuvers, his blade always one step ahead of theirs, notwithstanding the two-handed grip he employed.”

— James Luceno

31. “The Jedi Order’s homespun cloaks announced: I want for nothing, because I am clothed in the Force; the cloaks of the Sith: I am the light in the dark, the convergence of opposing energies.”

— James Luceno

32. “For the moment it was enough that his advisers and minions respected him–for reestablishing peace, for eliminating the group that had posed the greatest threat to continued stability–but eventually those same advisers would need to fear him. To understand the great power he wielded, as both Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith. And to that end, Sidious needed Vader. For if someone as potent as Vader answered to the Emperor, then how powerful must the Emperor be!”

— James Luceno

33. “Where Darth Sidious had gained everything, Vader had lost everything.”

— James Luceno

34. “I owe you a debt,” he told Vader. “It took you to bring me back to the Force.” “And you to firm my faith in the power of the dark side, Master Shryne.”

— James Luceno

35. “Your fugitive Jedi, my apprentice,” Sidious said. “They are traveling to Kashyyyk.” He tipped his head to one side. “Perhaps, Lord Vader, they hope to lay a trap for you.” Vader clenched his hands. “That would be my most fervent wish, my Master.” Sidious clamped his hands on Vader’s upper arms. “Then go to them, Lord Vader. Make them sorry they didn’t hide while they had the chance!”

— James Luceno

36. “I don’t work for the Republic, and I’m certainly not about to work for Count Dooku.” “Science doesn’t take sides, is that it?”

— James Luceno

37. “His father placed his elbows on the table and leaned toward him. “We need to know if you are simply ordinary or larger than life.” To the best of his ability, he mulled over the notion of being larger than life. “Did you have to go there when you were young?” His father nodded. “Were you afraid?” His father sat back into his tall, brocaded armchair, as if in recall. “In the beginning I was. Until I learned to overcome fear.”

— James Luceno

38. “Vader might very well be Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, whom Tarkin had fought beside during the Clone Wars, and for whom he had developed a grudging appreciation.”

— James Luceno

39. “Success doesn’t come from summoning help from the Force, but from taking control of it and generating the power from within yourself.”

— James Luceno

40. “And the Jedi?” Lyra asked. “Also doing what they can. But remember, Dooku is one of their own, and he’s a crafty opponent. At times he seems to be able to read our minds, if not simply outguess us.”

— James Luceno

41. “We serve nature’s purpose by culling the herd, and our own by sharpening our skills. We are the predatory swarm!”

— James Luceno

42. “The Empire values dedication. Especially when it’s unswerving.”

— James Luceno

43. “Evil?” Plagueis repeated. “What is that? Moments ago you defined yourself as a storm. You said you were death itself. Are you evil, then, or are you simply stronger and more awake than others? Who gives more shape to sentient history: the good who adhere to the tried and true, or those who seek to rouse beings from their stupor and lead them to glory? A storm you are, but a much-needed one, to wash away the old and complacent and prune the galaxy of deadweight.”

— James Luceno

44. “As he grew stronger in the dark side, the profane world became a stranger and stranger place, swept by currents he’d had no previous awareness of and populated by vaguely outlined life-forms he saw as magnitudes of the Force.”

— James Luceno

45. “There it was again, Plagueis thought: the deceptive cadence; the use of flattery, charm, and self-effacement as if rapier feints in a duel. The need to be seen as guileless, unassuming, empathetic. A youth with no desire to enter politics, and yet born for it.”

— James Luceno

46. “And of what possible use do you think a person of your nature would be to the Jedi Order? You’re heartless, ambitious, arrogant, insidious, and without shame or empathy. More, you’re a murderer.”

— James Luceno

47. “To be strong in the Force is one thing. But to believe oneself to be all-powerful is to invite catastrophe. Remember, that even in the ethereal realm we inhabit, the unforeseen can occur.”

— James Luceno

48. “Glaciers and volcanoes both have the potential to transform landscapes, but one does so by burying what lies beneath, where the other spews forth new terrain.”

— James Luceno

49. “The Sith are not placid stars but singularities. Rather than burn with muted purpose, we warp space and time to twist the galaxy to our own design.”

— James Luceno

50. “We’ll get this sorted out,” Galen said, trying to sound optimistic. “You’re not through with us yet.”

— James Luceno