#he could probably get decent mileage out of 惟有饮者留其名 too tbh

[neuxue]

'Something comes out of every voyage,' said [Lymond] sharply. 'Out of every bloody fruitless endeavour. All the striving after the unknowable. The unattainable, the search for Athor, the creative force, rolled into a circle. You with your quest; I with my care-ridden Emperor; Sir Thomas, sitting before the fire, his bowels burning before him. We add something. If we didn't add something, there would be no object in it... I had better stop talking.'

The Ringed Castle, part 3 ch 2

It's a shame there's no way for Lymond to realistically include Li Bai amongst his apparently endless quotes and allusions because this moment, before he so abruptly and forcibly stifles it, has such a "天生我材必有用 // the talents heaven granted me must surely have some use" feel to it.