[Cutler Beckett was such a man - mad, ambitious, and worse. He seemed to take a sadistic joy in drawing others into his follies. That Norrington had made too small an effort to put an end to that man is one of his greatest regrets. Instead he had seen an opportunity for his own advancement in Beckett's ambition. And he had seized it.

Yet when he learned at last that he himself had been corrupted by the same fire that burned within Lord Cutler Beckett he had taken the steps necessary to ensure his own removal from the service. In doing so he ensured his own destruction. He would like to think that his own death subtracted from Beckett's power, even slightly.]

To allow such a captain to decide the fates of better men? I would deem that a form of madness in itself - and an inexcusable cowardice.