The good were worthy of note because they battled and that battle was a great story, whereas the evil were evil because of moral laziness, or weakness, and that was ultimately a dull and uninteresting affair.

Self-pity does not appreciate pedantry.

None of us knows how we will cope with snakes until the moment arises, and then most of us find out that we do not do it very well.

There are many women whose lives would be immeasurably improved by widowhood, but one should not always point that out.

We should be careful of the insults we fling at others, lest they return and land at our feet, newly minted to apply to those who had first coined them.

Ritual is a terribly important, binding cement in a society. If we abandon formality and rituals, we're actually weakening the relationships that exist between people that bind.

Lou knew that joy unshared was a halved emotion, just as sadness and loss, when borne alone, were often doubled.