Sometimes, son," my father said, prying my fingers free, "you have to help the heroes along.

He smiled despite the grief he felt at the deaths of his men; he smiled because that was what he did. That was how he proved to the Lord Ruler-and to himself-that he wasn't beaten.

I was thinking that work is like fertilizer in that I'm glad it exists; I just don't ever want to get stuck in it.

I am mountains that crush. I am waves that crash. I am storms that shatter. I am the end.

In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you accomplished.

Everything is a contest. All dealings among men are a contest in which some will succeed and others fail. And some are failing quite spectacularly.

Sing!" Grandpa Smedry yelled, his voice echoing down a hallway to the right."Sing!" If he breaks into song I think I might have to strangle myself... I thought, cringing.