I have never known what to tell anybody. Except that it is better to do something than nothing, even if the cost is great.

While princes do rule the empire, they have to work within certain boundaries, and they're also always in a contest with each other to become the next emperor. And this contest includes actually killing each other, doing anything they can get away with to each other.

But we survived, didn’t we? That makes it an adventure. If you get killed it’s a tragedy.

As for you, Private, if you mention a word of this to anyone, I'll feed you to the cat thing here. Understand?" "Yum," said Mogget. "Yes, sir!" mumbled the telephone operator, his hands shaking as he tried to smother the burning wreckage of his switchboard with a fire blanket.

Fear and realisation of ignorance, strong medicines against stupid pride.

A hundred hundred heartbeats..." whispered Sabriel, tears falling down her face.

Being published is not a necessary validation or a path everyone wants to take with their work. Writing—and finishing—a novel is a great thing in itself, whether or not the book is published, or becomes widely-read or not.