An inordinate love of ritual can be harmful to the soul, unless, of course, in times of great crisis, when ritual can protect the soul from fracture.

The map had been the first form of misdirection, for what is a map but a way of emphasizing some things and making other things invisible?

That's how the madness of the world tries to colonize you: from the outside in, forcing you to live in its reality.

History has shown us all too often the consequences of dreaming poorly or not at all.

Nothing that lived and breathed was truly objective—even in a vacuum, even if all that possessed the brain was a self-immolating desire for the truth.

Trust your imagination. Don't be afraid to fail. Write. Revise. Revise. Revise.

You can either waste time worrying about a death that might not come or concentrate on what’s left to you.