It's time to live with what we have and mourn what we lost.

The danger would be going back, or staying still. The only way out was through. The past was ruins, but the present was still in play.

Supposedly I've got traces of an English accent, though I can't hear it. I must have inherited it from my mother, who's English, and then I think it was exacerbated by the fact that I live with an Australian.

I have no doubt there are magician psychopaths, and magician serial killers. I doubt Brakebills admissions is very good at screening for those.

Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there's nothing else.

A magician is strong because he feels pain. He feels the difference between what the world is and what he would make of it. Or what did you think that stuff in your chest was? A magician is strong because he hurts more than others. His wound is his strength.

I mean, when you're tired of book reviews, you're tired of life.