Beware what you speak,' said the Merlin very softly, 'for indeed the words we speak make shadows of what is to come, and by speaking them we bring them to pass, my king.

There's no "magic secret"; writing is like everything else; ten percent inspiration or talent, and ninety percent hard work. Persistence; keeping at it till you get there. As Agnes de Mille said, it means working every day—bored, tired, weary, or with a fever of a hundred and two.

I wasn't a child at 13, were you?

Remain true to yourself, child. If you know your own heart, you will always have one friend who does not lie.

We were discussing civilization and the fact that young men among the Greeks at that time were idiots and uneducated, so the men had emotional and friendly relationships with members of their own sex

And I must believe that man has the power to know the right, to choose between good and evil and know that his choice has made a difference.

Arthur, their young king, like a hero out of legend.