All stories are true.

I want to learn how to pick locks, swordfight, throw pottery - it's all research. It's like the curious person's version of James Bond's license to kill. I've got a license to learn.

The seeds of the past bear fruit in the present.

When someone tells you a piece of their life, they're giving you a gift, not granting you your due.

A troublesome question? Those tend to be the only whorthwhile kind.

So Stapes conducted a dinner for just the two of us, then informed me of a dozen small but important mistakes I had made. Setting down a dirty utensil was considered crude, for example. That meant it was perfectly acceptable to lick one's knife clean. In fact, if you didn't want to dirty your napkin it was the only seemly thing to do.

All stories are true," Skarpi said. "But this one really happened, if that's what you mean.