The bondage we are born into is the bondage we cannot see. Verily, freedom is little more than the ignorance of tyranny. Live long enough, and you will see: Men resent not the whip so much as the hand that wields it.

I wanted a literate, socially intricate, and cosmopolitan world - something I could have fun destroying.

If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.

Consequences lost all purchase when they became mad. And desperation, when pressed beyond anguish, became narcotic.

Any fool can see the limits of seeing, but not even the wisest know the limits of knowing. Thus is ignorance rendered invisible, and are all Men made fools.

Though all men be equally frail before the world, the differences between them are terrifying.

I remeber asking a wise man, once . . . 'Why do Men fear the dark?' . . . 'Because darkness' he told me, 'is ignorance made visable.' 'And do Men despise ignorance?' I asked. 'No,' he said, 'they prize it above all things--all things!--but only so long as it remains invisible.