Something ... made him feel small, not in the way of orphans or beggars or children, but in a good way. In the way of souls.

A beggar's mistake harms no one but the beggar. A king's mistake, however, harms everyone but the king. Too often, the measure of power lies not in the number who obey your will, but in the number who suffer your stupidity.

Where no paths exist, a man strays only when he misses his destination. There is no crime, no transgression, no sin save foolishness or incompetence, and no obscenity save the tyranny of custom.

Here we find further argument for Gotagga’s supposition that the world is round. How else could all men stand higher than their brothers?

This is the problem of all great revelations: their significance so often exceeds the frame of our comprehension. We understand only after, always after. Not simply when it is too late, but precisely because it is too late.

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

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