Duty is heavier than a mountain, Dai Shan.' That time, Lan did flinch. How long had it been since someone had been able to do that to him with mere words? He remembered teaching that same concept to a youth out of the Two Rivers. A sheepherder, innocent of the world, fearful of the fate laid out before him by the Pattern.

Loial, son of Arent, son of Halen, had secretly always wanted to be hasty.

There's no time for winking at the men when you're busy bailing the boat.

I doubt you can understand the magnitude of the stupidity in your statement

If the world is ending, a woman will want to fix her hair. If the world's ending, a woman will take the time to tell a man something he's done wrong.

I'm not certain that I draw from any one culture more than others. Many myths and legends of many different cultures are really the same story when you get to the heart of it. They are often cultural cautionary tales about how we should behave and how we should live.

The Golden Crane flies for Tarmon Gai'don!