It's lies. It's all lies. Some of them are just prettier than others, that's all. People see what they think is there.

Granny knew all about bad fortune-telling. It was harder than the real thing. You needed a good imagination.

I tell you, commander, it's true that some of the most terrible things in the world are done by people who think, genuinely think, that they're doing it for the best, especially if there is some god involved.

When all else failed, she tried being reasonable.

His mind worked fast, flying in emergency supplies of common sense, as human minds do, to construct a huge anchor in sanity and prove that what happened hadn't really happened and, if it had happened, hadn't happened much.

Chain-mail isn't much defence against an arrow. It certainly isn't when the arrow is being aimed between your eyes.

All property is theft, except mine.