YOU FEAR TO DIE? "It's not that I don't want... I mean, I've always...it's just that life is a habit that's hard to break.

And it came to pass that in time the Great God Om spake unto Brutha, the Chosen One: "Psst!

Speak softly and employ a huge man with a crowbar.

Previous generations understood about death, and undoubtedly would have seen a reasonable amount of death. Once you get into the Victorian era, you might well have seen the funerals of many of your siblings before you were very old.

I found while driving in Wyoming that wearing a stetson and driving a beat-up pickup meant you could go as fast as you like, while the police picked up Californian winnebagos that went one mph over 55. After all, they wanted to bring money into the state, not merely circulate it.

Knowing things is magical, if other people don't know them.

Most modern fantasy just rearranges the furniture in Tolkien's attic.