Look at Satan. Created as an angel, grows up to be the Great Adversary. Hey, if you’re going to go on about genetics, you might as well say the kid will grow up to be an angel. After all, his father was really big in Heaven in the old days. Saying he’ll grow up to be a demon just because his dad became one is like saying a mouse with its tail cut off will give birth to tailless mice. No. Upbringing is everything. Take it from me.

Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.

You are very clever," said the old man shyly. "I would like to eat your brains, one day.

Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They know them too well. It would be like believing in the postman.

Don't be smart. Smart is only a polished version of dumb. Try intelligence. It will surely see you through.

I didn't go to university. Didn't even finish A-levels. But I have sympathy for those who did.

But there was more to it than that. As the Amazing Maurice said, it was just a story about people and rats. And the difficult part of it was deciding who the people were, and who were the rats.