Unquestioning obedience is for slaves, the uneducated and the pathetic.

Though I can’t help feeling a sudden death cheats you of something. Death is an experience of life. You only get one death. I would like to be aware it was happening, even if that did mean enduring pain and fear.

If your appearance is all people see, they have no respect for your mind.

Better to know the quick pain of truth than the ongoing pain of a long-held false hope.

Happy endings are a luxury of fiction

Mortals did not need gods to order them to kill eachother. They were quite capable of finding reasons to do so themselves.

I still recommend reading travel guides as an insight to a travellers perspective on fantasy worlds. Nearly all characters end up travelling at some point, and they have many of the same needs and concerns covered in travel guides.