“If you seem to be happy in this place of solitude, you will acquire a great reputation for wisdom, and I know, by my own experience, that under the cloak of a great reputation it is possible to hid...”

“No course was open to me save to leap, with eyes self-bound, into the yawning abyss of the future.”

“My father,' I replied, 'I am fond of action. I like to succour the afflicted, and make people happy. Command that there be built for me a tower, from whose top I can see the whole earth, and thus d...”

“It is a great evil to look upon mankind with too clear vision. You seem to be living among wild beasts, and you become a wild beast yourself. ("The Story of Prince Alasi and the Princess Firouzkah)”

“A fish might more easily live on the apex of a rock than a man accustomed to crime live a life of virtue. (The Story of Prince Barkiarokh)”

“If she knew me as I really am she would despise me, and certainly not aid or abet my evil designs. To veil their vices from the sight of the good is the only resource of those who are not blind and...”

“One King means peace.”

“Do whatever you must, Karigan," he told her, his voice so quiet it would not carry, "to come back. You must come back. To me." ~King Zachary”

“I tell you the truth, a man may not make himself king; only the blessing of him who holds the kingship can elevate a man to that high place. For sovereignty is a sacred trust that may not be barter...”

“If you can't experience the humanity of people who don't look like you, you're not civilized enough to be an officer of the peace.”

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

“My centre is giving way, my right is in retreat, situation excellent. I attack.”

“War always reaches the depths of horror because of idiots who perpetuate terror from generation to generation under the pretext of vengeance.”

“No time to spare: the expression assumed its full significance, as so many expressions do in wartime.”

“This time we'll be fighting for the nation. The company commander says that it's better to be the ghost of a fallen soldier than a nationless slave. For the sake of our fellow countrymen, our famil...”