In the desert we say Make haste slowly.

Let him be a boy while he may. It is too soon for him to wrestle with mortality.

Without plenty, the wealthy lack compassion for the poor, hoarding without sharing. Without law, the strong bully the weak, stealing by force.

I wish sometimes that the gods would either choose better, or make their wishes clearer.

Questions are dangerous because they have answers.

It is what I do. If you wish to thank me, do a kindness for someone in need.

I never forgot, never, that it had been he who, with two words, turned my deadliest flaw to a treasure beyond price.

And in so doing, mayhap we reshaped the gods themselves. Now that was a thought made me shudder to the bone. I wondered if it were true, and if it were, what would happen when some deity bent out of true by mortal ambition returned to set the record straight.

To fail and persevere is a harder test than any you will meet on the practice-field.

Tell me, my heart, would you rather wed a handsome man or a wealthy one?” Zariya considered the question. “If I had the luxury of choice, I would choose a kind man.