that a man needs to know what he believes before he can really know who he is.

You can put your trust in something that’s obvious, that’s measurable or predictable—but that’s not faith. Nor is believing in something that gives you no pause for doubt, no reason or desire to question. Faith is something more than that. By definition, it cannot have proof as its foundation.

can’t say I like the idea of not being in control of my own destiny,” he said eventually. “If everything is already laid out, if there really is a Grand Design, wouldn’t that mean we have no free will?”

Nihim grunted. “I can’t tell you how many times I heard that same question debated, back in the Augurs’ day,” he admitted. “There are a lot of

The future may be immutable, but it’s not because our choices do not change anything. It’s that they already have changed things. The decisions you make tomorrow are the same as those you made yesterday—still your choices and still with consequences, but unalterable. The only difference is your knowledge of the decisions you made yesterday

When you came to this time, you momentarily stepped outside of time. A place where time doesn’t exist. Nothing to separate events from one another, or to give them length. They happen simultaneously and for eternity.” He shrugged. “In short, all that will happen, has already happened. It’s just that we are experiencing it through the lens of time.