I write these words in steel, for anything not set in metal cannot be trusted.

Those who take lightly promises they make to those they love are people who find little lasting satisfaction in life. This is not an easy time in which to live. That does not mean that it has to be a difficult time to love,

“Manipulation works so well on a personal level, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be an equally viable national policy.” “That’s actually how most rulership works,” Ham mused. “What is a government but an institutionalized method of making sure somebody else does all the work?”

“Religions are promises—promises that there is something watching over us, guiding us. Prophecies, therefore, are natural extensions of the hopes and desires of the people. Not foolishness at all.”

“If everyone is a nobleman, then there is no such thing as a nobleman. Everyone can’t be rich, and everyone can’t be in charge. That’s just not the way things work.”

to open, and the other to keep closed. Yet, upon closer examination, he might see that without one, the other becomes useless. The wise man then sees that both lock and key were created for the same purpose.”

Which was more potent? The pain of memory, or the pain of forgetting?

“Do not be so hard on the child. She is a product of her upbringing, just as you are. If you judge her worth based on frivolities, then you are doing the same as those who judge you based on your simple clothing.”

People were a patchwork of feelings; usually, what they thought they were “feeling” at the moment only related to which emotions were currently most dominant within them.