“I see what's going on," I said. "You're confusing beauty with this society's current idea of perfection of visual form.”

“What if one of your customers hears us talking about covers and such things?""We're in the perfect place to talk of them. They'll assume you're Wiccan. And if you're going to go way back in history and anyone is rude enough to interrupt and ask you about it, like that guy who just left, we'll say we're part of the SCA."Her brows crinkled in confusion. "The Society for Cruelty to Animals?""No, I think you mean the SPCA, where the P stands for Prevention.""Ah. Of course."I shot a quick thought to Oberon. 'See? Witches.'”

“I looked down at my stomach. I grabbed at it, seeing how much fat I could lift up in a roll."Don't worry," you said, one eye open again like a crocodile watching me. "You're beautiful." You tipped your head back. "Beautiful," you murmured. "Perfect.”

“He stood staring into the wood for a minute, then said: "What is it about the English countryside — why is the beauty so much more than visual? Why does it touch one so?"He sounded faintly sad. Perhaps he finds beauty saddening — I do myself sometimes. Once when I was quite little I asked father why this was and he explained that it was due to our knowledge of beauty's evanescence, which reminds us that we ourselves shall die. Then he said I was probably too young to understand him; but I understood perfectly.”

“I searched my mind for the right visualization. I knew it had to start with what I put in my head. That is where all my accomplishments are formed.”

“There were so many forms of prehistoric technology.Of those, men dig a few which fit into current society.”