“Impatience is a poor substitute for a well-considered plan.”

“Oh, well," Silk said wryly, "we might as well get it out into the open, I suppose. Gentlemen," he said, "I'm sure you all remember the Margravine Liselle, my fiancee.""Your fiancee?" Barak exclaimed in amazement."We all have to settle down sometime." Silk shrugged.They all gathered around to congratulate him. Velvet, however, did not look pleased."Was something the matter, dear?" Silk asked her, all innocence."Don't you think you've forgotten something, Kheldar?" she asked acidly."Not that I recall.""You neglected to ask me about this first.""Really? Did I actually forget that? You weren't planning to refuse, were you?""Of course not.""Well, then --""You haven't heard the last of this, Kheldar," she said ominously."I seem to be getting off to a bad start here," he observed."Very bad," she agreed.”

“It's all very well to put the government in the hands of the perfect man, but what do you do when the perfect man gets a bellyache?”

“Whatever happened to him?" Silk asked. "He went swimming in the Nedrane." "I didn't know that Thulls swam all that well." "They don't–particularly not with large rocks tied to their feet.”

“I'm hungry, Garion, and I don't think well when I'm hungry.""That might explain a lot," Beldin noted blandly. "We should have fed you more often when you were younger." "You can be terribly offensive sometimes, do you know that?""Why, yes, as a matter of fact I do.”

“One of the less attractive aspects of human nature is our tendency to hate the people we haven't treated very well; it's much easier than accepting guilt. If we can convince ourselves that the people we betrayed or enslaved were subhuman monsters in the first place, then our guilt isn't nearly so black as we secretly know that it is. Humans are very, very good at shifting blame and avoiding guilt.”

“I could insist that somebody take me to her so I can obey her orders.""I think you might choke on that one, Zakath," Silk said lightly. "Obey is a difficult concept for someone in your position.""He's an irritating little fellow, isn't he?" Zakath said to Garion."I've noticed.""Why, your Majesties," Velvet said, all wide-eyed innocence, "what a thing to suggest.""Well, isn't he?" Zakath said pointedly."Of course, but it's not nice to talk about it."Silk looked slightly offended. "Would you people like for me to go away so you can talk freely?""Oh, that won't be necessary, Kheldar," Velvet said with a dimpled smile.”