“A voice hissed: "He sheds tears!"It was taken around the ring "Usal gives moisture to the dead!"He felt fingers touch his damp cheek, heard the awed whispers.”

“The voice of a rebeck echoed from somewhere behind him. The music echoed and echoed until it entered his head, still echoing. It suffused his body and he felt himself to be large, very large, not a child at all. And his skin was not his own.”

“It was mostly sweet," he whispered, "and you were the sweetest of all.”

“you've heard of animals chewing off a leg to escape a trap. there's an animal kind of trick. a human would remain in the trap endure the pain feigning death that he might kill the trapper and remove a threat to his kind.”

“This is the awe-inspiring universe of magic: There are no atoms, only waves and motions all around. Here, you discard all belief in barriers to understanding. You put aside understanding itself. This universe cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be detected in any way by fixed perceptions. It is the ultimate void where no preordained screens occur upon which forms may be projected. You have only one awareness here—the screen of the magi: Imagination! Here, you learn what it is to be human. You are a creator of order, of beautiful shapes and systems, an organizer of chaos.”

“motivating people, forcing them to your will, gives you a cynical attitude toward humanity. It degrades everything it touches.”

“His voice was low, charged with unspeakable adjectives.”