“Men are said to desire women, Severian. Why do they despise the women they obtain?”

“The men and women, who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle everyday.”

“What is a man?What is a woman?Why are men and women attracted to each other?Why do they desire each other?Love...what is it?”

“Men have strength, Miss Ferenczi said, but no true magic. That is why men fall in love with women but women do not fall in love with men: they just love being loved.”

“Margaret Atwood, the Canadian novelist, once asked a group of women at a university why they felt threatened by men. The women said they were afraid of being beaten, raped, or killed by men. She then asked a group of men why they felt threatened by women. They said they were afraid women would laugh at them.”

“That wish - that prayer - both men and women would have scorned me for - "But, Father, Thou wilt not despise!" I said, and felt that it was true.”