“You confuse not speaking with not listening.”

“So she listened hard. And she began to evolve, because stories work their magic that way. They build conviction and erode conviction in equal measure.”

“I do not listen when anyone uses the word immoral," said the Wizard. "In the young it is ridiculous, in the old it is sententious and reactionary and an early warning sign of apoplexy. In the middle-aged, who love and fear the idea of moral life the most, it is hypocritical.”

“I do not deny that you overwhelm me with your beauty. You are the moon in the season of shadow light; you are the fruit of the candlewood tree; you are the phoenix in circles of flight --.”

“You mean you indulged in adultery and you dont' even have the benefit of a good saucy memory about it.”

“Books fall open, you fall in. When you climb out again, you're a bit larger than you used to be.”

“Cross a man and you struggle, one of you wins, you adjust and go on - or you lie there dead. Cross a woman and the universe is changed, once again, for cold anger requires an eternal vigilance in all matters of slight and offense”