“Things that would have made fame of a less clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things too easily.”

“Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.”

“(...) he walked away understanding, (...) how easily life can be one thing rather than another and how accidentally a destiny is made... on the other hand, how accidental fate may seem when things can never turn out other than they do.”

“I'm afraid that we all make mistakes. One of the things that defines our character is how we handle mistakes. If we lie about having made a mistake, then it can't be corrected and it festers. On the other hand, if we give up just because we made a mistake, even a big mistake, none of us would get far in life.”

“I watch his hands, they're lumpy but clever. "Is there a word for adults when they aren't parents?"Steppa laughs. "Folks with other things to do?”

“All great events hang by a single thread. The clever man takes advantage of everything, neglects nothing that may give him some added opportunity; the less clever man, by neglecting one thing, sometimes misses everything.”