“Can the leopard change his spots?” Emrys mused. “Leopards have, but the other leopards don’t like it.”

“Leopards don't change their spots”

“But if the things I believe are right and true, then what fear have I of challenge, for will those things I learn not simply prove what is? And if the things I believe are not right and true, would it not be better for me to know that and face it like a man?”

“Whether or not that’s how it is,” I said, “we must live according to what we believe, not the beliefs of others.”“The beliefs of others are not irrelevant, not when they shape the world we live in!”“I didn’t say they were irrelevant. But they will never dictate my judgment or my decisions,” I snapped back. “Because others believe something does not make it true. You are not stupid because Plato says you must be, nor is Cleopatra a whore because some Roman wit will say it. I will never trust any learned opinion more than what I see in front of my face.”

“The truth will make us free, Charmian. The best we can do is carry the banner proudly in our own time.”

“Have you ever done something so horrible and so irreparable that you knew there was nothing you could ever do to fix it?”“No,” I said gently. “Mostly because I’m eight.”

“I was seen spotted with an older woman and a girl half my height in age. A leopard was also spotted.
”