“Strange, how the best moments of our lives we scarcely notice except in looking back.”

“What a place. Glokta stifled a smile. It reminds me of myself, in a way. We both were magnificent once, and we both have our best days far behind us.”

“Well. What can we do, except try to do better?”

“You should laugh every moment you live, for you'll find it decidedly difficult afterwards.”

“Sometimes men change for the better. Sometimes men change for the worse. And often, very often, given time and opportunity . . .’ He waved his flask around for a moment, then shrugged. ‘They change back.”

“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.”

“We do what we must, we do what we are told, we do what is easiest. What else can we do but solve one sordid problem at a time? Then one day we look up and find that we are . . . this.”