“Physical beauty, however, was frequently more a detriment than an advantage if one wished ever to be respected and valued for one's mind.”

“No weakness of the human mind has more frequently incurred animadversion, than the negligence with which men overlook their own faults, however flagrant, and the easiness with which they pardon them, however frequently repeated.”

“Religion is to the human race as the appendix is to the human body. At one time it was useful, but now it is nothing more than a detriment, and one that can kill in short order.”

“A bruxis. That was the one wish more powerful than a gavriel, and its trade value was singular: The only way to purchase one was with one’s own teeth. All of them, self-extracted.”

“People wish to be poets more than they wish to write poetry, and that's a mistake. One should wish to celebrate more than one wishes to be celebrated.”

“Only a fool would ever claim she was more beautiful than I. The world was full of fools, however.”