“Everyone has an ulterior motive. Everyone wants something, and everyone is willing to do whatever they haveto in order to get it. Regardless of who winds up hurt in the process.”

“In the rational light of day, he could tell himself that it was better this way, for both of them. The past was the past, nothing but memories buried, and the pain of losing something precious was but brief. Most of the time he could make himself believe it, but sometimes in the night, with no company but his own echoing thoughts, the past would sneak up on him.”

“Such things are even more important when we’re alone, so that we might remember who we are and who we can no longer be.”

“I don’t want to kill you, but I must. For the good of the country.”

“No matter how old you get, no matter how far you’ve strayed, a mother can always see right through you.”

“You aren’t exactly best friends with the truth yourself.”

“Yet beauty is a shallow thing. So fleeting. Strength, intelligence, spirit, these things can be far more appealing than what lies on the surface of a thing. And power, of course. For power, true power, can last forever.”