“Hap sighed. If he could change one thing about Umber-besides his constant need for the thrill of exploration-it would be his obsession with secrets and surprises.”

“Enjoy yourselves. And Hap: Don't let Umber near the arrows and bows; he's liable to shoot himself in the nose." Dodd grinned and snapped the reins, and the carriage rolled away. Umber sniffed. "One of his lesser poems. Come, Hap.”

“The worm hissed. "You said it couldn't see!" shouted Oates, forgetting Umber's instruction to be silent. He shook a fist. "We all heard it, Umber! You specifically said, it couldn't see!""I know-isn't it wonderful to learn something new?" Umber laughed.”

“I haven't been around here for long. Well... actually, I haven't been around anywhere for long. I don't know who I am, or what I'm here for. I know that Lord Umber's important, though. I've seen all the good things he's done. I know for sure the world needs him. I can't say that about me.”

“They didn't come to crush the city. They came to crush the hubris of its king.""That must have hurt," Oates said. Umber pinched the bridge of his nose."Hubris means arrogance, you great buffoon.”

“Once an idea is out and about, it can't be called back, silenced or erased. You can't contain it, any more than you could put the head of a dandelion back together after the wind has scattered its seeds.”

“Imprisonment is the form of punishment which may detrimentally affect not only the offender but also his family and his employment and because of its duration it can seldom be kept from becoming general public knowledge. It [...] can have a lasting demoralising effect on the character and personality of the offender. The loss of liberty, tedium, regimentation [...] which prison life entails, have a greater potentiality than a whipping for destroying the offender's self-esteem and the integrity of his character and for changing, for the worse, his way of life.”