“Mounted on a horse, we were useful in direct proportion to our powers of observation and our ability to interpret what we say, faculties, of course, which are sharpened by interest. And our interest was boundless.”

“Things spoken can be forgotten and forgiven, but the written word has the power to change the course of history, to alter our lives.”

“I once ran across a list of nearly 400 winds from around the world and wondered why Wyoming, so dominated by wind, has so few names for its variations. . . . There's the wind, the damned wind, and the goddamned wind.”

“Most cowgirls are natural storytellers, their art honed by years of practice. . . . It serves as entertainment; it also preserves the humor and value of a unique way of life.”

“And yet many of us do it without families," Nynaeve said. "Without love, without passion beyond our own particular interests. So even while we try to guide the world, we separate ourselves from it.We risk arrogance, Egwene. We always assume we know best, but risk making ourselves unable to fathom the people we claim to serve.”

“We only see what interests us, and we have only insight in proportion to our sympathy.”

“Do we know our poor people? Do we know the poor in our house, in our family? Perhaps they are not hungry for a piece of bread. Perhaps our children, husband, wife, are not hungry, or naked, or dispossessed, but are you sure there is no one there who feels unwanted, deprived of affection?”