“Brother Preptil, the master of the music, had described Brutha's voice as putting him in mind of a disappointed vulture arriving too late at the dead donkey.”

“There will be justice," said Brutha. "If there is no justice, there is nothing.”

“And it came to pass that in that time the Great God Om spake unto Brutha, the Chosen One: ‘Psst!’”

“Sometimes the crime follows the punishment, which only serves to prove the foresight of the Great God.""That's what my grandmother used to say," said Brutha automatically."Indeed? I would like to know more about this formidable lady.""She used to give me a thrashing every morning because I would certainly do something to deserve it during the day," said Brutha."A most complete understanding of the nature of mankind,”

“Death stripes away many things, especially when it arrives at a temperature hot enough to vaporize iron ... The immortal remains of Brother Watchtower watched the dragon flap away into the fog ....”

“I nearly committed a terrible sin," said Brutha. "I nearly ate fruit on a fruitless day.""That's a terrible thing, a terrible thing," said Om. "Now cut the melon.”

“It was the terror of impermanence, the knowledge that all this would pass away, that a beautiful voice or a wonderful figure was something whose arrival you couldn't control and whose departure you couldn't delay.”