“Despite rumor, Death isn't cruel--merely terribly, terribly good at his job.”

“But we were dragons. We were supposed to be cruel, cunning, heartless and terrible. But this much I can tell you, we never burned and tortured and ripped one another apart and called it morality.”

“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's a terrible thing for a man when his woman gangs up on him wi' a toad”

“You have the effrontery to be squeamish, it thought at him. But we were dragons. We were supposed to be cruel, cunning, heartless and terrible. But this much I can tell you, you ape – the great face pressed even closer, so that Wonse was staring into the pitiless depths of his eyes – we never burned and tortured and ripped one another apart and called it morality.”

“But in his experience it was only a matter of time before the normal balance of the universe restored itself and started doing the usual terrible things to him.”

“Child. That was a terrible thing to say to anyone who was almost thirteen.”