“It's not cruelty, maybe, but a desire to understand that motivates them.”

“Over the years I had convinced myself that brutality required motive, but this is a fool’s deceit. Cruelty is the motive; religion and politics and resources are simply the cloth man weaves to curtain his desires for violence.”

“Stand warned, lovelies. Initiates are encouraged to teach you cruelty. An you should thank them for it. For to understand cruelty is to know strength.”

“How can the intensity of this shame be understood by those who have never experienced it? How can they understand the strength of the motivations produced by the desire to escape from it?”

“You must lay aside your greed; have no unworthy motive in your desire to become rich and powerful. It is legitimate and right to desire riches, if you want them for the sake of your soul, but not if you desire them for the lists of the flesh.”

“Cruelty depends on an understanding of cruelty, and the ability to choose against it. Or to choose to ignore it.”