“Valuing knowledge above all else results in a lust for power, and that leads men into dark and empty places.”

“Those who seek peace above all else, they say, will always deceive to keep the water calm.”

“For God's sake, Stiff," he says. "You don't have to follow me," I say staring at the maze of bars above me. I shove my foot onto the place where two bars cross and push myself up, grabbing another bar in the process. I sway for a second, my heart beating so hard I can't feel anything else. Every thought I have condenses into that heartbeat, moving at the same rhythm. "Yes, I do," he says.”

“Nothing else is all right.” His whisper tickles my cheek. “But we are.”

“Every tattoo I got with them is a mark of their friendship, and almost every time I have laughed in this dark place was because of them. I don’t want to lose them. But I feel like I have already.”

“Humans can't tolerate emptiness for long.”

“I would rather be dead than empty”