“The books - the generous friends who met me without suspicion - the merciful masters who never used me ill!”

“The books—the generous friends who met me without suspicion—the merciful masters who never used me ill! The only years of my life that I can look back on with something like pride... Early and late, through the long winter nights and the quiet summer days, I drank at the fountain of knowledge, and never wearied of the draught.”

“Who wants to be used? I love to read, so books are my main friends. They're always available, always friendly, and always interesting, and they never make me choose sides.”

“Books had been invented to salve human loneliness, and they were friends without peer, friends who never sneered or flinched or laughed behind a man's back. Books revealed their treasures to all who took the effort to seek.”

“I'd never seen a man who could outshop me, but Jenks was a master.”

“You know, I met a wise man centuries ago in China who said to me, ‘He who lets fear rule him, has fear for a master. (Acheron)Confucius? (Talon)No, Minh-Quan. He was a fisherman who used to sell what I’m told was the best zong zi ever made. (Acheron)”