"Penric smiled and advanced, feeling dimly that the first thing a man said to his intended’s respected mother probably shouldn’t be Quick, take your clothes off!"

"Assassins can cross borders where armies can’t."

"Des, it seemed, was much less terrified by this return to Cedonia than he was. Of course, a demon could not be killed exactly. Are you saying I would be a surprise? Oh, Pen. You have been a surprise from the beginning."

"Nikys had never believed that clothes made the man, but the lack of them certainly did."

"Mira does not gossip about her clients. Very rigid rule, I gather. The highest rank of Lodi courtesans don’t; that’s part of how they became the highest rank."

"No prayer addressed to my god ever returned any useful insight."

"Don’t promote your troubles beyond your rank."

"You’re worse than evil. You’re inefficient."

"Reform is resisted by everyone who has an interest in it not taking place at their expense."

"Dying is easy. Surviving is hard."

"The princess-archdivine once quipped to me that our friends are what the gods give us to make up for our families."

"This demon seemed slow to deploy even the most basic magics, but maybe dolphins didn’t think in terms of arson."

"Pen wondered at a world that hanged poor men for thievery, but celebrated great ones."

"Perhaps the absence of risk should not be mistaken for the presence of fortitude."

"Pen cleared his throat. “Do you normally try to murder people you’ve just met?” Although that was what a soldier did, he supposed."

"I can think of no greater nightmare than to lose my ability to read."

"The world is not always so friendly a place that you can afford to squander your advantages on a pointless conceit."

"I won’t dismiss it from the list just yet. But it needs verification. Everything needs verification."

"Earthworms are theologically neutral creatures, as far as I know."

"A few other works, half of which turn out to be rubbish. Always a problem with written sources, which frequently tell you far more about the person who wrote them than the subject addressed."

"Everyone talks to the gods, no one expects them to answer."

"I’d sent to my superiors in Whippoorwill twice, but have got no reply yet. And written to the divines in the neighbor vales. One said he could not help, and the other…was less helpful.” Gallen grimaced. “My prayers have fared no better.”"

"The gods do not act for our ends, but for Theirs."

"It occurred to him that the attitude of supplication was identical to that of surrender on a battlefield."

"A well-practiced prayer that he knew how to do. So he did, whispering the words aloud. In all, he was relieved that no one answered."

"“Hair shirts, really, what is the point?” She gave the impression of a faint, dramatic shudder, and Pen smiled despite himself. She added more tartly, “And it indicates a deep confusion of thinking to mistake one’s own discomfort for a benefit to another.”"

"The sharpest fall of all, from life to death."

"Heaven weeps, but free will is sacred. The meaning of yes is created by the ability to say no."

"Four thousand, so many! It matters less where I begin, as that I begin."

"Taste the betrayal of the gods, then; I have dined on it for ages."

"Talking to the gods had been a much more comfortable proposition when there had seemed no danger of Their talking back."

"It was lately suggested to me, by a man with longer experience of the gods than I can rightly imagine, that the reason the gods do not show our paths more plainly is that They do not know either. I haven’t decided if I find this reassuring or the reverse. It does hint they do not torment us solely for Their amusement, at least."

"“Inventing as you go, are you?” “Yes, I am quite godlike in that way, if no other.”"

"But even the gods cannot see infinitely far ahead. Our free wills cloud Their vision, even though Their eyes are more piercing than ours. The gods do not plan, so much as take advantage."

"If there is one thing that I have come to hate more than the gods, it is time."

"I learned long ago not to exhaust myself grappling problems that time will carry away on its tide."

"“Do you fear the gods will destroy you?” That disturbing smile again. “That is not a fear. That is a prayer.” “Or…do you fear their punishment? That they would plunge your soul into some eternal torment?” Wencel leaned forward, up on his toes. “That,” he breathed in Ingrey’s ear, “would be redundant.”"

"“It must have been an interesting chat. Did Cumril survive it?” “Temporarily.”"

"Oh, fine new friends you have—until They betray you. If the gods toy with you, cousin, it is for Their ends, not yours."

"So much of the uncanny—or the holy, for that matter—is inward experience. As such, testimony about it tends to be tainted. People lie. People delude themselves, or others. People are swayed or frightened or convinced they have seen things they have not. People are, frankly, sometimes simply mad."

"Such corruption feeds on its own success when it meets no correction."

"Her lips curved up. “That’s very Ingrey of you, Ingrey. Always look on the dark side.”"

"The gods have no hands in this world but ours. If we fail Them, where then can They turn?"

"Magical powers worked sometimes; material powers worked all the time."

"I do not know where I am going. But I am quite weary enough of where I’ve been."

"It is not, you know, that you lie well, cousin. It’s merely that no one is foolhardy enough to call you on it. This may have given you an inflated idea of your skill at dissimulation."

"It is as much an error to take truth for lies, as lies for truth."

"But have you ever overheard two women discussing men? Men are crude liars, comparing their drabs, but women—I'd rather have a Mother's anatomist dissect me alive than to listen to the things the ladies say about us when they think they are alone."

"“And what guidance did you receive for all your prayers, lady?” She bit her lip. “None.”"