The Walking Drum

"What can the will do when the heart commands?"

"You are young, and honor rides with you, but honor is important only when dealing with honorable men."

"Lie to a liar, for lies are his coin; steal from a thief, for that is easy; lay a trap for the trickster and catch him at the first attempt, but beware of an honest man."

"To survive? What is that? A mouse lives, a fly lives, one flees in terror, another lives in filth. They exist, they are, but do they live?"

"Honor is the thing, for he who is honorable needs no praise. He is secure with the knowledge of what he is, a decent human being first, all else after."

"The dried leaves of autumn are lightly blown away, still more easily is the fortune of man destroyed."

"Escape you? You misunderstand the situation, Mahmound. It is you who shall not escape me."

"So it ever is in moments of trial or decision. One is born alone, one dies alone, and usually faces the trials and tribulations alone."

"The weak can be terrible when they wish to appear strong, and he was such a man, darkly vengeful and unforgetting. If dying, he would strike out wickedly in all directions to injure all he could to his last breath.""

"When one has lost his freedom it is always a long walk back."

"A knife is sharpened on stone, steel is tempered by fire, but men must be sharpened by men."