"“You weren’t waiting up for me, were you?” Gerbert shrugged. “You know how little I sleep. I was contemplating my sin…"

"Now there was sophistry. A mage was a perilous beast, but a mage who was also a logician and a theologian was deadly …"

"“I would tell you that the West is sadly fallen. What men knew once, they know no longer, nor want to know. It is all…"

"You are a fool, sir priest. Ignorance may excuse you. It will certainly kill you."

"“So eager still! Do you never tire?” “Oh, yes, my Lord,” said Gerbert. “But when I’ve struggled long and hard, and th…"

"I am asking you to help me. Our mutual master would stride naked into the desert, trusting in God and in his own bril…"

"Traitors were not cherished even by those who bought them."

"In that instant, Gerbert hated him with a perfect hate. A monster, one could comprehend, and even forgive: one could …"

"May God preserve us from an honest pope."

"“Peace.” Gerbert rolled the word on his tongue. “Is that what it is? I’d been calling it happiness.”"