A man does not see where he treads in battle, for he is watching the enemy.

Pride makes a man, it drives him, it is the shield wall around his reputation... Men die, they said, but reputation does not die.

Wyrd bith ful araed (Fate is inexorable).

You won't regret the men you never killed, but you will regret the women you passed up.

We all suffer from dreams

Writing is a solitary occupation.

Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.

Of course some days are easier than others, but my worst day is better than being in most humdrum occupations.

Book tours and research provide a lot of travel - too much, I sometimes think, but we do take vacations.

The existence of tricks does not imply the absence of magic.

We make children and wealth and amass land and build halls and assemble armies and give great feasts, but only one thing survives us. Reputation.

One of the most liberating things a person can do is to admit that he or she is human and is flawed.

Home life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt.

[T]hough individual oppression may now and then proceed fro the courts of justice, the general liberty of the people can never be endangered from that quarter . . .

France had shown a light to all men, preached a Gospel, all men's good; Celtic Demos rose a Demon, shriek'd and slaked the light with blood.

If we're all on the same page, no one's reading the whole book.

Mama was always saying I was a brain snob, that I didn't like people who didn't think. I didn't know if that was snobby. Who wanted to walk around explaining everything to people all the time?

Being receptive to what is happening around me gives me inspiration and feeds my desire to create.

I'd like to do policy and I'd like to do philosophy, I'd like to be able to get into the depth, into the meat of the argument - that's the kind of stuff I want to do.

Growing up in a violent home is a terrifying and traumatic experience that can affect every aspect of a child's life, growth, and development.

I like to make things. I like making choices, choosing colours, evoking a spirit, a change.