For We Are All Bound In Stories,

The Wickans Know That The Gift Of Power Is Never Free. They Know Enough Not To Envy The Chosen Among Them, For Power Is Never A Game, Nor Are Glittering Standards Raised To Glory And Wealth. They Disguise Nothing In Trappings, And So We All See What We'd Rather Not, That Power Is Cruel, Hard As Iron And Bone, And Thrives On Destruction. ~ Deadhouse Gates

Ben Adaephon Delat," Pearl Said Plaintively, "see The Last Who Comes. You Send Me To My Death." "i Know," Quick Ben Whispered. "flee, Then. I Will Hold Them Enough To Ensure Your Escape No More." Quick Ben Sank Down Past The Roof. Before He Passed From Sight Pearl Spoke Again. "ben Adaephon Delat, Do You Pity Me?" "yes" He Replied Softly, Then Pivoted And Dropped Down Into Darkness.

Power Is Violence, Its Promise, Its Deed. Power Cares Nothing For Reason, Nothing For Justice, Nothing For Compassion. It Is, In Fact, The Singular Abnegation Of These Things - Once The Cloak Of Deceits Is Stripped Away, This One Truth Is Revealed.

Paradise Belonged To The Innocent. Which Was Why It Was And Would Ever Remain Empty. And That Is What Makes It A Paradise.

We Are All Lone Souls. It Pays To Know Humility, Lest The Delusion Of Control, Of Mastery, Overwhelms. And, Indeed, We Seem A Species Prone To That Delusion, Again And Ever Again." ~fiddler, Pg. 558