"In time, you’ll come to understand that a state like ours cannot afford to offer up a show of weakness for honesty’s sake; Duke Nicovante charges me with vouchsafing his security, not his conscience."

“It had the expression common to all kittens, that of a tyrant in the becoming.”

“By rights he was still outrunning his age, still ahead of most men nearing threescore years, but he knew deep in his heart that there would never be any way of running fast enough.”

“Gods, all this maneuvering for moral advantage. You’d think we were married.”

“I’m losing my taste for subtlety as fast as I’m depleting my supply.”

“Nobody admires anyone else without qualification. If they do they’re after an image, not a person.”

““You needed a bath,“ Jean interrupted. “You were covered in self-pity.“”