"I said I fell down. Ah. The ground bloodied your nose, split yer lip, and punched ye in th' eye, all at once.I said I don't want to talk about it."

"Why do boys say someone acts like a girl as if it were an insult?"

"Yes Headwoman Azaze. But I never lie to Rosethorn. She, um, discourages it.""Evvy and I have an understanding." She grabbed the teakettle and poured hot water into the mug. "She tells me the truth, and I don't hang her in the first well we come to. It's a solution that works tolerably well for both of us."

"Does your ma know you're this silly?" she demanded tartly.He nodded, comically sad. "The few gray hairs she has on her head are my doing. But" - with an exaggerated change of mood - "I send her plenty of money, so she can pay to have them dyed!""I hope she beat you as a child," Onua grumbled."

"Money talks and walks, but it does not bark."

"There is power and there is power, my dear. My power can be vast, in the right places."

"She rides as a man, goes unveiled as a man, fights as a man. Let her prove herself worthy as a man, worthy of her weapons and of our friendship."

"And now you're off to Port Caynn. Watch them sailor lads. They'll have your skirts up and a babe in your belly afore you know what you're about.""Everyone keep warning me about sailors," I complained. "Why can't someone tell the sailors to stay clear of me?"Granny snorted. "Oh, you're the fierce one now! Just take care no one else catches you unawares and knocks you on the nob!"

"Stefan spat. "Oh, aye, he fell. O' course, Master Ralon helped him fall, several times. Poor li'l tyke didn't have a chance."

"As long as there's life, there's hope."

"Alan, you seem to think we won't like you unless you do things just like everyone else. Have you ever thought we might like you because you're different?"

"Gran, for the gods' love, it's talk like yours that starts riots!" I said keeping my voice down. "Will you just put a stopper in it?"She looked at me and sighed. "Girl, do you ever take a breath and wonder if folk don't put out bait for you? To see if you'll bite? You'll never get a man if you don't relax."My dear old Gran. It's a wonder her children aren't every one of them as mad as priests, if she mangles their wits as she mangles mine."Granny, "I told her, "this is dead serious. I can't relax, no more than any Dog. I'm not shopping for a man. That's the last thing I need."

"Curiosity killed the cat, Fesgao remarked, his dark eyes unreadable.Aly rolled her eyes. Why did everyone say that to her? "People always forget the rest of the saying, she complained. "'And satisfaction brought it back."

"Feelings, she learned, were hard to fight. She treasured his smiles and compliments and tried not to dwell on the fact that he gave this things to his friend Kel.His dreamy-eyed gazes, poems, and fits of passionate melancholy were for Uline. It was hard not to resent the older girl."

"What trouble have you brought to my doorstep, Beka?" she asked."I don't see where blaming me for things that began months ago will be useful," I replied."

"Every now and then I like to do as I'm told, just to confuse people."

"Just because I'm no jaw clacker doesn't mean there should be a ruction put up whenever I have sommat to say."

"Don't go thinking you can bounce me all over the ground just because I look like somebody's grandmother," the woman said dryly. "Some grandchildren need more raising than others, and I supply it," she grinned, showing very white teeth. -- Esa Bell, Shang Wildcat."

"Moral issues rarely have yes or no answers.-Myles to Alanna when she asks about the Gift."

"I wish you would thrash him. He deserves it."She looked back at him. "I will one day, sir. I'm getting tired of falling down."

"Once she was certain, she didn't waiver. I had to make her stop for water or a bite to eat. She obeyed, but she was restless. As clear as if she spoke to me, she was saying, "Very well, I know you want to keep my strength up, but scent fades, you know!"And I'd say, "I know, girl, but you're what I have and I'm going to take care of you."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, my lord. You are an evil man."

"Her free hand was clenched in a fist. I held still, waiting for her to say something, to tell me she should have never left me here, where her friends might look to me for help.Finally she looked at me. Her eyes were hard, but she'd let no tears fall. "This is where we blame those who are responsible, Cooper, she told me, her voice very soft. "The colemongers, and the bought Dogs at Tradesmen's kennel. We'll leave an offering for him with the Black God when all this is done, and we'll occupy ourselves with tearing these colemongers apart. all right? We put grief aside for now."

"Horses are calmer people. They also don't throw things at cats."

"Excuse me," she said politely. "But you can't have him. Not yet. He's going to come back with me."

"She's all over us like maggots on garbage, just because I interfered with one pickpocket yesterday."

"Daja doesn't exactly need to be tested on whether she's honorable or not." "Doesn't she? Don't all of you? This is your first taste of the things which may come from your being powerful mages. People will offer you gold, status, even love. I want to know how you will react. If want to know if your teachers will release greedy, thoughtless monsters into the world."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean--""To speak of it?" asked the K'mir. Diane nodded. "You have to, just to bleed off the poison from the memory."

"Well, laddie, if you've let an old buzzard like me hurt you confidence, you couldn't have had much in the first place."

"Pounce had it easier than any of us. No one noticed a black cat in the street. He stopped here and there to sniff aught of interest. Wherever our Rat stopped, Pounce was there, close enough to see up the Rat's nose. I was so proud. Now there was a proper god, making himself useful!Since my thought might be deemed blasphemy, I said silent prayers to the Goddess and to Mithros. I begged forgiveness and asked them not to misunderstand. Since I wasn't blasted where I stood, I guess they forgave me, or they hadn't heard my blasphemy."

"You ride as a man, fight as a man, and you think as a man-""I think as a human being," she retorted hotly. "Men don't think any differently from women- they just make more noise about being able to."

"Would I serve you or (Prince) Jon stolen goods? he asked. "No, don't answer me."

"Sandry: "There has to be something we can do." Lark: "We're mages. We do what we can, but some problems are too big to fix." Sandry: "Then I wish I weren't a mage. What good is magic, if you can't use it to help people."

"No more is your master a god, Nobility, but he wants offerings from all. When Black God claims us, who will be punished for giving worship and power to a false god? The prince? Or Banjiku?"

"Briar: "So I guess I was the last to know." Rosethorn: "Of course you are. You're a man, aren't you?"

"Teen problem novels? I can go through them like a box of chocolates. And there are fantasy books out now that need a lot more editing. Fantasy got to be so popular that people began to think 'We don't need to be as diligent with the razor blade,' but they do."

"Waves are the voices of tides. Tides are life," murmured Niko. "They bring new food for shore creatures, and take ships out to sea. They are the ocean's pulse, and our own heartbeat."

"Mistresses, have you ever noticed that when we disagree with a male- I hesitate to say 'man'- or find ourselves in a position over males, the first comment they make is always about our reputations or our monthlies?"

"I'm not so fond of people myself, Evvy, but I took my vows for a reason. There are two classes of people in the world, the destroyers and the builders. I want to build, not destroy. You need to ask yourself who you're going to be."

"Ishabal: "If you may correct your vision as you like, why do you wear spectacles?" Tris: "Because I like them. Because I have better things to do with my magic than fixing my vision when ordinary glass will do."

"Don't we teach our women to view all men according to the actions of a few?"

"He was stupid. If I killed everyone who was stupid, I wouldn't have time to sleep."

"Someday I must read this scholar Everyone. He seems to have written so much--all of it wrong."

"Fear is a good thing. It mean you're paying attention."

"Alanna didn't approve of lying, but in a pinch a lie was sometimes better than the truth."

"New learning never hurt anybody."

"Not one word," Kel warned. "Tobe and I have reached an understanding." Neal's lips twitched. "Why do I feel you did most of the understanding."