The only thing of which we can be sure—time passes—everything else is vanity. - Sean Russell

I do not want to end up like Stern, Tristam thought: the dutiful servant, silently chewing his resentment, hoping, pitifully, that his sacrifice would one day be rewarded.

There were no sounds of men, here; only the whisperings of the world of nature, which men often called silence.

"Well, perhaps you have begun your journey toward wisdom, Mr. Flattery," Kent said seriously. "We have such a short time and the journey is so terribly long. One cannot begin too soon."