This is an insane society, constrained by punctilio as a rotten egg is held by its shell. - Jack Vance

“It’s not a knack at all,” said Jantiff. “I’ve had to practice for years.”
Tanzel said brightly: “Isn’t it elitism when someone tries to do something better can everyone else?”

I know that the history of man is not his technical triumphs, his kills, his victories. It is a composite, a mosaic of a trillion pieces, the account of each man’s accommodation with his conscience. This is the true history of the race.

“You make very narrow distinctions.”
“Of course! That is the nature of clear thinking.”