A man must know his limitations. - David Gemmell

It is a merchant's nature to quibble over coins. It is how we become rich and buy satin shirts. The problems of who governs this area is one for another day.

The Pinance laughed. “I hate the man, but I have never before seen him as a fool or a coward.”
“He is not a military man, my lord. He is a schemer, skilled in the art of politics and treachery.”
“It seems to me that those two beasts are one and the same,” said the Pinance.

What do you mean, why? Is it not obvious? What is life but a betrayal? We start out young, full of hope. The sun is good; the world awaits us. But every passing year shows how small you are, how insignificant against the power of the seasons. Then you age. Your strength fails, and the world laughs at you through the jeers of younger men. And you die. Alone. Unfulfilled. But sometimes ... sometimes there will come a man who is not insignificant. He can change the world, rob the seasons of their power. He is the sun.