The fear was all he had left, but even that was something—he was afraid, so he must be alive! There was darkness, but there was Simon, too! There wer… - Tad Williams

“Not everyone can stand up and be a hero, Princess,” he said quietly. “Some prefer to surrender to the inevitable and salve their conscience with the gift of survival.”
Miriamele thought about the obvious truth of what Cadrach had said as they walked on, but could not understand why it made her so unutterably sad.

In my experience," he said with more than a touch of bitterness, "the gods do not seem to care much what their servants deserve—or at least the rewards they give are too subtle for my understanding.

Never make your home in a place," the old man had said, too lazy in the spring warmth to do more than wag a finger. "Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it—memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things." Morgenes had grinned. "That way it will go with you wherever you journey. You'll never lack for a home—unless you lose your head, of course...