I shall endeavor to turn dross to purest Metal Absolute: in short, to teach you something. - Tad Williams

Light, with its handmaiden color, was everywhere.

Miriamele was dismayed by her own willful ignorance. How could she, with all her native good fortune, be so consumed with the few inconveniences that God or fate had put in her way? It was shameful.
She tried to tell Duke Isgrimnur something of her thoughts, but he would not let her slide too far into self-loathing.
“Each one of us has our own sorrows, Princess,” he said. “It’s no shame to take them to heart. The only sin is to forget that other folk have theirs, too—or to let pity for yourself slow your hand when someone needs help.”

Part of manhood, I am thinking, is to ponder one’s words before opening one’s mouth.