A power claimed and challenged and thrice carried out is true - Naomi Novik

“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling stupid in the way I’m sorry always feels stupid when you mean it.

I’m not stupid, nor a liar,” I said, “and if I can’t do any good, I can at least do something

“There’s no such thing as normal people, I said, a desperate flailing. “There’s just people, and some of them are miserable, and some of them are happy, and you’ve the same right to be happy as any of them—no more and no less.