She chose to reject me!" That wasn't a choice, lad—that was an empty gun saying click. - Tim Powers

Trusting Merlin is like giving a migrant scorpion a lift inside your hat.

Weird evening," he said. "With this wind and all."
Gladhand nodded. "Several hundred years ago it was considered a valid defense in a murder trial if you could prove the Santa Ana wind was blowing when the murder was committed. The opinion was that the dry, hot wind made everybody so irritable that any murder was almost automatically excusable. Or so I've heard, anyway."
Thomas pondered it. "There might be something to that," he said.
"No," Gladhand said. "There isn't. Start sanctioning heat-of-anger crimes and you've lost the last hold on the set of conventions we call…society, civilization.

There's something you should know about me."
"What's that?"
"I don't know, but you should know it.