She could be—he hoped would be—what he had always lacked: a center to the map of his life, that one, necessary fixed point from which he could naviga… - Matt Hughes

"Then how is it done?"
"By magic, I suppose. How else?"
"That is a foolish and flippant answer," he said. "'Oh, it's magic,' is not a handy solution to every mystery. I am not the child."

“What is your theory?” my assistant asked, but again I declined to answer. A mistaken theory that never went farther than its originator’s mind does not count as an error.

"From within such a calcified culture, no change can be generated; the impetus for reform must arise from without. Hence, the external threat posed by Hunan Diath."
"Who does not exist," said Filidor.
"Who need not exist," said Gaskarth, "so long as the idea can do its work."