How easy it is to think well of ourselves. Until the moment is upon us, we can never be certain. - Lloyd Alexander

All agreed that Quickset was the cleverest cat in the world. And, since Quickset had the same opinion, it was surely true.

At the end of their grim race, death might be the only prize.

A shade of sorrow passed over Taliesin's face. 'There are those,' he said gently, 'who must first learn loss, despair, and grief. Of all paths to wisdom, this is the cruelest and longest. Are you one who must follow such a way? This even I cannot know. If you are, take heart nonetheless. Those who reach the end do more than gain wisdom. As rough wool becomes cloth, and crude clay a vessel, so do they change and fashion wisdom for others, and what they give back is greater than what they won.