The White Tree (The Cycle of Arawn, #1)

by Edward W. Robertson

Most faiths, he thought, could stand to learn the virtue of keeping their devotion to themselves.

Did anyone know anything at all, or finding times when the truth didn't suit them, had they all been repeating falsehoods and nonsense for so long they no longer remembered what was fact and what was invention?

Overconfidence is a strong ally. People are always surprised when you try to do things you can't."

"There's a difference between fear and prudence. And even if there isn't," Cally said, sticking his finger at Dante, "fear's a good thing to have. You might live longer if you had more."

he felt ruptured by the knowledge that even if they survived this day, one would come when they didn't.

Was that all life was? A brief bubble of memory that slid through the years until the sudden stop?