A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)

by Ursula K. Le Guin

“The wise don’t need to ask, the fool asks in vain,”

What a ridiculous thing to say to someone asking for directions.

as a man’s real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower: until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do . . .”