The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King, #1-4)

by T.H. White

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something.

What is all this chivalry, anyway? It simply means being rich enough to have a castle and a suit of armour, and then, when you have them, you make the Saxon people do what you like.

“Wars are never fought for one reason,” he said. “They are fought for dozens of reasons, in a muddle.

Life is too bitter already, without territories and wars and noble feuds.

There is a thing called knowledge of the world, which people do not have until they are middle-aged. It is something which cannot be taught to younger people, because it is not logical and does not obey laws which are constant. It has no rules.

I suppose that all endeavours which are directed to a purely worldly end, as my famous Civilization was, contain within themselves the germs of their own corruption.

What horrible creatures humans are! If we see a flower as we walk through the fields, we lop off its head with a stick.

We cannot build the future by avenging the past.