Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8)

by Terry Pratchett

His age was indeterminate. But in cynicism and general world weariness, which is a sort of carbon dating of the personality, he was about seven thousand years old.

The reason that cliches become cliches is that they are the hammers and screwdrivers in the toolbox of communication.

Never trust any ruler who puts his faith in tunnels and bunkers and escape routes. The chances are that his heart isn’t in the job.”