The Heart of What Was Lost (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #3.5)

by Tad Williams

When you discover a flaw in stone, do not examine only the flaw, but how it formed, what it will do if left alone, and how the stone around it has responded. Do not neglect what beauty may have been created—if there were no flaws in order, life would be immeasurably poorer.”

“It is one thing to win,” said the duke. “It is another to convince your enemies that they have lost.”