Mirror Gate (Harbinger, #2)

by Jeff Wheeler

Vanity comes naturally to all of us. Every human is, to their own mind, the center of all known worlds—the axle on which it all turns. And yet their knowledge is but their own perception of the things around them, and their feelings are inescapably colored by their perceptions of the world’s wants and its merits.

“Life is not fair,” Fitzroy said soberly. “But whoever promised that it would be? One of the strangest things about life is that we are as much defined by our hopes as we are our secret fears. We are, for the most part, the product of what we think about the most.

“A brick is the softest before it visits the kiln,” he answered sagely.

It is not impossible to change when you are older, but it is certainly more difficult.”

Knowing yourself, and what you want, makes all the difference—even if your dream feels unattainable.”

“Isn’t it strange, Sera, how so many of our thoughts attempt to persuade us to quit? To fail? To despair of achieving something?” He gave her a cryptic smile. “One would almost think that those thoughts are coming to our minds not from us . . . but from a source that means to do us harm. Are we not always our own harshest critics?”

There are always two reasons people do anything. There’s the real reason, and then there’s the one we think sounds good to others.”

The change in government is a harbinger of ill tidings. No matter which side wins, there will be those who resent the outcome.

Only a small portion of the people will ever reach their true potential in life. Because it is difficult. Because one must pursue excellence with unwearying vigilance. And that, my young friend, is beyond the capacity of most of humanity.

Beings of darkness cannot abide bright light.

Face your fear. Do what makes you uncomfortable. Lean into the discomfort instead of shunning it.”

The mind could only think of one thing at a time, and she had every right to control what those thoughts would be.

“For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.”

Trust is easily broken. Like a mirror. You cannot repair the cracks. It must be made over.”