Haldea

“Life is not about reward and punishment,” said Xuen. “It is about understanding, accepting who oneself is right now, in order to know what to change, and how.”
― Christie Golden, War Crimes

“I brought you a ring." It was made of warm, smooth wood. "What does it do?" I asked. "It keeps secrets," she said. I held it to my ear, Auri shook her head seriously, her hair swirling around her. "It doesn't tell them, it keeps them." She stepped close to me and took the ring, sliding it onto my finder. "It's quite enough to have a secret," she chided me gently. "Anything more would be greedy.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

“This is not for me a memory. It is a portrait of now. Of a state of being of the world.' He slowly bowed his head. 'And of freedom, for change. It portends coming change. Crushing of enemies, perhaps; a coming winter, most like. But as you will never brew exactly this brew again, so the world will never again know this time or, alas, this peace.”
― Michael A. Stackpole, Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde

“People don't listen to karaoke, they endure it until it is their turn. It is the singularly most self-indulgent form of entertainment available.”
― Will Ferguson, Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking Japan