Amber

“The Empress Sabina had long ago formed her own theory about the nonsense in travel books. No traveler, having gone to the expense and trouble of venturing where most civilized people were too sensible to go, was going to come home and admit that it had been a waste of time. Instead, he had to pronounce his destination to be full of strange wonders, like the elk with no knees that could be caught by sabotaging the tree against which it leaned when it slept (Julius Caesar) or the men from India who could wrap themselves in their own ears (reported by the elder Pliny, who seemed to have written down everything he was ever told), or the blue-skinned Britons (Julius Caesar again).
Strangely, no traveler had ever brought one of these creatures home for inspection. Doubtless they were impossible to capture, or died on the journey, or the blue came off in the wash.”
― Ruth Downie, Semper Fidelis

“While the Lord will magnify us in both subtle and dramatic ways, he can only guide our footsteps when we move our feet.”4”
― John Bytheway, How Do I Know If I Know?

“There were many things a man might think he should be told when a woman agreed to marry him. She had choose not to mention several of them”
― Ruth Downie, Caveat Emptor