No harder than walking a tightrope over a pit. A deep pit. Filled with — John C. Wright

"Death was soon and growing sooner."

"I will grant you three wishes, but do not ask for immortality without asking for eternal youth."

"I resolved, as I walked, to be the most dangerous one I could be. And in my mind, that meant one thing: thought. Think things through; then act. First be patient; then be brave."

"There was no point in debating the advantages of reality over unreality. There was no reasoning with someone to whom truth was a matter of taste."

"This world, this human earth, this dirty spot within heavenly sphere, is is overwhelmed by all the bloodshed and pollutions of men, their stinking lusts, their cities a-drip with oil, their battlefields with carrion."

"Those who work are free. There are only three categories of nonproductive people: babies, beggars, robbers."