A man of power and responsibility nevertheless needs somebody to tell him when he is being a bloody fool.

“Ordinary fortune-tellers tell you what you want to happen; witches tell you wha…”

“You get a wonderful view from the point of no return.”

“No other library anywhere, for example, has a whole gallery of unwritten books …”

“I dinna trust him," said Slightly Mad Angus. "He reads books an' such.”