I'm speaking of the pursuit of excellence in all things. All things! Presence of mind and devotion to craft. A great artist has these. A great chef. A great master of tea. There's powerful kung fu in a well-built house… — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“Please, boy. Let’s not start out with either of us insulting the other’s intelligence. There are only three people in life you can never… — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“Gentlemen Bastards." hissed Locke, "do not abandon one another, and we do not run when we owe vengeance.” — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“Ha! Yes. When anyone tells you habits die hard, Locke, they’re lying—it seems they never die at all.” — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“ESPARA, FORMERLY a seat of prestige only one step below Therim Pel itself, had descended from its imperial years the way some men and… — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
Advice,' Doña Vorchenza chuckled. 'Advice. The years play a sort of alchemical trick, transmuting one's mutterings to a state of respectability. Give advice at… — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“Ibelius," said Jean. "If what Locke is doing were lurking about, corpses could be acrobats.” — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“What an interesting choice of words. “Not real, and never were.” Could there be any more appropriate literature for men of our profession? Why… — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“Why were all his fantasies so calamitous for that table, which had done him no injury?” — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“I more proudly take a speck from a man with empty pockets,” said Sabetha, “than riches from a man whose purse stays heavy.” — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“He was bewildered at how quickly he had escaped his old life and fallen into this new one with strangely pleasant crazy people.” — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
I think piracy is a bit like drinking. You want to stay out all night doing it, you pay the price the next day. — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“That's a sweet piece," said Jean, briefly forgetting to be aggravated. "You didn't snatch that off a street." "No," said Locke, before taking another… — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“But time’s a river, Locke, and we’ve always drifted farther down it than we think.” — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
“I understand, my lord. I…don’t wish to embarrass you again.” “Embarrass me? Jean, you misunderstand.” Maranzalla kicked idly at the toy rapier, and it… — Scott Lynch Copy Share Image
