Magician's End

There are two kinds of strength. Power and the ability to wield it is obvious, but resilience, the ability to resist power, is the other.

People will often do imponderable things because of how they feel, not because of what they think.

Life is what happens, Magnus, no matter what you expect or want.

In some worlds there seems to be a synergy, but for the most part, what Kalkin said to you is the root truth: they are merely personifications of natural forces given whatever powers they possess by their worshippers. They have aspects that are perceived by mortals, and attributes they can wield.

But to speed it along, he needs to know that pain will come. The knack is to not engage the pain, not hold on to it like a treasured thing, but to simply let it pass through and wait until it’s gone. It will come less frequently and after a time, be gone.

Feelings don’t make sense,” Nakor had observed, “but they can drive us, and that’s what you have to understand most of all. People will often do imponderable things because of how they feel, not because of what they think.

The scope of reality is beyond the capacity of mortal mind to fully comprehend. We can only imagine bits, or create metaphors or develop abstractions to help us cope, but no matter what we imagine we have achieved in understanding all this, in truth we know nothing.

Then don’t assume you need to be the one to make the sacrifice. Don’t hold your own needs as less important than other people’s.