"You change the world, but the world changes you, too. There’s no getting around it. I have to survive here, no matter what it costs me."

"If she’s lucky, she’ll grow up to be a decent person instead of the wife of a feudal lord."

"Smart people are always learning something new. Stupid people just stay stupid. Remember that."

"What has happened to you, Aliya Skorolenok? Who have you become? The reflection said nothing, because there was nothing to say."

"Such a state of affairs feeds a man's pride. It flatters men, even more, when they see love and admiration in the eyes of a young woman."