Try to stay a man amongst men … There's no other hope for you.

After wars peace, after peace, another war. Every day men are born and others die.

If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat.

Were we really more advanced than the alchemists of Carmona? We had brought to light certain facts that they were not aware of, we had organised them into the right order; but had we advanced even a step nearer to the mysterious heart of the universe?

It is impossible to do anything for anyone.

What has value in their eyes is never what is done for them; it's what they do for themselves.

What did today's sacrifices matter: the Universe lay ahead in the future. What did burnings at the stake and massacres matter? The Universe was somewhere else, always somewhere else! And it isn't anywhere: there are only men, men eternally divided.

There is only one good. And that is to act according to the dictates of one's conscience.

It was as though some stubborn god spent their time in an immutable and absurd balancing act between life and death, prosperity and poverty.

For the first time in my life, I took part in a real battle between men. The dead did not come to life again, the vanquished fled in disorder; every thrust of my lance helped save Carmona. That day, I would have died with a smile on my lips, certain of having contributed to a triumphant future for my city.