No, I do not believe in fate, that some spirits of the heavens weave the laws of the world to make it so. That is dogma for the foolish, for the universe is quite able to deal with such matters herself, to use her natural laws to guide matter and the spirits. Even so, souls within the world can act to naturally shift the cause of events. Magister Brennark did say that ‘Nothing happens unless we make it so.’ I believe you have made it so, Wolfdon, and how foolish it would be for us to ignore an opportunity that you yourself established, whether you knew you were doing so or not.

Although one may direct the future or past through the onerous linkages of temporal cause and effect, riding the breaking waves of the present and never once overstepping it, the better way is to go there and do it yourself.

There is a present because it works with my theories. If you find a better one than mine, then I may reconsider, but for the sake of the universe—and oh, how we philosophers make the universe weep—there is a present, and it is the time you just left.

Eldora smiled up at Paulo cunningly, her dark eyes twinkling. “You are old, Father.”“Not as old as I shall be, before I have finished with the universe.

And he always checks that he carries three things with him: faith, hope, and love.