...I applied her rule to my life; after all, we are all searching for them, the rules. We pick them up from the strangest places, and if they appear to work once we can live a whole lifetime by them, regardless of the unhappiness and difficulty they may later bring.

First rule of thievery,' Eli said, grinning, 'only run if you're not coming back.' (...) 'First rule of thievery, never use the same entrance twice.' Miranda rolled her eyes. 'How many 'first rules' of thievery do you have?' 'When one mistake can mean your head on a pike, every rule's a first rule,' Eli said cheerfully.

there are moments when one has to choose between living one's own life, fully, entirely, completely - or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy demands.

Maxim 1:
Pillage, then burn.

-The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries

Maxim 2:
A sergeant in motion outranks a lieutenant who doesn't know what's going on.

-The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries

Never subject to the rules, believing that the correct judgement and healthy nature keep her in the honesty she lived in.