Quote: Matthew Woodring Stover

Each of us is the sum of our scars.

Voiced by Caine, protagonist of Blade of Tyshalle, a wonderful and multi-faceted fantasy novel which I can only recommend. It is perhaps not the first expression of this notion—that we are in a significant way products of the mistakes, tribulations, and fire-treatment of our pasts—but it is the most succinct and memorable.