“It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
This is the moment when we see Bast countering Chronicler as he dives into the psychology behind the job that consumes Chronicler. They have clearly defined conflicting opinions around Kvothe: Bast is loyal and wishes to create the best version of Kvothe as possible, having experienced the hardships of life with him; yet Chronicler has led a much simpler life so despite expressing his thoughts through the medium of writing, he has a much less mature view of the world.
“Call a jack a jack. Call a spade a spade. But always call a whore a lady. Their lives are hard enough, and it never hurts to be polite.”
The great wisdom that Kvothe has accumulated on his travels is clearly portrayed to the reader when he discusses the teachings of a great philosopher. Yet, it also allows us to gain access to the morality of Kvothe as he has become increasingly soft and more sympathetic to those around him, rather than being a merciless killer and as a result, the reader begins to understand why.
“Bones mend. Regret stays with you forever.”
This is part of a deep discussion between Kvothe and Chronicler, where they each reveal their motives in life and their true personalities are finally revealed to the reader. Kvothe has come from a challenging background, and has led a life of hardship and struggle. However, throughout all of this he has remained positive and has always moved forwards, defending himself from others and gaining skills along the way. Despite this, it is never able to escape the past that haunts him, and the mistakes that he has made and that will stay with him forever. Therefore, he adopts the mentality of not repeating this and instead doing whatever is necessary to avoid failure.
