Brandon Sanderson

“The right belief is like a good cloak, I think. If it fits you well, it keeps you warm and safe. The wrong fit however, can suffocate.”

“Unknowing ignorance is preferable to informed stupidity.”

“Small things were important. Seconds were small things, and if you heaped enough of those on top of one another, they became a man's life.”

“How do you 'accidentally' kill a noble man in his own mansion?" "With a knife in the chest. Or, rather, a pair of knives in the chest...”

“You're a sword not a palm tree”

“Mocking a woman is like drinking too much wine. It may be fun for a short time, but the hangover is hell.”

“...A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.”

“...Regardless, I still do not believe that your duty is to do as the people wish. Your duty is to lead as best you can, following the dictates of your conscience. You must be true. Your Majesty, to the man you wish to become....”

“Sometimes the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”

“Too many of us take great pains with what we ingest through our mouths, and far less with what we partake of through our ears and eyes.”

“Good men don't become legends," he said quietly."Good men don't need to become legends." She opened her eyes, looking up at him. "They just do what's right anyway.”

“You should try not to talk so much, friend. You'll sound far less stupid that way.- Breeze”

“I write these words in steel, for anything not set in metal cannot be trusted.”

“Now you may have gotten the impression that there are absolutely no uses for Librarians. I'm sorry if I implied that. Librarians are very useful. For instance, they are useful if you are fishing for sharks and need some bait. They're also useful for throwing out windows to test the effects of concrete impact on horn-rimmed glasses. If you have enough Librarians, you can build bridges out of them. (Just like witches.)And, unfortunately, they are also useful for organizing things.”

“When men fought, they connected. You became brothers as you traded blows.”

“Every man is a hero of his own story.”

“My dear, did you just try to prove the existence of God through the use of your cleavage?”

“Why did they believe? Because they saw miracles. Things one man took as chance, a man of faith took as a sign. A loved one recovering from disease, a fortunate business deal, a chance meeting with a long lost friend. It wasn't the grand doctrines or the sweeping ideals that seemed to make believers out of men. It was the simple magic in the world around them.”

“What kind of woman is still able to trust people after everything she's been through? If she'd been Vin, she would have stabbed him in the back at the first opportunity, and that would have probably been the right thing to do. Yet, this girl just continued to trust. It was like finding a beautiful plant growing alone in a field of burnt ash.”

“Spook smiled. "Elend is a forgetful scholar - twice as bad as Sazed ever was. He gets lost in his books and forgets about meeting he himself called. He only dresses with any sense of fashion because a Terriswoman bought him a new wardrobe. War has change him some, but on the inside, I think he's still just a dreamer caught in a world with too much violence.”

“I don't have much time for stories," Vin said."Seems that fewer and fewer people do, these days." A canopy kept off the ash, but he seemed unconcerned about the mists. "It makes me wonder what is so alluring about the real world that gives them all such a fetish for it. It's not a very nice place these days.”

“Somehow, she had grown into a woman in between the fall of kings and collapse of worlds. Once she had been terrified of change. Then she had been terrified of losing Elend. Now her fears were more nebulous - worries of what would come after she was gone, worries of what would happen to the people of the empire if she failed.”

“There has to be a balance, Vin," Elend said. "Somehow, we'll find it. The balance between whom we wish to be and whom we need to be." He sighed. "But for now," he said, nodding to the side, "we simply have to be satisfied with who we are.”

“It was strange, how easily and quickly protection could cause destruction. Sometimes, Vasher wondered if the two weren't really the same thing. Protect a flower, destroy pests who wanted to feed on it. Protect a building, destroy the plants that could have grown in the soil. Protect a man. Live with the destruction he creates.”

“If you're always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing.”

“What did it mean to be called “lord”? I’ll assume you’ve never had the honor, since I doubt any of you happen to be British royalty. (And, if by chance you are, then let me say, “Hello, Your Majesty! Welcome to my stupid book. Can I borrow some cash?”)”

“If you are anything like me --- Clever, fond of goat cheese, and devilishly handsome --- then you have undoubtedly read many books.”

“Men rarely see their own actions as unjustified.”

“Do not dash if you only have the strength to walk, and do not waste your time pushing on the walls that will not give. More importantly, don't shove where a pat would be sufficient.”

“In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you accomplished.”

“Well, Vin says that there's something behind all this, right? Some evil force of doom or whatever? Well, if I were said force of doom, then I certainly wouldn't have used my powers to turn the land black. It just lacks flair. Red. Now, that would be an interesting color. Think of the possibilities--if the ash were red, the rivers would run like blood. Black is so monotonous that you can forget about it, but red--you'd always be thinking, 'Why, look at that. That hill is red. That evil force of doom trying to destroy me certainly has style.”

“Regardless, you ask why Idid not greet you. Well, let us assume that I had acted as you suggest Ishould. Upon your approach, you would have had me gush over you?”“Naturally.”“You would have me point out how stunning you appear in that gown?”“I wouldn’t complain.”“Mention how your dazzling eyes glisten in the fireworks like burningembers?”“That would be nice.”“Expound on how your lips are so perfectly red that they could leave anyman breathless with wonder, yet drive him compose the most brilliant ofpoetry each time he recalled the moment?”“I’d be flattered for certain.”“And you claim you want these reactions from me?”“I do.”“Well blast it, woman,” Lightsong said, picking up his cup. “If I’mstunned, dazzled, and breathless, then how the hell am I supposed to greetyou? By definition, won’t I be struck dumb?”She laughed. “Well, then, you’ve obviously found your tongue now.”“Surprisingly, it was in my mouth,” he said. “I always forget to checkthere.”

“War is far worse. At least where politics is going on, there areusually nice hors d’oeuvres.”

“She’s only seventeen years old,” Llarimar said. “I can’t imagine beingmarried to the God King at her age.”“I can’t imagine you being married to the God King at any age, Scoot,”Lightsong said. Then he pointedly cringed. “Actually, yes I can imagine it,and the dress looks painfully inelegant on you. Make a note to have myimagination flogged for its insolence in showing me that par tic u lar sight.”“I’ll put it in line right behind your sense of decorum, Your Grace,”Llarimar said dryly.“Don’t be silly,” Lightsong said, taking a sip of wine. “I haven’t had oneof those in years.”

“I like words. And I always learn a few new ones when Father gets angry. I shouldn't neglect my education, now should I?”

“One cannot seperate truth from actions...Physically inevitable or not, truth stands above all things. It is independant of who has the best army, who can deliver the longest sermons, or even who has the most priests. It can be pushed down, but it will always surface. Truth is the one thing you can never intimidate.”

“The Shaod, it was called. The Transformation... When it came, the fortuante person's life ended and began anew; he would discard his old, mundane existence and move to Elantris. Elantris, where he could live in bliss, rule in wisdom, and be worshiped for eternity.Eternity ended ten years ago.”

“There's always another secret.' -Kelsier”

“What did you put in the fire?" Kaladin said. "To make that special smoke?""Nothing. It was just and ordinary fire.""But, I saw-""What you saw belongs to you. A story doesn't live until it is imagined in someone's mind.""What does the story mean, then?""It means what you want it to mean," Hoid said. "The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think , but to give you questions to think upon. Too often, we forget that.”

“Though, if you think about it, hostile, dethroned pseudodeities probably make disagreeable neighbors. You'll have to figure out something to do with him.”

“Aspiring Asimovs!”

“It's easy to believe in something when you win all the time...The losses are what define a man's faith.”

“A man can only lead when others accept him as their leader, and he has only as much authority as his subjects give to him. All of the brilliant ideas in the world cannot save your kingdom if no one will listen to them.”

“That isn’t greatness. That’s just foolishness.”

“I've always been very confident in my immaturity.”

“Marsh: Our best efforts were never even a mild annoyance to the Lord Ruler."Kelsier: Ah, but being an annoyance is something that I am very good at. In fact, I'm far more than just a 'mild' annoyance--people tell me I can be downright frustrating. Might as well use this talent for the cause of good, eh?”

“I strive for nothing if not consistency”

“Entropy shakes its angry fist at you for being clever enough to organize the world. (p 2)”

“It is a time of change,'' Sazed said. ''Perhaps it is also time to learn of other truths, other ways.”

“Impossible things are really rough to do, you know.”