“That's it. It's all going to end. The realization wasn't crushing. It was gentle, like a final tendril of smoke from a dying candle.”

“You act as if I were your enemy.“You are my enemy. You seek to end the things I love.”And is an ending always bad? it asked. Must not all things, even worlds, someday end?“There is no need to hasten that end,” Vin said. “No reason to force it.”All things are subject to their own nature, Vin, Ruin said, seeming to flow around her. She could feel its touch on her—wet and delicate, like mist. You cannot blame me for what I am. Without me, nothing would end. Nothing could end. And therefore, nothing could grow. I am life. Would you fight life itself?Vin fell silent.Do not mourn because the day of this world’s end has arrived, Ruin said. That end was ordained the very day of the world’s conception. There is a beauty in death—the beauty of finality, the beauty of completion.For nothing is truly complete until the day it is finally destroyed.”

“Spook: No, I'm not troubled. In fact, I actually think everything is going to be all right. Finally.”

“I am mountains that crush. I am waves that crash. I am storms that shatter. I am the end.”

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

“You people are all insane. How I ended up with you, I'll never know."Breeze laughed. "Now, that's a lie, Cett. You know exactly how you ended up joining with us. Wethreatened to kill you if you didn't!”

“I want you to tell meabout the Survivor," he finally said."He was lord of the mists," Demoux said immediately."Not the rhetoric," Elend said. "Someone tell me about the man, Kelsier. I never met him, you know. Isaw him once, right before he died, but I never knew him.""What's the point?" Cett asked. "We've all heard the stories. He's practically a god, if you listen to theskaa.""Just do as I ask," Elend said.The tent was still for a few moments. Finally, Ham spoke. "Kell was . . . grand. He wasn't just a man,he was bigger than that. Everything he did was large—his dreams, the way he spoke, the way he thought.. . .""And it wasn't false," Breeze added. "I can tell when a man is being a fake. That's why I started myfirst job with Kelsier, actually. Amidst all the pretenders and posturers, he was genuine. Everyone wantedto be the best. Kelsier really was.""He was a man," Vin said quietly. "Just a man. Yet, you always knew he'd succeed. He made you bewhat he wanted you to be.""So he could use you," Breeze said."But you were better when he was done with you," Ham added”