Brandon Sanderson quotes:

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  • 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.

  • Yes, Bastille. I keep trying to get killed because it's inconvenient for you.

  • My job is not to save 'The Wheel of Time', to fix 'The Wheel of Time', or anything like that. My job is not to screw it up.

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

  • When I write my books, actually, I'm known for very logical rule-based magic systems. I write with one foot in fantasy and one foot in science fiction.

  • Being polite to a person is not a sign of respect for them. It is merely a sign of a good upbringing and a balanced nature.

  • You've managed-- in our short three years together-- to kill not only my god, but my father, my brother, and my fiance. That's kind of like a homicidal hat trick. It's a strange foundation for a relationship, wouldn't you say?

  • There are two kinds of people in this world, son. Those who save lives, and those who take lives.And what of those who protect and defend? Those who save lives by taking lives?That's like trying to stop a storm by blowing harder. Ridiculous. You can't protect by killing.

  • Welcome, Ruin said, to godhood.

  • ...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...."

  • Ah,the outdoors," Shallan saidI visited that mythical place once. It was so very long ago, I've nearly forgotten it. Tell me, does the sun still shine, or is that just my dreamy recollection''Surely your studies aren't that bad."

  • Normally, I have a lot of alpha readers on my books. These are people that, once I finish a novel, I let them look at it and give me a reader response.

  • Her aunt Sol had once told Shai to smile at the worst insults and snap at the minor ones. That way, no man would know your heart.

  • I'm an amalgamation of what I've needed to be. Part scholar, part rebel, part nobleman, part Mistborn, and part soldier. Sometimes I don't even know myself. I had a devil of a time getting all those pieces to work together. And, just when I'm starting to get it figured out, the world up and ends on me.

  • Personally, I say, "Out of the frying pan and into the deadly pit filled with sharks who are wielding chainsaws with killer kittens stapled to them." However, that one's having a rough time catching on.

  • Ham shook his head, sitting down, pouring himself something to drink. "I don't get it, El. Why'd she attack him?" "She's loony," Spook said.

  • It's a mystery," Vin said, narrowing her eyes and smiling. "We Mistborn are incredibly mysterious." Elend paused." Um...I'm Mistborn too, Vin. That doesn't make any sense." "We Mistborn need not make sense," Vin said." It's beneath us. Come on-the sun's already down. We need to get moving.

  • The more limitations you put on a character, often times the better a character you'll make them, the more interesting the story becomes because the character can't simply wave a hand and make something happen. They have to work within the framework.

  • I take two hours off for my family every day. And then I write fourteen hours.

  • I love to do what I do. So, I do work long hours.

  • The nature of morality must be considered, and preferably before one is exposed to situations where a moral decision is required.

  • Those candle flames were like the lives of men. So fragile. So deadly. Left alone, they lit and warmed. Let run rampant, they would destroy the very things they were meant to illuminate. Embryonic bonfires, each bearing a seed of destruction so potent it could tumble cities and dash kings to their knees.

  • So, there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians."

  • Here, in Alethkar, men often spoke of the legends -- of mankind's hard-won victory over the Voidbringers. But when weapons created to fight nightmares were turned against common soldiers, the lives of men became cheap things indeed.

  • Everything is a contest. All dealings among men are a contest in which some will succeed and others fail. And some are failing quite spectacularly.

  • imaginary things were often the only items of real substance in people's lives.

  • If the afterlife really is a big war,Kaladin said, then I hope I end up in Damnation. At least there I might be able to get a wink or two of sleep.

  • Not having ice cream,she proclaimed, is the culmination of all disasters!

  • You cannot tempt the hearts of men who are pure.

  • Please," she whispered, sounding more franticDon't leave me down in these chasms alone."He smiled wrylyIs it really this hard for you to let me win one single argument?""Yes!"

  • I've always been very confident in my immaturity.

  • There's always another secret.' -Kelsier

  • 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?

  • If you're always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing. -Kelsier

  • I killed you once", the Lord Ruler said, turning back to Kelsier. "You tried", Kelsier replied, his voice loud and firm, carrying across the square. "But you can't kill me, Lord Tyrant. I represent that thing you've never been able to kill no matter how hard you try. I am hope.

  • Vin: I don't know -- and it's all your fault, you know. I used to understand everything. Now it's all confused. Kelsier: Yes, we've messed you up right properly.

  • Men rarely see their own actions as unjustified.

  • She remembered timidly standing atop the Luthadel city wall, afraid to use her Allomancy to jump off, despite Kelsier's coaxing. Now she could step off a cliff and muse thoughtfully to herself on the way down.

  • Every action we take has consequences, Vin," Kelsier said. "I've found that in both Allomancy and life, the person who can best judge the consequences of their actions will be the most successful.

  • If you don't believe what I'm telling you, then ask yourself this: would any decent, kind-hearted individual become a writer? Of course not.

  • I think given the choice between loving Mare - betrayal included - and never knowing her, I'd chose love. I risked, and I lost, but the risk was still worth it.

  • Now, I had been frightened on several different occasions in my life. The most frightening of these involved an elevator and a mime.

  • I'm Galladon, from the sovereign realm of Duladel. I'm most recently from Elantris, land of sludge, insanity, and eternal perdition. Nice to meet you.

  • Are there any religions on your list that include the slaughter of noblemen as a holy duty?

  • Ham smiled. "Cett's going to be furious." Elend shrugged. "He's a paraplegic. What's he going to do? Bite us?

  • People can do great things. However, there are some things they just CAN'T do. I, for instance, have not been able to transform myself into a Popsicle, despite years of effort.

  • Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.

  • The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.

  • You're a very difficult person to manipulate, you know." "Nonsense," he said. "You just have to promise me that I won't have to do a thing, and then I'll do anything you want." "Anything?" "Anything that doesn't require doing anything." "That's nothing, then." "Is it?" "Yes." "Well, that's something.

  • The number 1 thing that I don't want to see in a story is when characters exist simply to be proven wrong.

  • I still doubt it will work." "You'd doubt the sun's rising if you weren't proven wrong each day," Raoden said with a smile.

  • I'm sorry that your mystical, godlike powers do not instantly work as you would like them to.

  • 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...

  • Are you that afraid of being wrong? One would assume you'd be accustomed to it by now.He gruntedBe careful, girl. You wouldn't want to accidentally insult a man.The last thing I'd want to do is accidentally insult you, Vathah, Shallan saidTo think that Icouldn't manage it on purpose if I wanted!

  • It was his ability to trust, she saidIt was the way that he made good people into better people, the way that he inspired them. His crew worked because he had confidence in them - because he respected them. And, in return, they respected each other. Men like Breeze and Clubs became heroes because Kelsier had faith in them.

  • And are you going to explain why you consider competing with me to be the most sincere form of compliment? Of course I am, Lightsong saidMy dear, have you ever known me to make an inflammatorily ridiculous statement without providing an equally ridiculous explanation to substantiate it? Of course not, she agreedYou are nothing if not exhaustive in your self-congratulatory made-up logic. I am rather exceptional in that regard.

  • Giving her ten thousand Lifeless is enough to make even me consider my drunk-monkey theory.The one who chooses names and titles of the Returned?Exactly, Lightsong saidI've actually considered expanding the theory. I am now proposing to believe that God-or the universe, or time, or whatever you think controls all of this-is all really just a drunk monkey.

  • I swear, my dear. Sometimes our conversations remind me of a broken sword."She raised an eyebrow."Sharp as hell," Lightsong said, "but lacking a point.

  • Eternity ended ten years ago.

  • A scholar knows not to waste time rediscovering information already known.

  • Err on the side of awesome.

  • It is not the destination that matters, but how one arrives there.

  • Battle was a masculine art. A woman wanting to come to the battlefield was like... well, like a man wanting to read. Unnatural.

  • Does one deserve to have evil done to her by consequence of putting herself where evil can reach her?

  • That was not a glare. That was a dignified look of measured contempt.

  • To live was to be a fragment of the cosmere that was experiencing itself.

  • Some of us fought back with guns and assassinations. Others fought back with a little hot dog stand on the corner.

  • You are so much more than you are willing to accept, child.

  • It was a shallow thing, this acceptance, but sometimes even shallow things feel important.

  • I don't want to make people mad. I just... well, how can people get better if you don't tell them what you honestly think?

  • If you perpetuate the dreams of the past, you stifle your own dreams of the future.

  • Besides, just because they wore frills and makeup didn't mean they weren't dangerous[...]

  • The truth is, most people who do what you'd call 'wrong' do it for what they call 'right' reasons.

  • Perhaps I am an insensitive rich woman. That doesn't change the fact that you can be downright mean and offensive, Kaladin Stormblessed.

  • Not all librarians are evil cultists. Some librarians are instead vengeful undead who want to suck your soul.

  • ... everyone knows that ice cream is worth the trouble of being cold. Like all things virtuous, you have to suffer to gain the reward.

  • Somehow, we'll find it. The balance between whom we wish to be and whom we need to be. But for now, we simply have to be satisfied with who we are.

  • Nearly everything that happened had happened before. The grand lesson of history.

  • And don't waste time worshipping Harmony. Doing good was the worship.

  • Control is the basis of all true power. Authority and strength are matters of perception

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

  • we're all freaks sometimes, Melody," he replied. "You're just... well, better at it than most.

  • Do I need to wriggle my breasts at you again?""No, please. I don't know if I'd be able to stand the theological debate that would follow.

  • Reckoner Super Plan for Killing Regalia...Step One: find Regalia, then totally explode her. Lots and Lots.Step Two: put Val on decaf.Step Three: Mizzy gets a cookie.

  • This is insanity!""No, this is scholarship!

  • ... reading was hardly as practical a skill as being able to handle a dagger or use Allomancy?

  • Lightsong met the man's eyes, then smiled broadly, looking down at the God King. "My life to yours," Lifesong said. "My breath become yours.

  • I point out truths when I see them, Brightlord Sadeas. Each man has his place. Mine is to make insults. Yours is to be in-sluts.

  • light makes shadow. Truth makes lies.

  • So long as we do not depend on the facts entirely, incomplete knowledge is better than complete ignorance.--Egwene al'Vere

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

  • If you give up what you want most for what you think you should want more, you'll end up miserable.

  • Ignorance is hardly unusual, Miss Davar. The longer I live, the more I come to realize that it is the natural state of the human mind. There are many who will strive to defend its sanctity and then expect you to be impressed with their efforts.

  • Jasnah had once defined a fool as a person who ignored information because it disagreed with desired results.

  • 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.

  • That was the nature of the waters. You never knew what lurked below.

  • Men are more resilient than that, I think. Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.

  • All people are musicians" Wit countered. "The question is whether or not they share their songs.

  • In a way, she'd rather trust him and be wrong than deal with the worry of mistrust.

  • I can't worry about everything at once, Elend thought with determination. I just have to trust. Trust in myself and keep going.

  • That's kind of what trust is, isn't it? A willful self-delusion.

  • Expectation wasn't just about what people expected of you. It was about what you expected of yourself.

  • Expectation. That is the true soul of art. If you can give a man more than he expects, then he will laud you his entire life. If you can create an air of anticipation and feed it properly, you will succeed.

  • Oh, Wax has always been solemn, but when he's at his best, there's a smirk underneath.

  • Fantasy has had some problems with being too repetitive, in my opinion. I try to read what other people are doing - and say, 'How can I add to this rather than just recycle it? How can I stand on Tolkien's shoulders rather than stand tied to his kneecaps?'

  • I'm not really sure why. But... do you stop loving someone just because they betray you? I don't think so. That's what makes the betrayal hurt so much - pain, frustration, anger... and I still loved her. I still do.

  • The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.

  • Women? Women are like...thunderstorms. They're beautiful to look at, and sometimes they're nice to listen to-but most of the time they're just plain inconvenient.

  • There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was an ending.

  • She loved the teachings of the Five Visions. Humility. Sacrifice. Seeing another's problems before your own. Yet she was beginning to think that she-- along with others-- had taken this belief too far, letting her desire to seem humble become a form of pride itself. She now saw that when her faith had become about clothing instead of people, it had taken a wrong turn.

  • You know, I was a nerdy kid going through high school, and then I got to college and that all vanished. I mean, a lot of my good friends - when we were in high school, we would never have been able to hang out together because we were in such different cliques or whatever. Now, who cares?

  • I am a writer who works from an outline. What I generally do when I build an outline is I find focal, important scenes, and I build them in my head and I don't write them yet, but I build towards them.

  • By now, it is probably very late at night, and you have stayed up to read this book when you should have gone to sleep. If this is the case, then I commend you for falling into my trap. It is a writer's greatest pleasure to hear that someone was kept up until the unholy hours of the morning reading one of his books. It goes back to authors being terrible people who delight in the suffering of others. Plus, we get a kickback from the caffeine industry...

  • Words are where most change begins.

  • And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.

  • This world, it is a tempest sometimes. But remember, the sun always rises again.

  • Better to be the failure who nobly strived than the success who never really had to.

  • I need something, Wax. A place to look. You always did the thinking.â? â??Yes, having a brain helps with that, surprisingly.

  • What is belief - what is faith - if you don't continue it after failure?

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