Brandon Sanderson

“Put two men together, and they will find something to argue about. Gather them into groups, and one group will find reason to oppress or attack another.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“That’s where we belong, not in those caverns. The kids who make fun of you, they’re trapped on this rock. Their heads are heads of rock, their hearts set upon rock. Set your sights on something higher. Something more grand.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man in the process of changing.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“For the greater good.” “That has been the excuse of tyrants throughout all time.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“This is going to take a while. I’m a fantasy author. We have trouble with the concept of brevity.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“However a man who was honest and clever was always, ALWAYS more difficult to scam than someone who was both dishonest and clever. Sincerity. It was so difficult, by definition, to fake.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“It’s interesting that the woman who wrote that treatise – the one you all practically worship in Alethkar –decided that all of the feminine tasks involve sitting around having fun while all the masculine ones involve finding someone to stick a spear in you. Telling, eh?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Plots behind plots, plans behind plans. There was always another secret.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I was grown-up. I’d packed my own backpack and had left Bloodletter, my stuffed bear, at home. Stuffed bears were for babies, even if you’d fashioned your own mock power armor for yours out of string and broken ceramics.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Does one deserve to have evil done to her by consequence of putting herself where evil can reach her?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I’m so storming pure I practically belch rainbows.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“One can believe in a story without believing it happened.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“People need stories, child. They bring us hope, and that hope is real.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Can a woman not walk with her possessions down the street of a city?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I try to avoid having thoughts. They lead to other thoughts, and – if you’re not careful – those lead to actions. Actions make you tired. I have this on rather good authority from someone who once read it in a book.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Two blind men waited at the end of an era, contemplating beauty. They sat atop the world’s highest cliff, overlooking the land and seeing nothing.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I ain’t grouchy,” Teft snapped.“I just have a low threshold for stupidity.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“There will be people like this in any culture, for every society is made of individuals. You must learn this. Do not let your assumptions about a culture block your ability to perceive the individual, or you will fail.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I was thinking that work is like fertilizer in that I’m glad it exists; I just don’t ever want to get stuck in it.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“It seems that the rebels found the chaos of transition more difficult to accept than the tyranny they had known before. They joyfully welcomed back authority-even oppressive authority-for it was less painful for them than uncertainty.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Too many scholars think of research as purely a cerebral pursuit. If we do nothing with the knowledge we gain, then we have wasted our study. Books can store information better than we can – what we do that books cannot is interpret.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Joy was more than just an absence of discomfort.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“If men should read these words, let them know that power is a heavy burden. Seek not to be bound by its chains.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Every moment in our lives seems trivial,” Zahel said.“Most are forgotten while some, equally humble, become the points upon which history pivots.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“The question,’ she replied, ’is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die. This is your choice. You cannot pick the destination, only the path.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I fear not a child with a weapon he cannot lift, I will never fear the mind of a man who does not think.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Bitterness is repaid more often than kindness.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Wherever it may be, whoever may hold it. That’s who I am.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Never throw the first punch. If you have to throw the second, try to make sure they don’t get up for a third.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“If you could explain something perfectly, then you’d never need art.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The most important step a man can take. It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar. Trembling, bleeding, agonized, Dalinar forced air into his lungs and spoke a single ragged sentence.

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“It is his ultimate lie, Son of Honor. The lie that says you have no choice. The lie that there is no more journey worth taking.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Better to be the failure who nobly strived than the success who never really had to.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Journey before destination,” Dalinar said.“It cannot be a journey if it doesn’t have a beginning.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Plan every battle as if you will inevitably retreat, but fight every battle like there is no backing down.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. If nobody starts, then others cannot follow.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Eternity ended ten years ago.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“What they do not realize – and what you must realize – is that manipulating others is something that all people do. In fact, manipulation is at the core of our social interaction.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“It’s not imitating anything; it has become a better version of itself.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Death is the destination. But the journey, that is life. That is what matters.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You see, that is the sad, sorry, terrible thing about sarcasm. It’s really funny.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“So yes, I, Adolin Kholin – cousin to the king, heir to the Kholin princedom – have shat myself in my Shardplate. Three times, all on purpose.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Llarimar had told him to do his best. That sounded like an awful lot of work. Unfortunately, doing nothing was beginning to seem like even MORE work.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The body needs many different foods to remain healthy. And the mind needs many different ideas to remain sharp.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The hallmark of insecurity is bravado.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I am but a man, Dalinar, so much as I wish it were not true at times. I am no Radiant. And while I am your friend, please understand that our goals do not completely align. You must not trust yourself with me. If I have to watch this world crumble and burn to get what I want, I will do so. With tears, yes, but I would let it happen.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The difference between good and evil men is not found in the acts they are willing to commit – but merely in what name they are willing to commit them in.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“It’s not a lie,” Shallan said, “if everyone understands and knows what it means.” “Mm. Those are some of the best lies.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The motivations of men. They never make sense. And they always make sense.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Must someone, some unseen thing, declare what is right for it to be right? I believe that my own morality – which answers only to my heart – is more sure and true than the morality of those who do right only because they fear retribution.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before pancakes -Lopen.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I’ve always been very confident in my immaturity.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The foolishness of men who care, Dalinar,” Wit said.“And the brilliance of those who do not. The second depend on the first – but also exploit the first – while the first misunderstand the second, hoping that the second are more like the first. And all of their games steal our time. Second by second.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You could even scan to the end and read the last page. Know that by doing so, however, you would violate every holy and honorable story-telling principle known to man, thereby throwing the universe into chaos and causing grief to untold millions.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The trick to happiness wasn’t in freezing every momentary pleasure and clinging to each one, but in ensuring one’s life would produce many future moments to anticipate.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Faith means that it doesn’t matter what happens. You can trust that somebody is watching. Trust that somebody will make it all right.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Despair, hate, loss, frustration, horror. How could any man live this way? To be a surgeon, to live knowing that you would be too weak to save some? When other men failed, a field of crops got worms in them. When a surgeon failed, someone died.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I never wanted to be feared. If I regret one thing, it is the fear I have caused. Fear is the tool of tyrants. Unfortunately, when the fate of the world is in question, you use whatever tools are available.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“A river is easier to channel than to stop.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“What is belief – what is faith – if you don’t continue it after failure?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“Love wasn’t about being right or wrong, but about standing up and helping when your partner’s back was bowed.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Though most expect young men to be fools, I’ve noticed that just a little bit of age can make a man far more foolish than he was as a child.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“So, using his pride like a shield against despair, dejection, and-most important – self-pity, Raoden raised his head to stare damnation in the eyes.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The most important step a man can take. It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The law is not something holy, son. It’s just a reflection of the ideals of those lucky enough to be in charge.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Lately, I feel like my life is a book written in a language I don’t know how to read.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Sometimes stupid is right,” Megan said, then paused.“Hell. I hope nobody ever quotes me on that one.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“Sometimes, the answers we need don’t match the questions we’re asking.” He looked up at me.

“I strive for nothing if not consistency.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Act with honor, and Honor will aid you.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Failure is the mark of a life well lived. In turn, the only way to live without failure is to be of no use to anyone.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Honor is dead. But I’ll see what I can do.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“But, what is money? A physical representation of the abstract concept of effort.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“But it’s not a matter of morality, is it? It’s a matter of thresholds. How many guilty may be punished before you’d accept one innocent casualty? A thousand? Ten thousand? A hundred? When you consider, all calculations are meaningless except one. Has more good been done than evil? If so, then the law has done its job.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“It was amazing how many books one could fit into a room, assuming one didn’t want to move around very much.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Not all librarians are evil cultists. Some librarians are instead vengeful undead who want to suck your soul.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“That’s kind of what trust is, isn’t it? A willful self-delusion.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“A hero does not choose her trials. She steps into the darkness, then she faces what comes next.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“If you’re always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing. -Kelsier.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“A story doesn’t live until it is imagined in someone’s mind.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Conversations with some people remind me of a broken sword. Sharp as hell, but lacking a point.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“So I can but repeat what has been done before?’ “ ‘In some things, yes. You will love. You will hurt. You will dream. And you will die. Each man’s past is your future.’ “ ‘Then what is the point?’ I asked. ‘If all has been seen and done?’ “ ‘The question,’ she replied, ’is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die. This is your choice. You cannot pick the destination, only the path.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“We were like deaf people trying to dance to a beat we couldn’t hear, long after the music actually stopped.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You should try not to talk so much, friend. You’ll sound far less stupid that way. – Breeze.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Life was so much harder, but potentially so much more fulfilling, when you found the courage to choose.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Kaladin floated downward toward him.“Ten spears go to battle,” he whispered, “and nine shatter. Did that war forge the one that remained? No, Amaram. All the war did was identify the spear that would not break.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“So much evil, Nightblood said, like a woman tisking as she cleaned cobwebs from her ceiling.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“If nobody asked questions, then we would never learn anything.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You’re a sword not a palm tree.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“It won’t be like that for me,” Kaladin said.“You told me it would get worse.” “It will,” Wit said, “but then it will get better. Then it will get worse again. Then better. This is life, and I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. I promise you, Kaladin: You will be warm again.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“There’s always another secret.? -Kelsier.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“A person knows when they’re in darkness, even when they can’t see. -Nightblood.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Joel, lad, school is about learning to learn. If you don’t practice studying things you don’t like, then you’ll have a very hard time in life.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Pain lost its power when other things became more important.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“People are elastic, Wax thought. We can keep reshaping ourselves. And if we’re not quite the same as before, well, that’s good. It means we can grow.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The most important word a man can say are, “I will do better.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“If the journey itself is indeed the most important piece, rather than the destination itself, then I traveled not to avoid duty – but to seek it.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Brother. ‘You must find the most important words a man can say.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You’ll never learn how to do your endings until you FINISH your endings.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I understood in a moment of stillness,′ Litima read. ‘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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I consider myself to be a man of principle. But, what man does not? Even the cutthroat, I have noticed, considers his actions “moral” after a fashion.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I will protect even those I hate,” Kaladin whispered through bloody lips.

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Welcome, Ruin said, to godhood.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“He felt good lots of days. Trouble was, on the bad days, that was hard to remember. At those times, for some reason, he felt like he had always been in that darkness, and always would be.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“A man was defined not by his flaws, but by how he overcame them.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Nothing will train you to write better as a writer, than working on your next book.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Our weakness doesn’t make us weak. Our weakness makes us strong. For we had to carry it all these years.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“If you give up what you want most for what you think you should want more, you’ll end up miserable.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“My name is Stephen Leeds, and I am perfectly sane. My hallucinations, however, are all quite mad.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I am what the universe made me to be, my dear.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“But things can’t stay the same – and that’s well, for when nothing changes in your life, it’s as good as being dead.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“There are no endings, and never will be endings, to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was an ending.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Don’t complain. Change.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Let your actions defend you, not your words.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Everything costs money,” Ham said.“But, what is money? A physical representation of the abstract concept of effort.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The world ends tomorrow, but the day after that, people are going to ask what’s for breakfast.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“That isn’t greatness. That’s just foolishness.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Oh, I’m just a happy person.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“To live is to have worries and uncertainties. Keep them inside, and they will destroy you for certain – leaving behind a person so callused that emotion can find no root in his heart.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I Write those words in steel for anything else not set in metal cannot be trusted.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Err on the side of awesome.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Your grasp of the language is startling,” Wax said, “considering how you so frequently brutalize it.” “Ain’t nobody what knows the cow better than the butcher, Wax.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“A man’s emotions are what define him, and control is the hallmark of true strength. To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Oh, Wax has always been solemn, but when he’s at his best, there’s a smirk underneath.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“In all the history of mankind, has any conqueror decided they had enough? Has any man just said, ‘This is good. This is what I wanted,’ and gone home?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Failure is refusing to fight. Failure is remaining quiet and hoping someone else will fix the problem.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Spook, child. You want to be like me? Really like me? Then fight when you are beaten!” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Men rarely see their own actions as unjustified.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“At times, it seems to me that to be human is to want that which we cannot have. For some, this is power. For me, it is peace.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The number 1 thing that I don’t want to see in a story is when characters exist simply to be proven wrong.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Oh, hell,” Kelsier said.“There’s actually a God?” “Yes.” Kelsier decked him.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You will find that hate can unify people more quickly and more fervently than devotion ever could.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“Remember to smile.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Sometimes, the answers we need don’t match the questions we’re asking.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“And the warrior’s way was not to run from failure, but to own up to it and do better.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“He could accept people with failings – even forgive them – but if he glossed over the problems, then they would never change.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Sometimes, you have to destroy something in order to build something better.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Harmony protect us from small-minded men with too much power.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Overcome your guilt. Care, but not too much. Take responsibility, but don’t blame yourself. Protect, save, help- but know when to give up. They’re precarious ledges to walk. How do I do it?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You tried to help the people of the market. You mostly failed. This is life. The longer you live, the more you fail. Failure is the mark of a life well lived. In turn, the only way to live without failure is to be of no use to anyone. Trust me, I’ve practiced.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“It’s like a banana farm for guns!” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“My behavior is nonetheless, deplorable. Unfortunately, I’m quite prone to such bouts of deplorability – take for instance, my fondness for reading books at the dinner table.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Remember, the past need not become our future as well.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Thievery was the most authentic form of flattery. What could be more satisfying than knowing the things you possessed were intriguing, captivating, or valuable enough to provoke another man to risk everything to obtain them? This was Kelsier’s purpose in life, to remind people of the value of the things they loved. By taking them away.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Everything’s going to change, Sazed, and I can’t stop it.” Sazed smiled fondly.

“At first glance, the key and the lock it fits may seem very different,” Sazed said.

“Life breaks us, Teft. Then we fill the cracks with something stronger.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Oh, but I’m a scholar. I enjoy things with curious properties, and stupidity is most interesting. The more you study it, the further it flees – and yet the more of it you obtain, the less you understand about it!” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You could be writing the book that changes your life.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Yes, I began my journey alone, and I ended it alone. But that does not mean that I walked alone.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You get to choose who you are. Legacy, memories of the past, can serve us well. But we cannot let them define us. When heritage becomes a box instead of an inspiration, it has gone too far.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“That’s the point, isn’t it? We have to live on, no matter how hard it gets. We’ll win in the end.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Because people were people, and if there was one thing you could count on, it was that some of them would be weird. Or rather that all of them would be weird when circumstances happened to align with their own individual brand of insanity. That.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The most important step a person can take is always the next one.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The nature of morality must be considered, and preferably before one is exposed to situations where a moral decision is required.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Pity can be a powerful tool. Anytime you can make someone else feel something, you’ve got power over them.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Can you feel it? Something just changed. I believe that’s the sound the world makes when it pisses itself.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“This world, it is a tempest sometimes. But remember, the sun always rises again.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I will protect those I hate. Even if the one I hate most is myself.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Novels aren’t just happy escapes; they are slivers of people’s souls, nailed to the pages, dripping ink from veins of wood pulp. Reading the right one at the right time can make all the difference.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Small things were important. Secods were small things, and if you heaped enough of those on top of one another, they became a man’s life.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Money is behind every war,” Au-nak continued.“Religion is but an excuse. Or perhaps a justification.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You should never debate an idiot, Shallan. No more than you’d use your best sword to spread butter.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“All the world does as it is supposed to, except for humans. Maybe that’s why you so often want to kill each other.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“But merely being tradition does not make something worthy, Kadash. We can’t just assume that because something is old it is right.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“To be human is to seek beauty, Shallan. Do not despair, do not end the hunt because thorns grow in your way.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I have found, through painful experience, that the most important step a person can take is always the next one.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I take two hours off for my family every day. And then I write fourteen hours.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Once one becomes a man, he can and must make his own decisions. But I do offer warning. Even a good thing can become destructive if taken to excess.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You are whatever you want to be, Wayne. You’re the wind. You’re the stars. You are all endless things.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Passionate, with an intense, smoldering resolve. A leashed anger that he used, because he had dominated it. And a certain tempting arrogance. Not the haughty pride of a highlord. Instead, the secure, stable sense of determination that whispered that no matter who you were – or what you did – you could not hurt him. Could not change him. He was. Like the wind and rocks were.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Well, best to remain vigilant. It’s when everything is calm that you need to be most alert.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“A thing of nature. For every Push, there is a Pull. A consequence.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Words are where most change begins.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Navani Kholin was not some timid, perfect ideal. She was a sour storm of a woman, set in her ways, stubborn as a boulder rolling down a mountain, and increasingly impatient with things she considered foolish. He loved her the most for that.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“He’d once believed he had been four men in his life, but he now saw he’d grossly underestimated. He hadn’t lived as two, or four, or six men – he had lived as thousands, for each day he became someone slightly different. He hadn’t changed in one giant leap, but across a million little steps.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Don’t try to stop yourself from feeling. You’ll hate who you become.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“In the end, I worry that my arrogance shall destroy us all.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Control yourself. Become someone who can handle this.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“As long as you keep trying, there’s a chance. When you give up? That’s when the dream dies.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“People see in stories what they’re looking for, my young friend.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Those who truly seek wisdom are those who will acknowledge the virtue in their adversaries and who will learn from those who disabuse them of error.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“But still, my ‘freedom’ is that of a leaf. Dropped from the tree, I just blow on the wind and pretend I’m in charge of my destiny.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“This is life. The longer you live, the more you fail. Failure is the mark of a life well lived.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I’m not odd! I’m beautiful and articulate.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Everyone is either happy or dead.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Once the soul grows accustomed to the wound, it’s much harder to fix.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The life of a person is more than the chaos of its passing.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.

“Love must be allowed to flow both ways – if it is not, then it is not truly love, I think.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Sometimes we just have to wait long enough, Mistress,” he said.“Then we find out why exactly it was that we kept believing.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Start writing the things that you are reading or that you want to be published doing.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Death comes to all. But life comes first. Cherish it. Death is the destination. But the journey, that is life. That is what matters.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The best liars are those who tell the truth most of the time.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Priests are always easy to blame. They make convenient scapegoats – after all, anyone with a strong faith different from your own must either be a crazy zealot or a lying manipulator.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“There isn’t much time for a plan. This is more of a hunch with scaffolding.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Hmmmm Light makes shadow. Truth makes lies. Hmmmm.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“In the end, I must proclaim that no good can be achieved of false means. For the substance of our existence is not in the achievement, but in the method.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Nothing else dangerous we could find. Other than Wayne’s body odor.” “That’s the smell of incredibleness,” Wayne called from inside.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Ain’t no fellow who regretted giving it one extra shake, but you can bet every guy has regretted giving one too few.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I’ll do what I can, make the decisions as I see they must be made, Elend thought. Then accept the consequences.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Like a highstorm, regular in their coming, yet always unexpected.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“One can have a wit, but not a witless.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. Speak again the ancient oaths and return to men the Shards they once bore.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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

“It is a writer’s greatest pleasure to hear that someone was kept up until the unholy hours of the morning reading one of their books.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Why do they call it research if I’ve only done it this one time?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Remember that your job as a practicing writer is to remember it’s never going to be perfect on your first pass.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“You make it sound like having the power to change the world is a bad thing.” “Bad? No. Abhorrent, depressing, ghastly. Having power is a terrible burden, the worst thing imaginable, except for every other alternative.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“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.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The sun peeked over the horizon like the head of a giant radioactive manatee.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Cruelty is only for men, as is mercy. Only we can choose one or the other, and beasts cannot.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Honestly, for an evil god of darkness, he certainly can be dull.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“We lift the bridge together, Teft,” Kaladin said.“And we carry it.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“The definition of a lawman, Uncle, is easy,” Wax said, feeling blood from a dozen cuts trickle down his face. He lifted Suit by the front of his clothing, bringing him close.

“He hadn’t changed in one giant leap, but across a million little steps.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“Belief isn’t simply a thing for fair times and bright days, I think. What is belief – what is faith – if you don’t continue in it after failure?” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“A man’s emotions are what define him, and control is the hallmark of true strength.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“I will take responsibility for what I have done,” Dalinar whispered.

“Journey before destination, you bastard.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

“So, when people try to give you some book with a shiny round award on the cover, be kind and gracious, but tell them you don’t read “fantasy,” because you prefer stories that are real. Then come back here and continue your research on the cult of evil Librarians who secretly rule the world.” ~ Brandon Sanderson