Brandon Sanderson

Quotes

“But you began something today.”
“I began it?” he asked, amused, elated, confused, worried, and ashamed at the same time.
“The kiss was yours, Dalinar,” she said idly, pulling open the door and entering his antechamber.
“You seduced me to it.”
“What? Seduced?” She glanced back at him. “Dalinar, I’ve never been more open and honest in my life.”
“I know,” Dalinar said, smiling. “That was the seductive part.”
p. 864
The Way of Kings
Dalinar would have said that the outfits looked silly, but sometimes fashion was silly.
p. 813
The Way of Kings
“Men in power always pretend things like virtue, or divine guidance, some kind of mandate to ‘protect’ the rest of us. If we believe that the Almighty put them were they are, it’s easier for us to swallow what they do to us.”
p. 832
The Way of Kings
“Brightness…I believe you stray into sarcasm.”
“Funny. I thought I’d run straight into it, screaming at the top of my lungs.”
p. 136
The Way of Kings
“When we are young,” Jasnah said, “we want simple answers. There is no greater indication of youth, perhaps, than the desire for everything to be as it should. As it has ever been.”
Shallan frowned, still watching the men by the tavern over her shoulder.
“The older we grow,” Jasnah said, “the more we question. We begin to ask why. And yet, we still want the answers to be simple. We assume that the people around us—adults, leaders—will have those answers. Whatever they give often satisfies us.”
“I was never satisfied,” Shallan said softly. “I wanted more.”
“You were mature,” Jasnah said. “What you describe happens to most of us, as we age. Indeed, it seems to me that aging, wisdom, and wondering are synonymous. The older we grow, the more likely we are to reject the simple answers. Unless someone gets in our way and demands they be accepted regardless.” Jasnah’s eyes narrowed. “You wonder why I reject the devotaries.”
“I do.”
“Most of them seek to stop the questions.”
p. 531
The Way of Kings
“To be honest, ‘arrogant’ doesn’t feel like quite the right word. It’s not specific enough.”
“And what would be the right word, then?”
“I don’t know. ‘Errorgant,’ perhaps.”
Jasnah raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“It means to be twice as certain as someone who is merely arrogant,” Shallan said, “while possessing only one-tenth the requisite facts.”
p. 459
The Way of Kings
“I do think that you ignored, or at least minimized, one vital part of the discussion.”
“Which is?”
Shallan tapped at her breast. “Our hearts, Brightness. I believe because I feel something, a closeness to the Almighty, a peace that comes when I live my faith.”
“The mind is capable of projecting expected emotional responses.”
“But didn’t you yourself argue that the way we act—the way we feel about right and wrong—was a defining attribute of our humanity? You used our innate morality to prove your point. So how can you discard my feelings?”
“Discard them? No. Regard them with skepticism? Perhaps. Your feelings, Shallan--however powerful—are your own. Not mine. And what I feel is that spending my life trying to earn the favor of an unseen, unknown, and unknowable being who watches me from the sky is an exercise in sheer futility.”
p. 470
The Way of Kings
Hence the purpose of education. To be young is about action. To be a scholar is about informed action.
p. 462
The Way of Kings
Let the Vorin believe as they wish—the wise among them will find goodness and solace in their faith; the fools would be fools no matter what they believed.
p. 681
The Way of Kings
“That’s horrible,” Kaladin said.
“I doubt many would disagree. But I mention these horrors for a purpose. You see, it has been my experience that no matter where you go, you will find some who abuse their power.” He shrugged. “Eye color is not so odd a method, compared to many others I have seen. If you were to overthrow the lighteyes and place yourselves in power, Moash, I doubt that the world would be a very different place. The abuses would still happen. Simply to other people.”
p. 652
The Way of Kings
Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.
p. 607
The Way of Kings
I have spent too much of my time worrying about what people think, Navani. When I thought my time had arrived, I realized that all my worrying had been wasted. In the end, I was pleased with how I had lived my life.
p. 951
The Way of Kings