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“I was thinking philosophy,” Jasnah said.

Shallan blinked. “Philosophy? What good is that?” Isn’t it the art of saying nothing with as many words as possible?

“Philosophy is an important field of study,” Jasnah said sternly. “Particularly if you’re going to be involved in court politics. The nature of morality must be considered, and preferably before one is exposed to situations where a moral decision is required.”

“Curious,” she said. “I will do my best to pretend there was sense in that. As an aside, has it ever struck you that most masculine arts deal with destroying, while feminine arts deal with creation?”

You see the great thing about madness is that it's all in your head.

“My circumstances are unusual, Brightness.”

“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.”

But expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you help them, the more likely they were to crack.

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

Every man is a hero in his own story, Princess.

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.

The motivations of men. They never make sense. And they always make sense.

That's the funny thing about arriving somewhere, Vin. Once you're there, the only thing you can really do is leave again

They needed to work and improve their own lives, not wait for some external miracle.

I've always been very confident in my immaturity.