Quotes from Brandon Sanderson

But the person who is willing to reconsider their assumptions? The hero who can sit down and reevaluate their life? Well, now that is a gemstone that truly glitters, friend.

I need you to stick your head in a bucket of water and slowly count to a thousand!

They were doomed. Those bridgemen would be dead by now. But Dalinar blessed them for their sacrifice. It might have been meaningless as an end, but it had changed the journey.

Anytime you can make someone else feel something, you've got power over them.

He tried not to think about the consequences of a failure. Tried not to think about the fact that he still held Beldre hostage. Tried not to worry about the fact that

You underestimate the stubbornness a crown can press into a man or woman's mind.

I see only one woman here. The one who is standing up.

I don't know what to say," Joel said. "I figure that if you are there, you'll be angry if I claim to believe when I don't. The truth is, I'm not sure I don't believe, either. You might be there. I hope you are, I guess.

New tastes are like new ideas ... the older you get, the more difficult they are for you to stomach.

Was there no hope for men? They killed those they should have loved. What good was it to fight, what good was it to win, if there was no difference between ally and enemy? What was victory? Meaningless.

no good can be achieved of false means. For the substance of our existence is not in the achievement, but in the method.

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?

You are worried I've started something dangerous," I said. "You're wrong. I'm not starting it, I'm finishing it.

I am human," the large beast said quietly.

but…well, that's kind of what trust is, isn't it? A willful self-delusion? You have to shut out that voice that whispers about betrayal, and just hope that your friends aren't going to hurt you.

One could enjoy a grand painting without being able to replicate its brush-strokes. Art was valuable for the very reason that it could be appreciated by those of lesser skill.

Nonsense. The sword is worth far more than that. I'll throw in a pair of penis.

We want to imagine that people are consistent, steady, stable. We define who they are, create descriptions to lock them on a page, divide them up by their likes, talents, beliefs. Then we pretend some—perhaps most—are better than we are, because they stick to their definitions, while we never quite fit ours.

it was beneficial to have a reputation for honesty, if only so that one could lie at crucial moments.

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.

Don't you see? Hope is a good thing—a wonderful thing—but you must have hope in something appropriate. If you perpetuate the dreams of the past, then you stifle your own dreams of the future.

The pain of loss was still there. It never went away. It just got buried in time, like a rock slowly being covered over by dirt.

So, when people try to give you some book with a shiny round award on the cover, be kind and gracious, but tell them that 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.

protect us from small-minded men with too much power.