Brandon Sanderson Quotes - Page 4

Though in this genre we write about the fantastic, the stories work best when there is solid grounding in our world. Magic works best for me when it aligns with scientific principles. Worldbuilding works best when it draws from sources in our world. Characters work best when they’re grounded in solid human emotion and experience.
Brandon Sanderson
A person needed to experience real danger or they would never find joy in excelling. There had to be a risk of failure, the chance to die.
Brandon Sanderson
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.
Brandon Sanderson
Truth is individual.”“What? No it’s not. Truth is . . . it’s Truth. Reality.”“Your truth is what you see,” Pattern said, sounding confused. “What else could it be? That is the truth that you spoke to me, the truth that brings power.
Brandon Sanderson
Some of us fought back with guns and assassinations. Others fought back with a little hot dog stand on the corner.
Brandon Sanderson
Sometimes Vin imagined she was like the ash, or the wind, or the mist itself. A thing without thought, capable of simply being, not thinking, caring, or hurting. Then she could be...free.
Brandon Sanderson
The world is progressing. One man cannot slow it, no matter how determined he is."He stopped in the
Brandon Sanderson
If nobody changes the world, if nobody works to make it better, then we stagnate.
Brandon Sanderson
The Librarians control the information... They control what gets read, what gets seen, and what gets learned. Because of that they have power.
Brandon Sanderson
Kelsier smiled. 'It means that you, Vin, are a very special person. You have a power that most high noblemen envy. It is a power that, had you been born an aristocrat, would have made you one of the most deadly and influential people in all of the final empire.'Kelsier leaned forward again. 'But, you weren't born an aristocrat. You're not noble, Vin. You don't have to play by their rules--and that makes you even more powerful.
Brandon Sanderson
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.
Brandon Sanderson
I know, better than anyone else, that there are no heroes coming to save us. There are no good Epics. None of them protect us. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Brandon Sanderson
I am a Smedry, and we do ridiculous, unexpected, eccentric things like this all the time! Ha-ha!
Brandon Sanderson
It is not the destination that matters, but how one arrives there.
Brandon Sanderson
Err on the side of awesome.
Brandon Sanderson
A scholar knows not to waste time rediscovering information already known.
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
Eternity ended ten years ago.
Brandon Sanderson
Just because I do not accept the teachings of the devotaries does not mean I've discarded a belief in right and w
Brandon Sanderson
Only expectation has value as currency,
Brandon Sanderson
What a pair they were - a Mistborn who felt guilty wasting coins to jump and a nobleman who thought balls were too expensive.
Brandon Sanderson
All people are musicians" Wit countered. "The question is whether or not they share their songs.
Brandon Sanderson
Marryin' is the one thing people seem to get worse at the more they do it. Well, that and bein' alive.
Brandon Sanderson
Cleaning the wound is often more painfulthan the cut itself.
Brandon Sanderson
Pain lost it's power when other things became more important.Kahar didn't need a potion or an Aon to save him-he just needed something to do.-Brandon sanderson(Elantris)
Brandon Sanderson
That was the nature of the waters. You never knew what lurked below.
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
A person knows when they’re in darkness, even when they can’t see. -Nightblood
Brandon Sanderson
The ending of a book is, in my experience, both the best and worst part to read. For the ending will often determine whether you love or hate the book.Both emotions lead to disappointment. If the ending was good, and the book was worth your time, then you are left annoyed and depressed because there is no more book to read. However, if the ending was bad, then it's too late to stop reading. You're left annoyed and depressed because you wasted so much time on a book with a bad ending.Therefore, reading is obviously worthless, and you should go spend your time on other, more valuable pursuits.
Brandon Sanderson
People don't read anymore. And, when they do, they don't read books like this one, but instead read books that depress them, because those books are seen as important. Somehow, the Librarians have successfully managed to convince most people in the Hushlands that they shouldn't read anything that isn't boring.It comes down to Biblioden the Scrivener's great vision for the world — a vision in which people never do anything abnormal, never dream, and never experience anything strange. His minions teach people to stop reading fun books, and instead focus on fantasy novels. That's what I call them, because these books keep people trapped. Keep them inside the nice little fantasy that they consider to be the 'real' world. A fantasy that tells them they don't need to try something new.After all, trying new things can be difficult.
Brandon Sanderson
I've never understood one thing: Why do all these megalomaniac dictators, secret societies, mad scientists, and totalitarian aliens want to rule the world? I mean really? Don't they know what a pain in the neck it is to be in charge? People are always making unreasonable demands of kings. "Please save us from the invading Vandal hoards! Please make sure we have proper sanitation to prevent the spread of disease! Please stop beheading your wives so often; it's ruining the rugs!
Brandon Sanderson
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
...A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.
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
There was nothing more bitter than a soul who had had its chance and thrown it away.
Brandon Sanderson
I wish that I could know you. Not your soul, but you. I've read about you; I've seen into your heart. I've rebuilt your soul, as best I could. But that isn't the same. It isn't knowing someone, is it? That's knowing about someone.
Brandon Sanderson
They didn’t speak as the sun slowly sank before them. Why was it most colorful when it was about to vanish for the night? Was it angry at being forced belong the horizon? Or was it a showman, giving a performance before retiring?Why was the most colorful part of people’s bodies—the brightness of their blood—hidden beneath the skin, never to be seen unless something went wrong?
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
There was rarely an obvious branching point in a person's life. People changed slowly, over time. You didn't take one step, then find yourself in a completely new location. You first took a little step off the path to avoid some rocks. For a while, you walked alongside the path, but then you wandered out a little way to step on softer soil. Then you stopped paying attention as you drifted farther and farther away. Finally, you found yourself in the wrong city, wondering why the signs on the roadway hadn't led you better.
Brandon Sanderson
It's beneficial to have a reputation for honesty, if only so that one can lie at crucial moments.
Brandon Sanderson
It's beneficial to have a reputation for honesty, if only so that one could lie at crucial moments.
Brandon Sanderson
That, after all, was his job. The title of emperor carried with it only a single duty.To make everything better.
Brandon Sanderson
...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....
Brandon Sanderson
Kelsier exhaled in exasperation. “Elend Venture? You risked your life—risked the plan, and our lives—for that fool of a boy?”Vin looked up, glaring at him. “Yes.”“What is wrong with you, girl?” Kelsier asked. “Elend Venture isn’t worth this.”She stood angrily, Sazed backing away, the cloak falling the floor. “He’s a good man!”“He’s a nobleman!”“So are you!” Vin snapped. She waved a frustrated arm toward the kitchen and the crew. “What do you think this is, Kelsier? The life of a skaa? What do any of you know about skaa? Aristocratic suits, stalking your enemies in the night, full meals and nightcaps around the table with your friends? That’s not the life of a skaa!”She took a step forward, glaring at Kelsier. He blinked in surprise at the outburst.“What do you know about them, Kelsier?” she asked. “When’s the last time you slept in an alley, shivering in the cold rain, listening to the beggar next to you cough with a sickness you knew would kill him? When’s the last time you had to lay awake at night, terrified that one of the men in your crew would try to rape you? Have you ever knelt, starving, wishing you had the courage to knife the crewmember beside you just so you could take his crust of bread? Have you ever cowered before your brother as he beat you, all the time feeling thankful because at least you had someone who paid attention to you?”She fell silent, puffing slightly, the crewmembers staring at her.“Don’t talk to me about noblemen,” Vin said. “And don’t say things about people you don’t know. You’re no skaa— you’re just noblemen without titles.”She turned, stalking from the room. Kelsier watched her go, shocked, hearing her footsteps on the stairs. He stood, dumbfounded, feeling a surprising flush of ashamed guilt.And, for once, found himself without anything to say.
Brandon Sanderson
They say they give their women more freedom, but there's still the impression that the freedom was theirs to 'give' in the first place.
Brandon Sanderson
For glory lit, and life alive, for goals unreached and aims to strive. All men must try, the wind did see. It is the test, it is the dream.
Brandon Sanderson
Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.
Brandon Sanderson
My life wasn’t just about one city, or one Epic, anymore. It was about a war. It was about finding a way to stop the Epics.Permanently.
Brandon Sanderson
We're not moments, Megan, you and me. We're events. You say you might not be the same person you were a year ago? Well, who is? I'm sure not. We change, like swirling clouds around a rising sun.
Brandon Sanderson
I wasn’t a nerd, mind you, but I’d spent a lot of my youth studying Epics, so I’d had limited experience with social interaction. I mixed with ordinary people about the same way that a bucket of paint mixed with a bag of gerbils.
Brandon Sanderson
My name is David Charleston.I kill people with super powers.
Brandon Sanderson
Grains of sand will only flow with the winds, Kenton, never against them.
Brandon Sanderson
Wayne: You wanna know why I really came to find you?Waxilliam: Why?Wayne: I thought of you happy in a comfy bed, resting and relaxing, spending the rest of your life sipping tea and reading papers while people bring you food and maids rub your toes and stuff.Waxilliam: And?Wayne: And I just couldn't leave you to a fate like that...I'm too good a friend to let a mate of mine die in such a terrible situation.Waxilliam: Comfortable?Wayne: No. Boring.
Brandon Sanderson
Pain los[es] its power when other things bec[o]me more important.
Brandon Sanderson
To live was to be a fragment of the cosmere that was experiencing itself.
Brandon Sanderson
This is not an easy time in which to live. That does not mean that it has to be a difficult time to love...
Brandon Sanderson
Remember, the past need not become our future as well.
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
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
Attacking a provincial lord in his manor house, surrounded by guards...Honestly, Kell, I'd nearly forgotten how foolhardy you can be."Foolhardy?" Kelsier asked with a laugh. "that wasn't foolhardy - that was just a small diversion. You should see some of the things I'm planning to do!Dockson stood for a moment then he laughed too. "By the Lord Ruler, it's good to have you back, kell! I'm afraid I've grown rather boring during the last few years""We'll fix that" Kelsier promised.
Brandon Sanderson