Favorite cosmere character quote!

[kevinivek2]

Quite a long one but i‘d say this one for its meaning:

 

The messenger whispered. “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.”
“Huh?” She looked to him.
“‘Can beauty be taken from a man?’ the first asked the second.
”'It was taken from me,’ the second replied. ‘For I cannot remember it.’ This man was blinded in a childhood accident. 'I pray to the God Beyond each night to restore my sight, so that I can find beauty again.’
“'Is beauty something one must see then?’ the first asked.
”'Of course. That is it’s nature. How can you appreciate a work of art without seeing it?’
“'I can hear a work of music,’ the first said.
”'Very well, you can hear some kinds of beauty - but you cannot know full beauty without sight. You can know only a small portion of beauty.’
“'A sculpture,’ the first said. 'Can I not feel its curves and slopes, the touch of the chisel that transformed common rock into uncommon wonder?’
”'I suppose,’ said the second, 'that you can know the beauty of a sculpture.’
“'And what of the beauty of food? Is it not a work of art when a chef crafts a masterpiece to delight the tastes?’
”'I suppose,’ said the second, 'that you can know the beauty of a chef’s art.’
“'And what of the beauty of a woman,’ the first said. 'Can I not know her beauty in the softness of her caress, the kindness of her voice, the keenness of her mind as she reads philosophy to me? Can I not know this beauty? Can I not know most kinds of beauty, even without seeing it?’
”'Very well,’ said the second. 'But what if your ears were removed, your hearing taken away? Your tongue taken out, your mouth forced shut, your sense of smell destroyed? What if your skin were burned so that you could no longer feel? What if all that remained to you was pain? You could not know beauty then. It can be taken from a man.’“
The messenger stopped, cocking his head to Shallan.
“What?” she asked.
“What think you? Can beauty be taken from a man? If he could not touch, taste, smell, hear, see … what if all he knew was pain? Has that man had beauty taken away from him?”
“I…” What did this have to do with anything? “Does the pain change day by day?”
“Let us say it does,” the messenger said.
“Then beauty, to that person, would be the times when the pain lessens. Why are you telling me this story?”
The messenger smiled. “To be human is to seek beauty, Shallan. Do not despair, do not end the hunt because thorns grow in your way. Tell me, what is the most beautiful thing you can imagine?

[Spin]

Where Shallan describes the reason for Kaladin's Existence in Oathbringer: The Stormlight Archive

[Zurvanight]

From Oathbringer said by Hoid/Wit:

"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."

[beantheboy12]

"I am a stick"

[Zephrun’s Imperium]

Well, "Remeber to smile," is the go-to for me, (what Kelsier wrote in his letter to the crew) but I really love what Kelsier says to Spook.

"You want to be like me? Really like me? Then fight then you are beaten!"

 

Other honorable mentions: (WARNING: Lots of Kelsier ahead)

Spoiler

 

Kelsier: You made the wrong one of us into an Inquisitor, Ruin. You shouldn't have picked the good brother. He always did have a nasty habit of doing what was right instead of what was smart.

 

Kelsier: This is where you joke that you aren't certain which one of us was more dangerous to release. Me or the other one. 

Fuzz: No. I know which one is more dangerous.

Kelsier: I'm afraid failing marks for effort there, Fuzz.

Fuzz: But perhaps... Perhaps I cannot say which is more annoying. *smiles*

 

Elend: Yes, well, I kind of lost track of time.

Breeze: For two hours?

Elend: There were books involved.

 

Vin: Do you hate Kelsier?

Marsh: No, I don't hate him. His frivolous and self-important, but he's my brother.

Vin: And that's enough?

Marsh: *nods*

 

And of course...

"Dalinar stared at that bottle of wine for an endless moment. ‘Gavilar hides the wine from me,’ he mumbled. ‘That’s why none is left. I... couldn’t possibly... have drunk it all...’

Renarin stepped in and hugged him. Dalinar flinched, bracing as if for a punch. The boy clung to him, not letting go.

‘They talk about you,’ Renarin said, ‘but they’re wrong. You just need to rest, after all the fighting you did. I know. And I miss her too.’

Dalinar licked his lips. ‘What did she tell you?’ he said, voice ragged. ‘What did your mother say about me?’

‘The only honest officer in the army,’ Renarin said, ‘the honorable soldier. Noble, like the Heralds themselves. Our father. The greatest man in Alethkar.’

What stupid words. Yet Dalinar found himself weeping. Renarin let go, but Dalinar grabbed him, pulling him close.”

 

 

Kay, that's enough for now.

[StrikerEZ]

I spoilered this because it’s spoilers for Oathbringer and pretty long.

Spoiler

Alone.
Dalinar held a fist to his chest.
So alone.
It hurt to breathe, to think. But something stirred inside his fist. He opened bleeding fingers.
The most … the most important …
Inside his fist, he somehow found a golden sphere. A solitary gloryspren.
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.
“You cannot have my pain.”

~

Odium stepped back. “Dalinar? What is this?”
“You cannot have my pain.”
“Dalinar—”
Dalinar forced himself to his feet. “You. Cannot. Have. My. Pain.”
“Be sensible.”
“I killed those children,” Dalinar said.
“No, it—”
“I burned the people of Rathalas.”
“I was there, influencing you—”                                                                                                                                                                   “YOU CANNOT HAVE MY PAIN!” Dalinar bellowed, stepping toward Odium. The god frowned. His Fused companions shied back, and Amaram raised a hand before his eyes and squinted.
Were those gloryspren spinning around Dalinar?
“I did kill the people of Rathalas,” Dalinar shouted. “You might have been there, but I made the choice. I decided!” He stilled. “I killed her. It hurts so much, but I did it. I accept that. You cannot have her. You cannot take her from me again.”
“Dalinar,” Odium said. “What do you hope to gain, keeping this burden?”
Dalinar sneered at the god. “If I pretend … If I pretend I didn’t do those things, it means that I can’t have grown to become someone else.”
“A failure.”
Something stirred inside of Dalinar. A warmth that he had known once before. A warm, calming light.
Unite them.
“Journey before destination,” Dalinar said. “It cannot be a journey if it doesn’t have a beginning.”
A thunderclap sounded in his mind. Suddenly, awareness poured back into him. The Stormfather, distant, feeling frightened—but also surprised.
Dalinar?
“I will take responsibility for what I have done,” Dalinar whispered. “If I must fall, I will rise each time.”

~

Unite them!
Gloryspren streamed around Dalinar. Thousands of golden spheres, more spren than he’d ever seen in one place. They swirled around him in a column of golden light.
Beyond it, Odium stumbled back.
So small, Dalinar thought. Has he always looked that small?

~

UNITE THEM!
Dalinar thrust his left hand to the side, plunging it between realms, grabbing hold of the very fabric of existence. The world of minds, the realm of thought.
He thrust his right hand to the other side, touching something vast, something that wasn’t a place—it was all places in one. He’d seen this before, in the moment when Odium had let him glimpse the Spiritual Realm.
Today, he held it in his hand.
The Fused scrambled away. Amaram pushed down his faceplate, but that wasn’t enough. He stumbled back, arm raised. Only one person remained in place. A young parshwoman, the one that Dalinar had visited in the visions.
“What are you?” she whispered as he stood with arms outstretched, holding to the lands of mind and spirit.
He closed his eyes, breathing out, listening to a sudden stillness. And within it a simple, quiet voice. A woman’s voice, so familiar to him.
I forgive you.
Dalinar opened his eyes, and knew what the parshwoman saw in him. Swirling clouds, glowing light, thunder and lightning.
“I am Unity.”
He slammed both hands together.
And combined three realms into one.

This is just so good. I’ve read the book three times, and every time I read this part I get chills.

Edited January 23, 2019 by StrikerEZ

[Whynot]

This might not be the deepest but I find this the funniest.

Spoiler

"If the Wit is a fool, then it is a sorry state for men.I shall offer you this, Sadeas. If you can speak, yet say nothing ridiculous,I will leave you alone for the rest of the week."

"Well, I think that shouldn't be to difficult."

"And yet you failed,"Wit said,sighing."For you said 'I think' and I can imagine nothing so ridiculous as the concept of you thinking.

 

[Gak]

anytime Kaladin is near Shallon or in some cases Jasnah.