Favorite sanderson quotes

[Peng the Just]

What are some of your favorite quotes for sanderson's work? Any bits of wisdom, humor or awesomeness that particularly stick out to you?

 

some of mine are:

"Always another secret"

"Somebody has to start, son. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right. If nobody starts, then others cannot follow."

"Power was not in wealth, but in control--money was worthless before a man who refused to be bought."

 

“By now, it is probably very late at night, and you have stayed up to read this book when you should have gone to sleep. If this is the case, then I commend you for falling into my trap. It is a writer's greatest pleasure to hear that someone was kept up until the unholy hours of the morning reading one of his books. It goes back to authors being terrible people who delight in the suffering of others. Plus, we get a kickback from the caffeine industry...”

 

And just about anything Lightsong said.

Edited November 19, 2013 by jasonpenguin

[Mailliw73]

Oh, man! Where to begin?

-Wit. Just Wit by himself.

-My signature has a couple from Steelheart.

-Strength does not make one capable of rule, it makes one capable of service. -Teft

-Authority doesn't come from a rank...it comes from the men who give it to you. -Kaladin

-Dalinar, Kal, Kel, El, and Saze also have quite a few more.

-Many, many others!

[Scriptorian]

"Rutabaga".

[LightReader]

"The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon."  -Hoid

[ADIMORTIS]

“Every man is a hero of his own

story.”

― Warbreaker

“I swear, my dear. Sometimes our

conversations remind me of a broken

sword."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Sharp as hell," Lightsong said, "but

lacking a point.”

Edited November 18, 2013 by ADIMORTIS

[Mailliw73]

"My dear, did you just try to prove the existence of God through the use of your cleavage?" -Lightsong

"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." -Lightsong

And basically 95% of everything else Lightsong says.

[Ete'ni]

.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Ete'ni

[Natans]

Easy.

 

"Life before Death. Strenght before Weakness. Journey Before Destination."

 

"There is Honor in defeat, if you learn something with it"

 

"Men are unreliable in many things. But if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s their greed."

Edited November 21, 2013 by Natans

[EvilNuff]

From the Lift interlude:

 

Lift pressed her hand against the seeds, then summoned her awesomeness.

[Starspren]

“If you were the wall, what would you rather be? Dreary and dull, or alive with paint?"
"Walls can't think!"
"That doesn't stop them from caring.”

[Aether]

“I swear, my dear. Sometimes our conversations remind me of a broken sword."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Sharp as hell," Lightsong said, "but lacking a point.”

This is pretty darn close to being my all-time favourite BS quote (pun intended).

 

This one too:

Black is so monotonous that you can forget about it, but red--you'd always be thinking, 'Why look at that. That hill is red. That evil force of doom trying to destroy me certainly has style".

- Breeze, Mistborn: The Hero of Ages

Edited December 13, 2013 by Aether

[Claincy]

One of my favourite that hasn't been specifically mentioned so far:

"The purpose of a story-teller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon. Too often, we forget that."

[Hoid, the Way of Kings]

[FeatherWriter]

Seeing as my personal tumblr username is "alwaysanothersecret" and my blog's name is "Giving You Questions to Think Upon" those two are pretty big favorites of mine. I definitely quote "Every man is the hero of his own story" all the time from Warbreaker as well.

 

There are some other favorites of mine that haven't been mentioned here. I am inordinately fond of Shallan's quote about expectations.

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

-tWoK, Ch. 3

 

The full explanation of what "journey before destination" means is also very important to me, in that it's basically an outright refutation of the philosophy of "the end justifies the means":

 

"Does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.

"In the end, I must proclaim that no good can be achieved of false means. For the substance of our existence is not in the achievement, but in the method. The Monarch must understand this; he must not become so focused on what he wishes to accomplish that he diverts his gaze from the path he must take to arrive there."
-tWoK, Ch. 58

 

On a more lighthearted note, pretty much everything that Lightsong says also Denth on numerous occasions. (But I confess I do not have Warbreaker handy nor do I remember any specific quotes well enough to find them.) I will also never forget that one time that Hoid implies that Renarin had a threesome:

 

“I’ll confess there were actually three sisters, but Prince Renarin quite unfairly ended up with two of them, and I didn’t wish to diminish my reputation by—”

-tWoK, Ch. 12

Edited December 2, 2013 by FeatherWriter

[Aether]

I will also never forget that one time that Hoid implies that Renarin had a threesome.

Being our resident Renarin scholar, do you think Hoid was joking here? Or is Renarin really secretly awesome? (Well, I guess we already new that, but, you know, even more awesomer?)

[FeatherWriter]

Hahaha, he's definitely joking around to mess with Renarin. But it's hilarious. Here's the whole context of that quote:

 

“No greeting for me, Renarin?” Wit said, amused.

 

Renarin said nothing.

 

“He thinks you’ll mock him if he speaks to you, Wit,” Adolin said. “Earlier this morning, he told me he’d determined not to say anything around you.”

 

“Wonderful!” Wit exclaimed. “Then I can say whatever I wish, and he’ll not object?”

 

Renarin hesitated.

 

Wit leaned in to Adolin. “Have I told you about the night Prince Renarin and I had two days back, walking the streets of the warcamp? We came across these two sisters, you see, blue eyed and—”

 

“That’s a lie!” Renarin said, blushing.

 

“Very well,” Wit said without missing a beat, “I’ll confess there were actually three sisters, but Prince Renarin quite unfairly ended up with two of them, and I didn’t wish to diminish my reputation by—”

 

“Wit.” Dalinar was stern as he cut in.

 

I think Hoid and Renarin's interactions are actually some of my favorite parts of the book. The "Nothing Ridiculous" exchange is also one of my fave moments between them.

 

[Wit is speaking]"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 too 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. What of you, young Prince Renarin? Your father wishes me to leave you alone. Can you speak, yet say nothing ridiculous?”

 

Eyes turned toward Renarin, who stood just behind his brother. Renarin hesitated, eyes opening wide at the attention. Dalinar grew tense.

 

“Nothing ridiculous,” Renarin said slowly.

 

Wit laughed. “Yes, I suppose that will satisfy me. Very clever. If Brightlord Sadeas should lose control of himself and finally kill me, perhaps you can be King’s Wit in my stead. You seem to have the mind for it.”

 

Renarin perked up, which darkened Sadeas’s mood further.

Edited December 3, 2013 by FeatherWriter

[Aether]

I don't know, Feather, it kind of sounds like he's referring to something that actually happened. Renarin is a bit quick to declare it a lie before Wit is even finished. He might not have had a threesome (though I am from now on just going to assume he did), but something did definitely happen there to illicit Renarin's premature blushing.

[FeatherWriter]

Perhaps it could be read that way, but I definitely see this as Wit making something outrageous up to embarrass Renarin into speaking.
 
Wit: "Then I can say whatever I wish, and he’ll not object?" (Ehehehe, I'm going to make up the most outlandish, non-Renarin story right here on the spot!)
Renarin: *hesitates* (Wait... that's not what I meant to... oh no what's he going to...)
Wit: "Have I told you about the night Prince Renarin and I had two days back, walking the streets of the warcamp? We came across these two sisters, you see, blue eyed and—"  (I'm just gonna start telling Adolin this little tale and we'll see how long it takes young Renarin to speak up. That boy's far too quiet for his own good. Ah... there he starts blushing, here we go....)
Renarin: "That's a lie!" (Ack, Wit is telling Adolin things about me that never happened! This isn't what I wanted at all! I need to stop him!)
Wit: Very well, I'll confess there were actually three sisters, but Prince Renarin quite unfairly ended up with two of them, and I didn't want to diminish my reputation by—" (There we go, Renarin, but you're gonna have to say more than that to stop me! Ehehehe! Oh no, Dalinar's coming over and he's going to quiet me. I suppose I will have to continue this little exercise later...)
 
Now that I look at it actually, I really like the way Wit deals with Renarin throughout the book. There's an immense kindness to the way he treats Renarin, and when he "teases" Renarin, it always seems to be in an effort to make Renarin stand up for himself or to give him an opportunity to be clever. Dalinar goes really protective, thinking Wit's picking on Renarin and Wit says: "Those who ‘deserve’ my mockery are those who can benefit from it, Brightlord Dalinar. That one is less fragile than you think him."

 

Even this situation, while Wit's trying to push Renarin's buttons and embarrass him into speaking up, the story that he chooses to tell is one that's... really flattering to Renarin. Renarin sweeping a couple of ladies off their feet and winning them away from even a quick-tongued charmer like Wit? That's something most people would not have any problem with someone telling about. (Of course, my dear sweet hyper-shy Renarin is embarrassed by this story and starts blushing, because he's Renarin. Not to mention he knows Wit and the kinds of stories that Wit likes to tell when he gets carried away, and chances were this story was about to go bawdy had someone not stepped in to stop him.)

[Aether]

I choose to believe that Wit is actually hinting at a true story here. If Renarin really had determined to ignore him - as Adolin claims - I think he would have had it in him to do so for a tad longer than this. So what does Wit do? Well he starts telling bits and pieces of a true story (though probably a bit exaggerated) - that would have been embarrassing, at least in Renarin's mind - to coax him into responding. And I allege before you that it would be awesome if Renarin was secretly this enthralling debonair! 

Edited December 3, 2013 by Aether

[Shardbearer]

I'm reading Steelheart now, and just read this quote that almost made me shoot Cherry Coke from my nose:

 

"I hadn't thought there was a flaw in my plan. I'd worked all those out, smoothing them away like cleanser removing the pimples from a teenager's chin."

 

Another bad metaphor, Dave.

[Shardlet]

 (Of course, my dear sweet hyper-shy Renarin is embarrassed by this story and starts blushing, because he's Renarin. Not to mention he knows Wit and the kinds of stories that Wit likes to tell when he gets carried away, and chances were this story was about to go bawdy had someone not stepped in to stop him.)

 

Feather, sometimes you worry me with how invested you are in a character in a book.  It seems like it is to the point where if anything seriously bad happened to him, I would begin to be concerned for Brandon's safety.

[FeatherWriter]

Feather, sometimes you worry me with how invested you are in a character in a book.  It seems like it is to the point where if anything seriously bad happened to him, I would begin to be concerned for Brandon's safety.

 

Well, Brandon would probably be safe for a little while, because I wouldn't be able to pick myself up off the floor where I collapsed in the fetal position for at least a week. I'm actually really worried about my psychological state when WoR comes out... Like... the Kaladin chapter from Steelhunt made me cry, multiple times. It wasn't even anything sad, but storm it if I wasn't sobbing.

 

I am going to be... emotionally compromised to say the least.

[Swimmingly]

Read "Misery" by Stephen King

[Claincy]

Well, Brandon would probably be safe for a little while, because I wouldn't be able to pick myself up off the floor where I collapsed in the fetal position for at least a week. I'm actually really worried about my psychological state when WoR comes out... Like... the Kaladin chapter from Steelhunt made me cry, multiple times. It wasn't even anything sad, but storm it if I wasn't sobbing.

 

I am going to be... emotionally compromised to say the least.

It sounds to me like you may want to read it with someone else, someone who can provide emotional support/stability

[FeatherWriter]

It sounds to me like you may want to read it with someone else, someone who can provide emotional support/stability

 

That's what the tumblr cosmere fandom's for. We'll all just liveblog and scream and cry all over tumblr together. We'll probably end up having special Non-Friday Cosmere Chats specifically for those of us who have read it to come and sob together and wail at Brandon.  It'll be a beautiful, emotional mess of pain.

[Aether]

Read "Misery" by Stephen King

damnation you, Swimmingly! You beat me to it!

 

Also, @FeatherWriter, I feel with you. I didn't really cry during the Kaladin chapter, but there was an uncharacteristic amount of squeeing. "Feels" I believe it is called in Tumblrverse?