Quotes from TWoK

[Tamzin Ashevai she/her]

Quotes from TWoK

 

 

 

“Words aren’t meant to be kept inside, you see.  They are free creatures, and if locked away will unsettle the stomach.”

 

- Tozbek to Shallan, p. 63 HC

 

“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.”

 

- Jasnah to Shallan, p. 87 HC

 

“Bitterness is repaid more often than kindness.”

 

- One of Kaladin’s father’s sayings, p. 98 HC

 

“A scientist must be willing to change her theories if experiment disproves them.”

 

- Shallan’s missive to Jasnah, p. 110 HC

“ … the lives of men and women are more than logical puzzles; the context of their experiences is invaluable in making good decisions.  My study in logic does not rise to your standards, but even I know that the rationalists have a rule:  One cannot apply logic as an absolute where human beings are concerned.  We are not beings of thought only.”

- Shallan’s missive to Jasnah, pp. 120-121 HC

“To discriminate is to maintain prejudice against.  To be exclusive.  Can a person afford to be exclusive with what they ingest?  Whether we speak of food or of thoughts?”

- Shallan to the merchant, Artmyrn, p. 136 HC

“Sometimes,” Dalinar said, “the prize is not worth the costs.  The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”

- Dalinar to Sadeas, p. 227 HC

“I point out truths when I see them, Brightlord Sadeas.  Each man has his place.  Mine is to make insults.  Yours is to be in-sluts.”

- Wit to Sadeas, p. 229 HC

“People are discord,” Syl said.

“What does that mean?”

“You all act differently and think differently.  Nothing else is like that - animals act alike, and all spren are, in a sense, virtually the same individual.  There’s harmony in that.  But not in you - it seems that no two of you can agree on anything.  All the world does as it is supposed to, except for humans.  Maybe that’s why you so often want to kill each other.”

- Syl to Kaladin, p. 262 HC

“Some people take lives.  Other people save lives.”

- One of Kaladin’s father’s sayings, p. 267 HC

“To speak of what might be is forbidden,” the voice said.  “To speak of what was depends on perspective.”

- “Taffa” to Dalinar, p. 307 HC

“ Act with honor, and honor will aid you.”

- Dalinar’s vision, p. 308 HC

“There are stories,” Kaladin said, “about the times of the Heraldic Epochs, when men were bound by honor.  But you’ll always find people telling stories about supposedly better days.  You watch.  A man joins a new team of soldiers, and the first thing he’ll do is talk about how wonderful his old team was.  We remember the good times and the bad ones, forgetting that most times are neither good nor bad.  They just are.”

- Kaladin to Syl, p. 315 HC

“ … some people are frightened of knowledge.’

- Kaladin’s mother to Kaladin, p. 362 HC

“The purpose of youth is to experience variety while it is still interesting.  … It isn’t until we get older that we should be forced to be boring.”

- Navani to Adolin, p. 332 HC

“Only after death was there stability.  So the ardents taught, at least.”

- Kaladin, in retrospective, p. 360 HC

“A man’s emotions are what define him, and control is the hallmark of true strength.  To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child.”

- Dalinar to Sadeas, p. 377 HC

“A merchant who is careless with contracts is one who finds himself with enemies instead of friends.”

- Vstim to Thresh, p. 435 HC

“There is no greatness in killing,” Szeth said.  … “Great men create food and clothing.  He who adds is to be revered. I am he who takes away.  At least in the killing of men such as these I can pretend to be doing a service.

-  Szeth to Taravangian?, p. 450 HC

“I’m not an expert on confidence, Brightness,”  Shallan said … .  But I’d like to think that I could recognize it if were before me.  I don’t think that’s the right word for books like this one from Maderia.  They feel more arrogant than confident to me.”  …  “To be honest, ‘arrogant’ doesn’t feel like quite the right word.  It’s not specific enough.”

“And what would be the right word, then?”

“I don’t know.  ‘Errorgant,’ perhaps.”

“It means to be twice as certain as someone who is merely arrogant,” Shallan said, “while possessing only one-tenth the requisite facts.”

-  Shallan to Jasnah, p. 459 HC

“Never apologize for being clever, Shallan.  It sets a bad precedent.  However, one must apply one’s wit with care.

-  Jasnah to Shallan, p. 460 HC

“ … a woman’s mind is her most precious weapon.  It must not be employed clumsily or prematurely.  Much like the aforementioned knife to the back, a clever gibe is most effective when it is unanticipated.”

-  Jasnah to Shallan, p 461 HC

“ … isn’t it remarkable that, given the chance for personal gain at the cost of others, so many people choose what is right?”

“Because they fear the Almighty.”

“No,” Jasnah said.  “I think something innate in us understands that seeking the good of society is usually best for the individual as well.  Humankind is noble, when we give it the chance to be.  That nobility is something that exists independent of any go’s decree.

“ … morality and human will are independent of [the Almighty] too.”

-  Jasnah to Taravangian (& vis-a-vis). p 466-67 HC

“When men perceive the world as being right, we are content.  But if we see a hole - a deficiency - we scramble to fill it.”

-  Lirin to Kaladin, p 481 HC

. 559 HC

“There are worse things to be than a disease,” … .  “When you have one, it reminds you that you’re alive.  Makes you fight for what you have.  When the disease has run its course, normal healthy life seems wonderful by comparison.

-  Shallan to Kabsal, p 506 HC

“History, by definition, cannot be experienced directly.  As it is happening, it is the present, and that is philosophy’s realm.

- Jasnah to Shallan, p. 529 HC

“ … information is worthless unless we use it to make judgments.”

Shallan to Jasnah, p. 529 HC

“The older we grow,” Jasnah said, “the more we question.  We begin to ask why.  And yet, we still want the answers to be simple.  We assume that the people around us - adults, leaders - will have those answers.  Whatever they give often satisfies us.”

Jasnah to Shallan, p. 531 HC

“ … it seems to me that aging, wisdom, and wondering are synonymous.”

“Kill or be killed.  That was the Philosophy of Starkness.  It exonerated Jasnah.

Mortality is separate from the ideals of men.  It exists whole somewhere, to be approached, to be approached - but never truly understood - by the mortal.  The Philosophy of Ideals.  It claimed that removing evil was ultimately moral, and so in destroying evil men, Jasnah was justified.

Objective must be weighed against methods.  If the goal is worthy, then the steps taken are worthwhile, even it some of them - on their own - are reprehesible.  The Philosophy of Aspiriation.  It, more than any, called Jasnah’s actions ethical.

- Shallan, w/regard to Jasnah, p. 559 HC

“Death is the destination.  But the journey, that is life.  That is what matters.”

- Kaladin, in thought w/regard to Syl, p. 610 HC

“ … no matter where you go, you will find some who abuse their power.”

- Sigzil to Kaladin, p. 652 HC

“ … in order to gr

-  Taravangian to ow proficient at apologizing, you must first make mistakes.”

- Shallan to Jasnah, p. 680 HC

“ … apology is an art of which we could use a few more masters.  Do not use me as a model in this.  Pride is often mistakeThe Way of Kingsn for faltlessness.”

- Jasnah to Shallan, p. 680 HC

“An excuse is what you make after the deed is done, while a justification is what you offer before.”

‘Money is behind every war, … .  Religion is but an excuse.  Or perhaps a justification.”

- Au-nak (an ethnic Natan man) to the ardent, Hatham, p. 753 HC

“There’s a difference?”

- Hatham, p. 753 HC

“Of course,” Au-nak said.  “An excuse is what you make after the deed is done, while a justification is what you offer before.”

- Au-nak, p. 753

“It is not the destination that matters, but how one arrives there.”

- Dalinar, from The Way of Kings, p. 787 HC

“A story doesn’t live until it is imagined in someone’s mind.  … The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.”

- Hoid, p. 806 HC

“ … all men have the same ultimate destination.  Whether we find our end in a hallowed supulcher or a pauper’s ditch, all save the Heralds themselves must dine with the Nightwatcher.”

- Dalinar, p. 818 HC

“‘And so, 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 lives.

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 yhe method.  The Monarch must understand this; he must not becoe so focused on what he wishes to accomplish that he diverts his gaze from the path he must take to arrive there.’”

- Dalinar, p. 818 HC

“To be human is to want that which we cannot have.”

- Dalinar, p. 853 HC

“ … weakness can imitate strength if bound properly, just as cowardice can imitate heroism if given nowhere to flee.”

- Dalinar to Navani, p. 888 HC

“Sometimes,” Taravangian said, “you must tear down a structure to build a new one with stronger walls.”

- Taravangian to Szeth, p. 975