Authors also create lovable, friendly characters, then proceed to do terrible things to them, like throw them in unsightly librarian-controlled dungeons. This makes readers feel hurt and worried for the characters. The simple truth is that authors like making people squirm. If this weren't the case, all novels would be filled completely with cute bunnies having birthday parties.
Brandon Sanderson
Related Sometimes, authors' descriptions of unique fictional characters are like mirrors that reflect the re... BEN ABIX That's what fiction writers do: create characters and do terrible things to them for the enterta... GARRY TRUDEAU I do believe that characters in novels belong to their writers and their readers pretty equally. I'v... ANN BRASHARES Authors have odd relationships with their creations They owe their fame and fortune to their charact... ANTHONY HOROWITZ Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for th... ROBERTSON DAVIES Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for th... ROBERTSON DAVIES Like other Feminist science fiction authors, McIntyre writes of powerful, competent, courageous fema... WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE How can so many (white, male) writers narratively justify restricting the agency of their female cha... FOZ MEADOWS I feel a bit like Ellen Glasgow (I think it was) who said that she was the master and characters did... JAMES GUNN I think it's definitely beneficial for these characters to have good acting voices behind them and i... TARA STRONG I've definitely been asked about some of the characters. These characters are composites. In general... DAVE GARDNER There are certain authors that do not turn students on; it is the truth. Homer happens to be one of ... WILLIAM SCOTT I take writting as something in which you should in limited or not in limited time to create charact... DEYTH BANGER I think it's definitely beneficial for these characters to have good acting voices behind them a... TARA STRONG What I hope (readers) take from the book is the things that are good for them and have a good time w... DANA JACOBI We like to reach readers, as well as aspiring authors. BONNIE STELZER The parallels between a stage and a book are compelling. You, like all authors, create 'characte... NANCY KRESS This is the image from which he was born...... Characters are not born, like people, of woman; they ... MILAN KUNDERA Just like how male actors get to play varied characters, I would also like to play characters that p... SONG HYE-KYO I would like to champion diverse forms like graphic novels and works told in verse and diverse write... MALORIE BLACKMAN I've got a theory, it could be bunnies... I've got a theor- Bunnies aren't jus... JOSS WHEDON I feel like these characters, these places, these beings and plots, and even these inanimate objects... NICHOLAS TRANDAHL I hate that just because you happen to be good at something,people automatically think that's what m... AMBER SMITH Authors can write stories without people assuming that they are autobiographies, but songwriters and... CRISS JAMI Winning the Guardian prize is a wonderful reward for any writer. It is such a distinguished award, .... JACQUELINE WILSON 'Evil' is quite a blanket term. People aren't the demonic characters we would like them ... DAVID MORRISSEY Authors do this for a living, and if you take their work for nothing, you are depriving them of a li... DAVID HEWSON You have to always try to think about them like real people first, and not just heroes. They have to... GREG BERLANTI So this is going to be drill!? DEYTH BANGER I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES This does not make the authors of those narratives liars; it makes them servants of fallible human m... TOM BISSELL The easiest way for readers to connect with characters and feel sympathy is to make the character en... RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH I've noticed that, with many of the authors I like, I tend to think I would dislike them as huma... LAURA MARLING When you're writing a book, with people in it as opposed to animals, it is no good having people... ROALD DAHL In the first person, the readers feel smart, like it's them solving the case. PATRICIA CORNWELL Creating characters is like throwing together ingredients for a recipe. I take characteristics I lik... CASSANDRA CLARE I liked 35 and in both my novels that is the age of the lead characters. I tried making them my age ... ALEXEI SAYLE He would mace people, blind them and then either attack them with a weapon, like a bat or a knife as... MAC SHANNON Our conference is focused on helping authors be more successful in selling their books. Although Inf... TOM GREGORY This is the beauty of fiction. We may not like these characters, but we inhabit them. T. C. BOYLE Dialogue is the place that books are most alive and forge the most direct connection with readers. I... LAINI TAYLOR I try to write characters that are normal, believable people with a unique sense of humor. I like ch... TAYLOR FENNER A good movie makes the audience feel like they've journeyed with the characters. RICH MOORE My favourite authors are John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer. Grisham rapidly established himself and no... RAVI SUBRAMANIAN This is what this training is all about. To minimize the amount of casualties and people getting hur... BOB ALONZO Our government is ready to guarantee their investments for them, and then we will create tax incenti... IBRAHIM RUGOVA People would react to books by authors like James and Austen almost on a gut level. I think it was n... AZAR NAFISI I think I feel it The nimble, fleeting emotion That novels and authors desperately HUBERT MARTIN I would love to be in 'Downton Abbey.' That's the thing I thing many people would have a... ARI GRAYNOR When you create those characters that people love and care about and put them in a dark hallway, alr... JAMES WAN She was intimidating and all I could do was sit back on the couch as she paced back and forth, slowl... IN THE MAKING People like to control things themselves. And so if someone wants to do that we're simply giving the... JACK WALSH The funny thing is that I feel close to all my characters. Deep, deep inside them all. PAUL AUSTER If you care about the characters, then whatever scary thing happens to them, you feel it even more. JAMES WAN While I've written in the POV (point of view) of adolescent characters before... I never have ha... ELIZABETH GEORGE I feel like when you do things with such a small budget, it actually makes you be more creative... a... OREN PELI If I had my way books would not be written in English, but in an exceedingly difficult secret langua... ROBERTSON DAVIES That's it really; it's all love, whichever way you look at it, it's all love. How much you can Get f... GEORGE HARRISON You start to fall in love with characters as you work with them, and anytime that you care about you... DREW GODDARD Even if you're the President of the United States, you still act like a little child and think l... STELLAN SKARSGARD When you create a show, and create characters, these people are like children to you. DAVID E. KELLEY Readers embrace all kinds of characters as long as they are written with emotional truth. DAVID LEVITHAN The program gives people who are interested in a particular author a way to get new insights into th... JANI STRAND Don't let your characters tell you what to do. They can be pushy. Some writers say that they cre... CHELSEA CAIN I believe in books that do not go to a ready-made public. I'm looking for readers I would like t... CARLOS FUENTES There are so many awful things in this world, but I wanted readers to share with me the small, beaut... NOVALA TAKEMOTO What I have in common with the character in 'Truman' is this incredible need to please peopl... JIM CARREY If there is any secret to my success, I think it's that my characters are very real to me. I fee... SIDNEY SHELDON One has to be able to twist and change and distort characters, play with them like clay, so everythi... PETER CAREY I don't invent characters because the Almightly has already invented millions. Just like experts at ... ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER Playing big, heroic characters with heart is always a lot of fun. I enjoy making movies like that, a... DWAYNE JOHNSON The whole point of having great characters is the opportunity to explore them more deeply with time,... J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI This is not just for Dunbar, but for anyone who wants to give us a recipe or two. We're going to hav... JOAN GRAZIANO Previously, as I went through life, I was in full belief of the concept of "blending" (I was fully c... C. JOYBELL C. We never end up with the book we began writing. Characters twist it and turn it until they get the l... C.K. WEBB Normally you read a screenplay - and I read a lot of them - and the characters don't feel like p... JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT If people gathered to a political meeting, and the chief speaker spoke to them only for some quarter... A. J. GOSSIP We've done similar things like this before and ultimately we've phased things in and done so in a wa... ALEX SWANN As for advice for aspiring authors, the best I can give is to be brave. It sounds like a simple enou... V. E. SCHWAB This is not Bambi. You can't think of these things as cute cartoon characters. They are animals. RALPH WHITE They're all based on factual characters. Well, a good amount of them. That's why I was attra... GUY RITCHIE I am really drawn to damaged characters, and I have a lot of sympathy for them. Making those complic... PAUL HAGGIS Getting to share the stories in my head with other people and have them enjoy those stories, and hav... GAIL Z. MARTIN One of the things that I like about 'Narcos' is that not only Pablo but with all the charact... WAGNER MOURA It seems to me that most characters, in anything, are flawed in some way, just like most people. You... AIDAN GILLEN Those authors who would find many readers, must endeavour to please while they instruct SAMUEL JOHNSON In terms of characters I wish I had created - just because I haven't dealt with anything like th... MICHAEL KORYTA Early in my career, I decided not to do sequels. I know that children enjoy them, but I valued the f... BETSY BYARS Right now, UPS is sort of the default choice. If someone comes up with the better mousetrap, then su... ELAINE RUBIN As authors, most - most authors, our art is portraying the human condition. Trying to show you what ... PATRICK ROTHFUSS If these people didn't flaunt their weddings all over the place, then maybe there wouldn't be demand... GRAHAM SHARPE People are much more complicated in real life, but my characters are as subtle and nuanced as I can ... KEN FOLLETT Sometimes as writers, we try and put narrative development above character development. We try to mo... JEFF NICHOLS I do not use profanity in my novels. My characters all go to church. NICHOLAS SPARKS I think people enjoy a series. When you like a story, many readers want more of the same, which is d... SARAH ZETTEL I love all my characters. I love their weaknesses and flaws. I feel like they're all my best fri... SOPHIE KINSELLA For the most part, my characters don't talk to me. I like to lord over them like some kind of be... SARAH MACLEAN Is the writer cruel that makes his characters suffer only to bring them to triumph or tragedy in the... JOHNNY RICH Some of my acting heroes have built careers on playing characters who do horrendous things - they... REBECCA HALL [They also make sure the books don't look like manuals.] We wanted them to look like cookbooks, ... ... JULIE SUSSMAN
More Brandon Sanderson
Personally, I say, "Out of the frying pan and into the deadly pit filled with sharks who are wieldin... BRANDON SANDERSON As she’d left, I’d glanced at her gun. This time, when she’d pointed it at me, she’d fl... BRANDON SANDERSON I've seen Steelheart bleed. And I will see him bleed again. BRANDON SANDERSON I don't talk to myself because I'm crazy." "No?" "I do it because I'm awesome. BRANDON SANDERSON It does strange things to you to realize that the conservative establishment is forcing you t... BRANDON SANDERSON Power could be an illusion of perception. Even within yourself. BRANDON SANDERSON Just because I do not accept the teachings of the devotaries does not mean I've discarded a belief i... BRANDON SANDERSON Never throw the first punch. If you have to throw the second, try to make sure they don't get up for... BRANDON SANDERSON The buzzing was like the eager purr of a muscle car that had just been started, but left in neutral.... 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 ... BRANDON SANDERSON Somehow, we'll find it. The balance between whom we wish to be and whom we need to be. But for now, ... BRANDON SANDERSON I am a Smedry, and we do ridiculous, unexpected, eccentric things like this all the time! Ha-ha! BRANDON SANDERSON Those candle flames were like the lives of men. So fragile. So deadly. Left alone, they lit and warm... BRANDON SANDERSON Marsh: Our best efforts were never even a mild annoyance to the Lord Ruler." Kelsier: Ah, but b... BRANDON SANDERSON You're a very difficult person to manipulate, you know." "Nonsense," he said. "You just have to... BRANDON SANDERSON Well, Vin says that there's something behind all this, right? Some evil force of doom or whatever? W... BRANDON SANDERSON To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child. BRANDON SANDERSON Elend smiled. "Oh, come on. You have to admit that you're unusual, Vin. You're like some strange mix... BRANDON SANDERSON There's always another secret.' -Kelsier BRANDON SANDERSON I try to avoid having thoughts. They lead to other thoughts, and—if you’re not careful—those l... BRANDON SANDERSON But you can't kill me, Lord Tyrant. I represent that one thing you've never been able to kill, no ma... BRANDON SANDERSON Elend: I kind of lost track of time… Breeze: For two hours? Elend: There were books invo... BRANDON SANDERSON I've always been very confident in my immaturity. BRANDON SANDERSON Mocking a woman is like drinking too much wine. It may be fun for a short time, but the hangover is ... BRANDON SANDERSON Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination. BRANDON SANDERSON You should try not to talk so much, friend. You'll sound far less stupid that way. - Bree... BRANDON SANDERSON The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upo... BRANDON SANDERSON You see, that is the sad, sorry, terrible thing about sarcasm. It's really funny. BRANDON SANDERSON Kelsier exhaled in exasperation. “Elend Venture? You risked your life—risked the plan, and our l... BRANDON SANDERSON ... everyone knows that ice cream is worth the trouble of being cold. Like all things virtuou... BRANDON SANDERSON I know, better than anyone else, that there are no heroes coming to save us. There are no good Epics... BRANDON SANDERSON ...Regardless, I still do not believe that your duty is to do as the people wish. Your duty is to le... BRANDON SANDERSON The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accompli... BRANDON SANDERSON Good men don't become legends," he said quietly. "Good men don't need to become legends." She o... BRANDON SANDERSON Jasnah had once defined a fool as a person who ignored information because it disagreed with desired... BRANDON SANDERSON Megan looked at me and blushed. A blush looked really good on her. Of course, so would soup, mud, or... BRANDON SANDERSON I couldn’t help grinning at the sight of her. Megan, in turn, raised a nine-millimeter square at m... BRANDON SANDERSON I needed to say something. Something romantic! Something to sweep her off her feet. "You’re l... BRANDON SANDERSON What would you think if I told you that I wasn’t an Allomancer?” Sazed asked. “I’d thin... BRANDON SANDERSON Kaladin screamed, reaching the end of the bridge. Finding a tiny surge of strength somewhere, he rai... BRANDON SANDERSON You know, I was a nerdy kid going through high school, and then I got to college and that all vanish... BRANDON SANDERSON Don’t do anything stupid." "Don’t worry," I whispered over the line, "I’m an expert on st... BRANDON SANDERSON Sometimes it is very useful to have a reputation for being a reclusive, amoral jerk. BRANDON SANDERSON I'm not really sure why. But... do you stop loving someone just because they betray you? I don't thi... BRANDON SANDERSON He felt a swelling of pride. Ridiculous, of course. He had endangered the kindgdom — how would peo... BRANDON SANDERSON Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king […] Whit... BRANDON SANDERSON I'm convinced that responsibility is some kind of psychological disease. BRANDON SANDERSON What is a woman's place in this modern world? Jasnah Kholin's words read. I rebel against ... BRANDON SANDERSON I am a writer who works from an outline. What I generally do when I build an outline is I find focal... BRANDON SANDERSON Ah, the outdoors,' Shallan said. 'I visited that mythical place once. BRANDON SANDERSON Why did they believe? Because they saw miracles. Things one man took as chance, a man of faith took ... BRANDON SANDERSON Aspiring Asimovs! BRANDON SANDERSON That was terribly thoughtless of you. What good is having friends if they don’t put you in mortal ... BRANDON SANDERSON Control yourself, she told herself forcibly. Become someone who can deal with this. She took a deep ... BRANDON SANDERSON It was strange, how easily and quickly protection could cause destruction. Sometimes, Vasher wondere... BRANDON SANDERSON I ain’t grouchy,” Teft snapped. “I just have a low threshold for stupidity. BRANDON SANDERSON The world isn't fair? What a huge revelation! Some people in power abuse those they have power over?... BRANDON SANDERSON Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack. BRANDON SANDERSON To be human is to seek beauty, Shallan. Do not despair, do not end the hunt because thorns grow in y... BRANDON SANDERSON Sometimes the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important a... BRANDON SANDERSON My name is David Charleston. I kill people with super powers. BRANDON SANDERSON We take to the skies, Stormblessed," Lunamor said. "We will walk no more in coming days. This is the... BRANDON SANDERSON It had been like discovering that Santa Claus was secretly a Nazi. BRANDON SANDERSON A man is what he has passion about,” Breeze said. “I’ve found that if you give up what ... BRANDON SANDERSON If you give up what you want most for what you think you should want more, you'll end up miserable. BRANDON SANDERSON Faith means that it doesn't matter what happens. You can trust that somebody is watching. Trust that... BRANDON SANDERSON It sounds to me, young one," Haddek said, "that you are searching for something that cannot be found... BRANDON SANDERSON Definitely not—you optimists just can't understand that a depressed person doesn't want you to try... BRANDON SANDERSON Kaladin frowned. “Wait. Are you wearing cologne? In prison?” “Well, there was no need to ... BRANDON SANDERSON Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope. BRANDON SANDERSON The hallmark of insecurity is bravado. BRANDON SANDERSON I could take a shower every day in my own bathroom. I almost didn’t know what to do with such luxu... BRANDON SANDERSON I’m going to destroy you, little man!" Sourcefield yelled after me. "I’ll rip you apart like a p... BRANDON SANDERSON A person needed to experience real danger or they would never find joy in excelling. There had to be... BRANDON SANDERSON You don't really get to choose. We worship you, and that makes you our God. BRANDON SANDERSON This is going to take a while. I'm a fantasy author. We have trouble with the concept of brevity. BRANDON SANDERSON Personally, I like it much better when someone else does the decision making. That way you have legi... BRANDON SANDERSON People can do great things. However, there are some things they just CAN'T do. I, for instance, have... BRANDON SANDERSON The Shaod, it was called. The Transformation... When it came, the fortuante person's life ended and ... BRANDON SANDERSON Doing something brave is much like saying something stupid. You rarely plan on it happening. BRANDON SANDERSON Only expectation has value as currency, BRANDON SANDERSON I am but a man, Dalinar, so much as I wish it were not true at times. I am no Radiant. And while I a... BRANDON SANDERSON I hadn’t been a nerd, mind you. I’d just been the type of guy who spent a lot of time by himself... BRANDON SANDERSON It seems a simple task. We all know what water looks like, feels like in our mouth. Water is ubiquit... BRANDON SANDERSON To their simple, degenerate minds there was only one thing to do when faced by a God more powerful t... BRANDON SANDERSON He saw it in her eyes. The anguish, the frustration. The terrible nothing that clawed inside and sou... BRANDON SANDERSON Breeze strolled over to the table and chose a seat with his characteristic decorum. The portly man r... BRANDON SANDERSON Why hasn't anyone killed him yet?” “Dumb luck,” Wit said. “In that I’m lucky you’re... BRANDON SANDERSON We follow the codes not because they bring gain, but because we loathe the people we would otherwise... BRANDON SANDERSON In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you acco... BRANDON SANDERSON Belief isn't simply a thing for fair times and bright days...What is belief - what is faith - if you... BRANDON SANDERSON For glory lit, and life alive, for goals unreached and aims to strive. All men must try, the wind di... BRANDON SANDERSON What did you put in the fire?" Kaladin said. "To make that special smoke?" "Nothing. It was jus... BRANDON SANDERSON Belief?" "Yes," Sazed said. "Tell me, Mistress. What is it that you believe?" Vin frowned.... BRANDON SANDERSON My behavior is nonetheless, deplorable. Unfortunately, I'm quite prone to such bouts of deplorabilit... BRANDON SANDERSON It's easy to believe in something when you win all the time...The losses are what define a man's fai... BRANDON SANDERSON Stealing regular stuff was no fun. She wanted a real challenge. Over the last two years, she'd picke... BRANDON SANDERSON And don't waste time worshipping Harmony. Doing good was the worship. BRANDON SANDERSON Every action we take has consequences, Vin," Kelsier said. "I've found that in both Allomancy and li... BRANDON SANDERSON Any chef worth his spoons learned to talk, because cooking was an art—and art was subjective. One ... BRANDON SANDERSON As long as you keep trying, there's a chance. When you give up? That's when the dream dies. BRANDON SANDERSON Janala is a fool, just bright enough to be proud of the wits she has, but stupid enough to be unawar... BRANDON SANDERSON Your ego doesn’t count as a separate individual, Shallan. BRANDON SANDERSON In all the history of mankind, has any conqueror decided they had enough? Has any man just said, ‘... BRANDON SANDERSON Drehy,” Kaladin said, “you are literally courting a man.” “So?” Drehy said. �... BRANDON SANDERSON The question,’ she replied, ‘is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you ... BRANDON SANDERSON He came at me,” Adolin said, “in the training rooms, screaming that you’d found the killer. Sa... BRANDON SANDERSON Love wasn’t about being right or wrong, but about standing up and helping when your partner’s ba... BRANDON SANDERSON I think you underestimate the stubbornness a crown can press into a man BRANDON SANDERSON I don’t hate you, Pattern,” Shallan said. “I hate the sword.” “But—” “The sword isn�... BRANDON SANDERSON You want to change the world, Shallan. That’s well and good. But be careful. The world predates yo... BRANDON SANDERSON He quivered on the ground his face pressed to the stone and didn’t rise. “Did you… did y... BRANDON SANDERSON If you could explain something perfectly, then you’d never need art. BRANDON SANDERSON The best indication of what human beings will do is not what they think, but what the record says si... BRANDON SANDERSON Sequels always have to be bigger. BRANDON SANDERSON Plan every battle as if you will inevitably retreat, but fight every battle like there is no backing... BRANDON SANDERSON Dalinar Kholin was a connoisseur of death. Even since his youth, the sight of dead men had been... BRANDON SANDERSON You tried to help the people of the market. You mostly failed. This is life. The longer you live, th... BRANDON SANDERSON Life was about momentum . Pick a direction and don't let anything—man or storm— turn you a... BRANDON SANDERSON Life breaks us, Teft. Then we fill the cracks with something stronger. BRANDON SANDERSON What a surreal sensation, being back here, being treated like he was still the boy who had left for ... BRANDON SANDERSON You are not a heretic, Dalinar Kholin. You are a king, a Radiant, and a father. You are a man with c... BRANDON SANDERSON The old Words must be spoken again. BRANDON SANDERSON I will take responsibility for what I have done,” Dalinar whispered. “If I must fall, I will ris... BRANDON SANDERSON Power was an illusion of perception, as Jasnah had said. The first step to being in control was to s... BRANDON SANDERSON Inappropriate?” Pattern said. “Such as … dividing by zero? BRANDON SANDERSON To love the journey is to accept no such end. I have found, through painful experience, that the mos... BRANDON SANDERSON The trick to happiness wasn’t in freezing every momentary pleasure and clinging to each one, but i... BRANDON SANDERSON Accept the pain, but don't accept that you deserved it . BRANDON SANDERSON NO MATING BRANDON SANDERSON Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man in the process of changing. BRANDON SANDERSON The only point in creating something is to watch it die. Like a story that must come to a climax, wh... BRANDON SANDERSON There was rarely an obvious branching point in a person's life. People changed slowly, over time. Yo... BRANDON SANDERSON Once one becomes a man, he can and must make his own decisions. But I do offer warning. Even a good ... BRANDON SANDERSON I ask of you your lives,” Elend said, voice echoing, “and your courage. I ask of you your faith,... BRANDON SANDERSON What wonders could be achieved, what progress could be made, if mankind were to permanently set asid... BRANDON SANDERSON It’s not a lie,” Shallan said, “if everyone understands and knows what it means.” “Mm... BRANDON SANDERSON I wanted to move. I needed to move. But in those moments, I could more easily have lifted a s... BRANDON SANDERSON Those who take lightly promises they make to those they love are people who find little lasting sati... BRANDON SANDERSON That caravan looks as if it’s all Vorin. Also, you look a little spindly for a Horneater.” ... BRANDON SANDERSON Spook smiled. "Elend is a forgetful scholar - twice as bad as Sazed ever was. He gets lost in his bo... BRANDON SANDERSON Oh, thank you, I thought, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. Dancing was stressful—but murde... BRANDON SANDERSON Men protect things they find important," Galladon said with a shrug. "If you object, you shouldn't h... BRANDON SANDERSON Attacking a provincial lord in his manor house, surrounded by guards...Honestly, Kell, I'd nearly fo... BRANDON SANDERSON Too many of us take great pains with what we ingest through our mouths, and far less with what we pa... BRANDON SANDERSON There is something beyond. Though perhaps my belief is merely my own desire wishing it to be so." BRANDON SANDERSON Chana knows, I wondered sometimes how I raised that child without strangling her. By age six, [Jasna... BRANDON SANDERSON As accurate as a blind man pissing during an earthquake.” “Wow...,” I breathed. She ... BRANDON SANDERSON Kelsier rapped lightly on the door, and Dockson strolled over, pulling it open. "And he makes h... BRANDON SANDERSON Most of you Mistborn are probably too proud to crawl. I'm surprised you were willing to do so yourse... BRANDON SANDERSON You'll want something mid-range. A 5.56 all right?" "I suppose." "AR-15?" "Ugh. AR-15... BRANDON SANDERSON Ear demons are totally real," Cody said. "They're what make microphones like these ones work. They'r... BRANDON SANDERSON I grunted, hauling the rope hand over hand. A plaintive squeak came from the pulley system with each... BRANDON SANDERSON You've never heard of bagpipes ?" Cody asked, sounding aghast. "They're as Scottish as kilts a... BRANDON SANDERSON Why is it you trust my daughter so much when others almost universally revile her?" "I consider... BRANDON SANDERSON Never go on a date unarmed.” Words of wisdom from my father. Well, my foster father. I was an orph... BRANDON SANDERSON Can a woman not walk with her possessions down the street of a city? BRANDON SANDERSON The only time you seem honest is when you’re insulting someone!” “The only honest things ... BRANDON SANDERSON But it was important to be rational at all times, not just when calm. BRANDON SANDERSON Unknowing ignorance is preferable to informed stupidity. BRANDON SANDERSON When did you get so peppy?” she shouted. “Ever since I assumed I was dead, then I suddenly ... BRANDON SANDERSON I ain't grouchy,” Teft snapped. “I just have a low threshold for stupidity. BRANDON SANDERSON But you know what I think? I think you're looking for excuses to not let go. This thing, it's who yo... BRANDON SANDERSON But you know what I think? I think you're looking for excuses to not let go. This ting, it's who you... BRANDON SANDERSON Don’t tell anyone I said it?" I smiled. "I'll be quiet as a buttered snail sneaking through a... BRANDON SANDERSON To live was to be a fragment of the cosmere that was experiencing itself. BRANDON SANDERSON Are you that afraid of being wrong? One would assume you’d be accustomed to it by now.” He ... BRANDON SANDERSON What kind of woman is still able to trust people after everything she's been through? If she'd been ... BRANDON SANDERSON That's kind of what trust is, isn't it? A willful self-delusion. BRANDON SANDERSON I once saw a spindly man carrying a stone larger than his head upon his back. He stumbled beneath th... BRANDON SANDERSON This world, it is a tempest sometimes. But remember, the sun always rises again. BRANDON SANDERSON Authority doesn't come from a rank.," Kaladin said, fingering the spheres in his pocket. "Where... BRANDON SANDERSON Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service. BRANDON SANDERSON Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. BRANDON SANDERSON And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has... BRANDON SANDERSON Can you feel it? Something just changed. I believe that’s the sound the world makes when it pisses... BRANDON SANDERSON Of all the recruits in his cohort, he had learned the quickest. How to hold the spear, how to stand ... BRANDON SANDERSON An excuse is what you make after the deed is done, while a justification is what you offer before. BRANDON SANDERSON I want you to go back into the barrack and tell the men to come out after the storm. Tell them to lo... BRANDON SANDERSON In the end, I must proclaim that no good can be achieved of false means. For the substance of our ex... BRANDON SANDERSON If I should die,” Dalinar said, “then I would do so having lived my life right. It is not the de... BRANDON SANDERSON Overcome your guilt. Care, but not too much. Take responsibility, but don't blame yourself. Protect,... BRANDON SANDERSON There are two kinds of people in this world, son. Those who save lives, and those who take lives." BRANDON SANDERSON Brightness...I believe you stray into sarcasm." "Funny.I thought I'd run straight into it... BRANDON SANDERSON ...Do you stop loving someone just because they betray you? I don't think so. That's what makes the ... BRANDON SANDERSON I told him that you were simply showing me the ways of court. Kind of like an…older brother.” BRANDON SANDERSON We got there without being spotted. I pulled her in, then shut the door, pressing my back to it and ... BRANDON SANDERSON The right belief is like a good cloak, I think. If it fits you well, it keeps you warm and safe. The... BRANDON SANDERSON Sometimes Vin imagined she was like the ash, or the wind, or the mist itself. A thing without though... BRANDON SANDERSON Fantasy has had some problems with being too repetitive, in my opinion. I try to read what other peo... BRANDON SANDERSON I died down at that chasm. Now you’ve got my vengeful spirit to deal with. BRANDON SANDERSON We're not moments, Megan, you and me. We're events. You say you might not be the same person you wer... BRANDON SANDERSON She slumped toward the ground, but I grabbed her and heaved her onto my shoulder, then ran down the ... BRANDON SANDERSON In fact, the entire nature of this State seemed to highlight that political power was just an illusi... BRANDON SANDERSON Back in my State, I'm very close to being able to control the weather. I'll be all-powerful, once I'... BRANDON SANDERSON I’m good at doing things I’m not supposed to,” she said, then kicked the door open. BRANDON SANDERSON XinWey’s Doctrine states that the most essential morality of mankind is to create the greatest ... BRANDON SANDERSON Well, best to remain vigilant. It’s when everything is calm that you need to be most alert. BRANDON SANDERSON On the three-hundredth anniversary of my birth, I finally managed to conquer the world. BRANDON SANDERSON Actually, [Wax] said, we came here because we needed someplace safe to think for a few hours." ... BRANDON SANDERSON