"“I have to protect him,” Kaladin whispered. Why? “If I protect …” He coughed. “If I protect…only the people I like, it means that I don’t care about doing what is right.” If he did that, he only cared about what was convenient for himself. That wasn’t protecting. That was selfishness."

"I watched you keep your word with perfection. This is a thing lost to most people—it is the only genuine beauty in the world."

"“You seem to have found purpose in talkin’ a whole bunch,” Lift said. “Without being helpful to nobody.”"

"To be human was often to be forced to choose between distasteful options."

"“When did you get so peppy?” she shouted. “Ever since I assumed I was dead, then I suddenly wasn’t.” “Then remind me to try to kill you once in a while,” she snapped. “If I succeed, it will make me feel better, and if I fail, it will make you feel better. Everyone wins!”"

"To age truly was to suffer the ultimate treason, that of one’s body against oneself."

"“The storm caught him,” Kaladin said. “The storm catches everyone, eventually. Does it matter?” “I don’t know.” “Good.” Wit tipped his sword up toward his forehead, as if in respect. “Then you have something to think about.”"

"The difference between a successful thief and a dead thief is knowing when to escape with your takings."

"“Someone has to care,” she said, starting down the hallway. “Too few people care, these days.” “You say this while coming in to rob people.” “Sure. Ain’t gonna hurt them.” “You have an odd sense of morality, mistress.” “Don’t be stupid,” she said. “Every sense of morality is odd.”"

"“‘Honor’ is a word applied to the actions of men from the past who have had their lives scrubbed clean by historians.”"

"“They all stretched farther and farther until they collapsed. In all the history of mankind, has any conqueror decided they had enough? Has any man just said, ‘This is good. This is what I wanted,’ and gone home?”"

"All stories have been told before. We tell them to ourselves, as did all men who ever were. And all men who ever will be. The only things new are the names."

"Adeline placed the glyphward in the brazier, then bowed his head as it burned. A prayer to the Almighty for aid. His combatants for the day would probably be burning their own prayers. How did the Almighty decide whom to help?"

"Jasnah had once defined a fool as a person who ignored information because it disagreed with desired results."

"Words on the page define men to future generations."

"“Morality is an axis that doesn’t interest us,” Mraize said calmly. “Only loyalty and power are relevant, for morality is as ephemeral as the changing weather. It depends upon the angle from which you view it.”"

"“I am a soldier, not a musician,” Kaladin said. “Besides, music is for women.” “All people are musicians,” Wit countered. “The question is whether or not they share their songs. As for music being feminine, it’s interesting that the woman who wrote that treatise—the one you all practically worship in Alethkar—decided that all of the feminine tasks involve sitting around having fun while all the masculine ones involve finding someone to stick a spear in you. Telling, eh?”"

"“What do you know?” “Almost everything. That almost part can be a real kick in the teeth sometimes.” “What do you want, then?” “What I can’t have.” Wit turned to him, eyes solemn. “Same as everyone else.”"

"“I know full well how to have a good time.” “Is that so?” “Yes. It involves being anywhere you aren’t.”"

"“That was a joke, bridgeboy.” “My mistake. I was under the impression that jokes were supposed to be funny.” “Only to people with a sense of humor.” “Ah, of course,” Kaladin said. “I traded in my sense of humor long ago.” “And what did you get for it?” “Scars,” Kaladin said softly."

"Better to be overly cautious than naive."

"To be human is to seek beauty."

"“The men are happy.” “And you?” “Bored. All we do every day is sit around, collect what you pay us, and go drinking.” “Most men would consider that an ideal profession.” She smiled at En, then climbed into the coach. Vathah shut the door for her, then looked in the window. “Most men are idiots.”"

"She’d had so much more time when she was younger. She couldn’t help thinking she’d wasted much of it."

"“Where is he?” “Doing things he finds very important. I would fault him for it, as I find nothing more frightening than a man trying to do what he has decided is important. Very little in the world has ever gone astray—at least on a grand scale—because a person decided to be frivolous.”"

"That was the problem with sneaking about. If nothing seemed to have gone wrong, you rarely knew if it was because you were safe, or if someone had spotted you and just hadn’t done anything. Yet."

"“I ain’t grouchy,” Teft snapped. “I just have a low threshold for stupidity.”"

"She let the world consume her. The familiar sound of pencil on paper, the focus of creation. Beauty was out there, all around. To create art was not to capture it, but to participate in it."

"“Hmmm. Someone has a high opinion of himself. Comes with being royalty, I suppose. Like funny hats and a fondness for beheadings.”"

"“We just need to be more optimistic.” “Being optimistic does not change facts.”"

"“You really don’t think highly of the others, do you?” Shallan asked. “I hate them,” Sebarial said. “But I try to hate everyone. That way, I don’t risk leaving out anyone who is particularly deserving. Anyway, here we are. Don’t expect me to help you out of the carriage.”"

"“If the afterlife really is a big war,” Kaladin said, then I hope I end up in Damnation. At least there I might be able to get a wink or two of sleep.”"

"They all ignored the truth stabbing them in the face."

"“Storms,” she breathed. “Those are all different kinds of wine?” “Yeah,” Adolin said. He leaned toward her, as if conspiratorial. “Honestly, I don’t pay a lot of attention. Renarin knows the difference between them—he’ll drone on if you let him. Me, I order something that sounds important, but I’m really just choosing based on color.”"

"“I know you do not mean this. Context allows me to infer what you truly mean. In a way, the very phrase is a lie.” “It’s not a lie,” Shallan said, “if everyone understands and knows what it means.” “Those are some of the best lies.”"

"“Not so crude then, if it almost killed him.” “Pardon, Torol, but almost is a big distinction in assassinations.”"

"It wasn’t a lie. It was a different truth."

"Do not make me kick you. I do not like kicking. It hurts my toes."

"Jasnah hadn’t cared what people thought of her, yet had always kept her appearance immaculate. Not that Jasnah had acted alluringly—never for a moment. In fact, she’d disparaged such behavior in no uncertain terms. Using a fetching face to make men do as you wish is no different from a man using muscle to force a woman to his will, she’d said. Both are base, and both will fail a person as they age. No, Jasnah had not approved of seduction as a tool. However, people responded differently to those who looked in control of themselves."

"His mother would probably lament how little Kaladin care for religious observance. The way Kaladin figured it, the Almighty didn’t show much concern for him, so why care back?"

"Nearly everything that happened had happened before. The grand lesson of history, and…"

"That crazy man happened to have blue eyes, which let him get away with all kinds of trouble. Perhaps Wit should have been bemused by the stock these people put in something as simple as eye color, but he had been many places and seen many methods of rule. This didn’t seem any more ridiculous than most others."

"“And so,” he said, “in the end, what must we determine? Is it the intellect of a genius that we revere? If it were their artistry, the beauty of their mind, would we not laud it regardless of whether we’d seen their product before? “But we don’t. Given two works of artistic majesty, otherwise weighted equally, we will give greater acclaim to the one who did it first. It doesn’t matter what you create. It matters what you create before anyone else. “So it’s not the beauty itself we admire. It’s not the force of intellect. It’s not invention, aesthetics, or capacity itself. The greatest talent that we think a man can have?” He plucked one final string. “Seems to me that it must be nothing more than novelty.”"

"“Historians,” Shallan said, “are a bunch of liars.” “Mmmmm,” Pattern said, sounding satisfied. “That wasn’t a compliment.” “Oh.”"

"“This is the tiresome part of the feast, where the conversation grows louder but no smarter, and the company drunken.” “Many people consider that sort of thing enjoyable.” “Many people, unfortunately, are idiots.”"

"I have spent too much of my time worrying about what people think, Navani. When I thought my time had arrived, I realized that all my worrying had been wasted. In the end, I was pleased with how I had lived my life."

"Shallan smiled at the wonderful surroundings, the light rainfall, the beautiful plant life. A little dampness was a small price to pay for the melodious sound of sprinkling rain, for fresh clean air and a beautiful sky full of clouds that varied in every shade of grey."

"“You don’t know that for certain,” Teft said. “You don’t know for certain I don’t know for certain.”"

"Pattern hummed. “Truth is individual.” “What? No it’s not. Truth is…it’s Truth. Reality.”"