"Wit dropped his bloody handkerchief before Ruthar. “How remarkable,” he said. “If you spend your life knocking people down, you eventually find they won’t stand up for you. There’s poetry in that, don’t you think, you storming personification of a cancerous anal discharge?”"

"And she would ask the best question of them all. What will I discover next?"

"The man who forges weapons can claim he’s never killed, but he still prepares for the slaughter."

"She knew she shouldn’t let the lack of results bother her. Real scientists understood that experiments like this weren’t failures; they were necessary steps on the way to discovery."

"Eventually Dalinar had done what any good commander did when faced by such persistent mass insubordination: He backed down. When good men disobeyed, it was time to look at your orders."

"New recruits might get bored by guard duty, but you’ll never find a veteran complaining about a nice quiet afternoon of not being stabbed."

"“You like irony now too?” “Irony tastes good. Like sausage.”"

"True freedom—with the power to make certain she didn’t ever have to be dependent upon anyone else, listener or spren. True freedom couldn’t exist while someone else had power over you."

"“But profiting off people’s emotions?” “Pity can be a powerful tool. Anytime you can make someone else feel something, you’ve got power over them.”"

"In her little room of a laboratory, everything fit together. She’d met scholars who claimed they needed chaos to function. Perhaps that was true for some, but in her experience, good science wasn’t about sloppy inspiration. It was about meticulous incrementalization."

"And storm Teft if it wasn’t a valid question. One not enough soldiers asked themselves. Right here, right now, should I be fighting? Is there a better way?"

"Mathematics thought that there were numbers associated with tones—frequencies, wavelengths. Music, at its most fundamental level, was math."

"Sometimes, a hypocrite is nothing more than a man who is in the process of changing."

"Alone in the darkness, standing with his back to the wall, facing overwhelming numbers. A glorious way to die, but Kaladin didn’t want glory. He’d given up on that foolish dream as a child."

"Any information—even if you suspect your enemy is feeding it to you—is useful, son. More wars are lost to lack of information than are lost to lack of courage."

"All this time, he’s been asking what a god could possibly fear, but the answer was obvious. Odium feared men who would not obey him."

"The trouble wasn’t getting answers. It was finding the presence of mind to accept them."

"I’m not using a key at all. I’m breaking the lock."

"If there is one thing I can guarantee you about humankind, Last Listener, is is this: Provide them with a sword , and they will find a way to impale themselves upon it.”"

"“I’m telling you to think!” his father snapped. “I’m telling you that if you want to change the world, you have to stop being part of the problem!”"

"“No one ever accomplished anything by being content with who they were, Shallan,” Adolin said. “We accomplish great things by reaching toward who we could become.” “As long as it’s what you want to become. Not what someone else thinks you should become.”"

"“That was rude.” “Rudeness doesn’t imply untruth though.”"

"“Must be nice,” Adolin said, patting the horse, “to not have to worry about things like politics or relationships.” The horse snorted in a way that Adolin thought was distinctly dismissive. Well, perhaps there was more to complicate a horse’s life than a man could ever see."

"“We need both heart and mind,” Lirin said. “The heart might provide the purpose, but the head provides the method, the path. Passion is nothing without a plan. Wanting something doesn’t make it happen.”"

"Navani wasn’t certain what to think about how easily it had happened. It was nice to make headway; yet in her experience, a fair breeze one day was the herald of a tempest to come."

"She had been around enough intelligent people to know they worked best in an encouraging environment where study and discovery were rewarded."

"I wasn’t thinking straight, Veil thought. That’s kind of the point of drinking.…"

"Kaladin had never had much time for art. Either the picture depicted something useful—like a map—or it was basically pointless."

"“Where’s your sense of adventure?” “I dragged it out back and clubbed it senseless for getting me into the army.”"

"The best indication of what human beings will do is not what they think, but what the record says similar groups have done in the past."

"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."

"“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.”"

"“It wouldn’t be polite for me to interrupt,” Notum said. “Please continue your insane rant.”"

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

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

"“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."

"A thousand wrong plans were no more useful that a single wrong one."

"“Nothing is real,” Wit said. “At least by one measure of philosophy. So enjoy what you seem to be able to eat and don’t complain.”"

"The fact that these had thrown their lives away so wantonly did not speak highly of their master."

"Heroism is a myth you tell idealistic young people—specifically when you want them to go bleed for you."

"A good lie, the delicious kind, hinted at hidden grandeur or further secrets. This was instead the lie of a drunken has-been at the bar, trying to drum up enough pity to get a free drink. It was more pathetic than interesting."

"Expensive, yes. But by definition, therefore, not priceless."

"“You can’t civilize war,” Dalinar said. “There’s no painting it up and making it pretty.”"

"She felt like drawing this scene, but knew it was the type of moment she couldn’t capture on a page. It wasn’t about content or composition, but the pleasure of living. The trick to happiness wasn’t in freezing every momentary pleasure and clinging to each one, but in ensuring one’s life would produce many future moments to anticipate."

"“Do you think you can take the truth?” “Try for once. It would be refreshing.”"

"“You’re not a monster, Shallan,” Wit whispered. “Oh, child. The world is monstrous at times, and there are those who would have you believe that you are terrible by association.” “I am.” “No. For you see, it flows the other direction. You are not worse for your association with the world, but it is better for its association with you.”"