Brandon Sanderson Quotes

Biography

Type: Fantasy and science fiction writer

Born: 0

Died: 0

Brandon Sanderson is an American fantasy and science fiction writer. He is best known for his Mistborn series and his work in finishing Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series "The Wheel of Time". In 2010, Sanderson published "The Way of Kings", the first of a ten book series called "The Stormlight Archive".

Brandon Sanderson Quotes

You see, that is the sad, sorry, terrible thing about sarcasm.

It's really funny.

People can do great things. However, there are some things they just CAN'T do. I, for instance, have not been able to transform myself into a Popsicle, despite years of effort.

If you give up what you want most for what you think you should want more, you'll end up miserable.

A book lives a new life every time it is read.

Though in this genre we write about the fantastic, the stories work best when there is solid grounding in our world. Magic works best for me when it aligns with scientific principles. Worldbuilding works best when it draws from sources in our world. Characters work best when they’re grounded in solid human emotion and experience.

Every time I turn around, it seems the world has changed somehow.

The world isn't fair? What a huge revelation! Some people in power abuse those they have power over? Amazing! When did this start happening?

Llarimar had told him to do his best. That sounded like an awful lot of work. Unfortunately, doing nothing was beginning to seem like even MORE work.

We create things to watch them grow, Ruin, she said. To take pleasure in seeing that which we love become more than it was before.

Progress is learning to control your world.

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.

Elend: I kind of lost track of time…
Breeze: For two hours?
Elend: There were books involved.

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.

Marsh: Our best efforts were never even a mild annoyance to the Lord Ruler."
Kelsier: Ah, but being an annoyance is something that I am very good at. In fact, I'm far more than just a 'mild' annoyance-people tell me I can be downright frustrating. Might as well use this talent for the cause of good, eh?

It was amazing how many books one could fit into a room, assuming one didn't want to move around very much.

You should try not to talk so much, friend. You'll sound far less stupid that way.

- Breeze

Personally, I like it much better when someone else does the decision making. That way you have legitimate grounds to whine and complain. I tend to find both whining and complaining quite interesting and amusing, though sometimes-unfortunately-it's hard to choose which one of the two I want to do.
Sigh. LIfe can be so tough sometimes.

I'm convinced that responsibility is some kind of psychological disease.

You're a very difficult person to manipulate, you know."
"Nonsense," he said. "You just have to promise me that I won't have to do a thing, and then I'll do anything you want."
"Anything?"
"Anything that doesn't require doing anything."
"That's nothing, then."
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's something.

Life before Death.
Strength before Weakness.
Journey before Destination.

Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right.

It is a time of change,'' Sazed said. ''Perhaps it is also time to learn of other truths, other ways.

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.

Impossible things are really rough to do, you know.

Can a woman not walk with her possessions down the street of a city?

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.

The Shaod, it was called. The Transformation... When it came, the fortuante person's life ended and began anew; he would discard his old, mundane existence and move to Elantris. Elantris, where he could live in bliss, rule in wisdom, and be worshiped for eternity.
Eternity ended ten years ago.

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

Yes, Bastille. I keep trying to get killed because it's inconvenient for you.

Wayne's a little attached to that hat," Waxillium said. "He thinks it's lucky."
Wayne: "It is lucky. I ain't never died while wearing that hat."
Marasi frowned. "I ... I'm not sure I know how to respond."
Wax: "That's a common reaction to Wayne.

To their simple, degenerate minds there was only one thing to do when faced by a God more powerful than their own: Convert.
Brandon Sanderson(Elantris)

The strong lines of the woman's
face bespoke hard-won wisdom and courage, and somehow that made watching
her more difficult. If such a woman could be defeated by Elantris, what hope was there for Raoden?

Belief isn't simply a thing for fair times and bright days, I think. What is belief - what is faith - if you don't continue in it after failure ?

So long as we do not depend on the facts entirely, incomplete knowledge is better than complete ignorance.
-Egwene al'Vere

I believe in rendering to science the things that belong to science. I have no problem with evolution or discussions of the age of the Earth, for I don't believe that we come anywhere near comprehending the mind of God or the workings of the universe. Science can explain a lot, but it cannot give us faith, and I think we need both.

Are there any religions on your list that include the slaughter of noblemen as a holy duty?

And don't waste time worshipping Harmony. Doing good was the worship.

In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you accomplished.

We follow the codes not because they bring gain, but because we loathe the people we would otherwise become.

An easy life taught one very little.

Mocking a woman is like drinking too much wine. It may be fun for a short time, but the hangover is hell.

Those who take lightly promises they make to those they love are people who find little lasting satisfaction in life. This is not an easy time in which to live. That does not mean that it has to be a difficult time to love, but it does mean that you will find unusual stresses upon your lives and your relationship.

My behavior is nonetheless, deplorable. Unfortunately, I'm quite prone to such bouts of deplorability-take for instance, my fondness for reading books at the dinner table.

Remember, the past need not become our future as well.

To live is to have worries and uncertainties. Keep them inside, and they will destroy you for certain-leaving behind a person so callused that emotion can find no root in his heart.

[…] What's wrong with her?"
"Chronic competence, I should guess. She's been so successful in life that she has unrealistic expectations of others.

Has no one done my son a service and assassinated you yet?" "No assassins yet," Wit said, amused. "I guess I've already got too much ass sass of my own."..."Oh really, Wit" she said. "I thought that kind of humour was beneath you." "So are you technically," Wit said, smiling, from atop his high-legged stool.

...Regardless, I still do not believe that your duty is to do as the people wish. Your duty is to lead as best you can, following the dictates of your conscience. You must be true. Your Majesty, to the man you wish to become....

Elend, my dearest Elend who brings a pile of books to each ball he attends and ignores everybody in favour of having a nice read. Elend who has to grow up rather suddenly in the face of the revolution he has read extensively about, but never thought would come to pass.

... reading was hardly as practical a skill as being able to handle a dagger or use Allomancy?

You learned this,” Kabsal said, lifting up her drawing of Jasnah, “from a book.”
“Er…yes?”
He looked back at the picture. “I need to read more.

It is beautiful because it could have been. It should have been.

Men are more resilient than that, I think. Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.

Eternity ended ten years ago.

I think given the choice between loving Mare - betrayal included - and never knowing her, I'd chose love. I risked, and I lost, but the risk was still worth it.

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

Battle was a masculine art. A woman wanting to come to the battlefield was like... well, like a man wanting to read. Unnatural.

Oh, and one thing. Please, please don’t depend on me too much. I mean that. I’m not going to be of much help. If your plots come to a head - if things go wrong at the last moment and you’re in danger or distress - don’t think of me. I will fail you. That I promise from my heart with absolute sincerity." - Lightsong

I was ten,” I said. “Give me a little credit.”
“To a boy with aspirations like that, I would extend my respect - but not credit. Or life insurance.” Abraham sounded amused. “You are an interesting man, David Charleston, but you sound like you were an even more interesting child.

Does one deserve to have evil done to her by consequence of putting herself where evil can reach her?

That was not a glare. That was a dignified look of measured contempt.

You cannot tempt the hearts of men who are pure.

Her aunt Sol had once told Shai to smile at the worst insults and snap at the minor ones. That way, no man would know your heart.

Truth is individual.”
“What? No it’s not. Truth is . . . it’s Truth. Reality.”
“Your truth is what you see,” Pattern said, sounding confused. “What else could it be? That is the truth that you spoke to me, the truth that brings power.

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.

The Larsta believed that life was about seeking the divine, he read. They taught that art draws us closer to understanding divinity. Since not all men can spend their time in art, it is to the benefit of society as a whole to support a group of dedicated artists to create great works, which then elevate those who experience them.

Expectation. That is the true soul of art. If you can give a man more than he expects, then he will laud you his entire life. If you can create an air of anticipation and feed it properly, you will succeed.

To live was to be a fragment of the cosmere that was experiencing itself.

Nearly everything that happened had happened before. The grand lesson of history.

I'm not really sure why. But... do you stop loving someone just because they betray you? I don't think so. That's what makes the betrayal hurt so much - pain, frustration, anger... and I still loved her. I still do.

Pain los[es] its power when other things bec[o]me more important.

Pain lost it's power when other things became more important.Kahar didn't need a potion or an Aon to save him-he just needed something to do.-Brandon sanderson(Elantris)

I am a Smedry, and we do ridiculous, unexpected, eccentric things like this all the time! Ha-ha!

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

For glory lit, and life alive, for goals unreached and aims to strive. All men must try, the wind did see. It is the test, it is the dream.

All people are musicians" Wit countered. "The question is whether or not they share their songs.

Clothing doesn't really change a man. But it changes how others react to him.

Words are where most change begins.

Brightness,” the man said as she stepped up to him, “we aren't what you think we are.”
“No,” Shallan replied. “You aren't what you think yourselves to be.

Those candle flames were like the lives of men. So fragile. So deadly. Left alone, they lit and warmed. Let run rampant, they would destroy the very things they were meant to illuminate. Embryonic bonfires, each bearing a seed of destruction so potent it could tumble cities and dash kings to their knees.

Control is the basis of all true power. Authority and strength are matters of perception

I’m sorry that your mystical, godlike powers do not instantly work as you would like them to.

If men should read these words, let them know that power is a heavy burden. Seek not to be bound by its chains.

I wish that I could know you. Not your soul, but you. I've read about you; I've seen into your heart. I've rebuilt your soul, as best I could. But that isn't the same. It isn't knowing someone, is it? That's knowing about someone.

What a pair they were - a Mistborn who felt guilty wasting coins to jump and a nobleman who thought balls were too expensive.

Some of us fought back with guns and assassinations. Others fought back with a little hot dog stand on the corner.

I don't care if secretly, you think we'll all be dead before the month ends. On the outside, I want to see you smiling. Do it in defiance if you have to. If the end does come, I want this group to meet that end smiling.

People with passion are people who will destroy - for a man's passion is not true until he proves how much he's willing to sacrifice for it.

Everything is a contest. All dealings among men are a contest in which some will succeed and others fail. And some are failing quite spectacularly.

If you perpetuate the dreams of the past, you stifle your own dreams of the future.

a depressed person doesn't want you to try and cheer them up. It makes us
sick.

Too many of us take great pains with what we ingest through our mouths, and far less with what we partake of through our ears and eyes.

Too many scholars think of research as purely a cerebral pursuit. If we do nothing with the knowledge we gain, then we have wasted our study. Books can store information better than we can-what we we do that books cannot is interpret. So if one is not going to draw conclusions, then one might as well just leave the information in the texts.

Share Page

Brandon Sanderson Wiki

Brandon Sanderson At Amazon