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Famous Brandon Sanderson Quotes

“People," Shai said, rising to fetch another seal, "by nature attempt to exercise power over what is around them. We build walls to shelter us from the wind, roofs to stop the rain. We tame the elements, bend nature to our wills. It makes us feel as if we're in control. "Except in doing so, we merely replace one influence with another. Instead of the wind affecting us, it is a wall. The fingers of man's influence are all about, touching everything. Man-made rugs, man-made food. Every single thing in the city that we touch, see, feel, experience comes as the result of some person's influence. "We may feel in control, but we never truly are unless we understand people. Controlling our environment is no longer about blocking the wind, it's about knowing why the serving lady was crying last night, or why a particular guard always loses at cards. Or why your employer hired you in the first place.”

PeopleUnderstandingPowerInfluence
Book:Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection
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“Vin paused. "And you have all of these religions memorized?" "As much as is possible," Sazed said. "Their prayers, their beliefs, their mythologies. Many are very similar -- break-offs or sects of one another." "Even still, how can you remember all of that?" "I have...methods," Sazed said. "But, what's the point?" Sazed frowned. "The answer should be obvious, I think. People are valuable, Mistress Vin, and so--therefore--are their beliefs.”

PeopleLoveReligionHumanityBeliefLanguagesMistbornThe Final Empire
Book:Mistborn: The Final Empire
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“By now, it is probably very late at night, and you have stayed up to read this book when you should have gone to sleep. If this is the case, then I commend you for falling into my trap. It is a writer's greatest pleasure to hear that someone was kept up until the unholy hours of the morning reading one of his books. It goes back to authors being terrible people who delight in the suffering of others. Plus, we get a kickback from the caffeine industry.”

PeopleIfsShouldWritingBookNightSufferingFallReadingHoursSleepPleasureMorningCasesGoneIndustryTerribleLateShould HaveDelightHearingCoffeeStayingPlusReading BooksTrapsCaffeineLate NightGreatest PleasuresSuffering Of OthersCommendation
Author:Brandon Sanderson
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“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.”

PeopleIfsFeelsCharacterWould BeHurtSimplePartyCasesNovelReaderTerribleTruth IsFilledWorriedCuteFriendlyControlledLibrarianTerrible ThingsLovableBunniesDungeonsSimple TruthsBirthday Party
Book:Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
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“"Each moment you fight is a gift to those in this cavern. Each second we fight is a second longer that thousands of people can draw breath. Each stroke of the sword, each koloss felled, each breath earned is another victory! It is a person protected for a moment longer, a life extended, an enemy frustrated!" There was a brief pause. "In the end they shall kill us"... "But first, they shall fear us!"”

PeopleFirstsPersonsEndsMomentsFightingEnemyVictoryDrawsBreathsProtectedPausesStrokesCaverns
Author:Brandon Sanderson
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“So, when people try to give you some book with a shiny round award on the cover, be kind and gracious, but tell them you don't read "fantasy," because you prefer stories that are real. Then come back here and continue your research on the cult of evil Librarians who secretly rule the world.”

PeopleWorldGivingTryingKindBookRealStoriesEvilFantasyResearchRoundsBe KindAwardsCultLibrarianGracious
Book:Brandon Sanderson's Fantasy Firsts: (The Way of Kings, Mistborn: The Final Empire, Rithmatist, Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians)
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“Somehow, she had grown into a woman in between the fall of kings and collapse of worlds. Once she had been terrified of change. Then she had been terrified of losing Elend. Now her fears were more nebulous - worries of what would come after she was gone, worries of what would happen to the people of the empire if she failed.”

PeopleIfsWorldHappensFallWorryGoneKingsLosingEmpiresCollapseTerrified
Book:The Hero of Ages: Mistborn Book Three
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“I don't have much time for stories," Vin said. "Seems that fewer and fewer people do, these days." A canopy kept off the ash, but he seemed unconcerned about the mists. "It makes me wonder what is so alluring about the real world that gives them all such a fetish for it. It's not a very nice place these days.”

PeopleWorldGivingSaidRealStoriesSeemsWonderNiceThese DaysReal WorldFewerAshesMistVery NiceFetishAlluringUnconcernedCanopy
Book:The Hero of Ages: Book Three of Mistborn
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“What kind of woman is still able to trust people after everything she's been through? If she'd been Vin, she would have stabbed him in the back at the first opportunity, and that would have probably been the right thing to do. Yet, this girl just continued to trust. It was like finding a beautiful plant growing alone in a field of burnt ash.”

PeopleIfsFirstsKindStillsAbleBeautifulGirlOpportunityGrowingFieldsFindingsPlantThings To DoRight ThingAshesThis GirlPlants Growing
Book:The Hero of Ages: Book Three of Mistborn
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“People can do great things. However, there are somethings they just can't do. I, for instance, have not been able to transform myself into a Popsicle, despite years of effort. I could, however, make myself insane, if I wished. (Though if I achieved the second, I might be able to make myself think I'd achieved the first....) Anyway, if there's a lesson to be learned, it's this: great success often depends on being able to distinguish between the impossible and the improbable. Or, in easier terms, distinguishing between Popsicles and insanity. Any questions?”

PeopleIfsThinkingYearsFirstsMightAbleTermCan DoEffortImpossibleDependsEasierLessonsGreat ThingsInsaneDespiteInstanceInsanityGreat SuccessImprobableLessons To Be LearnedPopsicles
Book:Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
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“...Generally people don't recomend this type of book at all. It is far too interesting. Perhaps you have had other books recomended to you. Perhaps, even, you have been given books by friends, parents, teachers, then told that these books are the type you have to read. Those books are invariably described as "important"- which in my experience, pretty much means that they're boring. (words like meaningful and thoughtful are other good clues.)”

PeopleMeanHas BeensImportantBookGivenParentInterestingTeacherTypeBoringMeaningfulThoughtfulClue
Author:Brandon Sanderson
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“Wayne: You wanna know why I really came to find you? Waxilliam: Why? Wayne: I thought of you happy in a comfy bed, resting and relaxing, spending the rest of your life sipping tea and reading papers while people bring you food and maids rub your toes and stuff. Waxilliam: And? Wayne: And I just couldn't leave you to a fate like that...I'm too good a friend to let a mate of mine die in such a terrible situation. Waxilliam: Comfortable? Wayne: No. Boring.”

PeopleKnowsDiesReadingStuffSituationFateMinesTerribleBedPaperComfortableBoringSpendingTeaMatesToesPapersRest Of Your LifeMaidsWayneSippingThoughts Of You
Author:Brandon Sanderson
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“Kelsier smiled. 'It means that you, Vin, are a very special person. You have a power that most high noblemen envy. It is a power that, had you been born an aristocrat, would have made you one of the most deadly and influential people in all of the final empire.' Kelsier leaned forward again. 'But, you weren't born an aristocrat. You're not noble, Vin. You don't have to play by their rules--and that makes you even more powerful.”

PeopleMeanPersonsMadePlayBornPowerfulSpecialFinalsEnvyNobleEmpiresInfluentialNoblemenInfluential PeopleKelsierVery Special Person
Book:The Final Empire: Mistborn Book One
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“She loved the teachings of the Five Visions. Humility. Sacrifice. Seeing another's problems before your own. Yet she was beginning to think that she-- along with others-- had taken this belief too far, letting her desire to seem humble become a form of pride itself. She now saw that when her faith had become about clothing instead of people, it had taken a wrong turn.”

PeopleThinkingProblemSeemsFormDesireTurnsBeliefVisionTakenFiveSawsSeeingSacrificeTeachingHumilityPrideHumbleClothingsWrong Turn
Author:Brandon Sanderson
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“Elend shook his head. "We can survive this. But, the only way that will happen is if our people don't give up. They need leaders who laugh, leaders who feel that this fight can be won. So, this is what I ask of you. I don't care if you're an optimist or a pessimist—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. As the Survivor taught us.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWayWantNeedsGivingFeelsDoeEndsHappensCareFightingAsksLeaderLaughingGroupsTaughtMonthsGiving UpDon't CareI Don't CareSurvivorOptimistDefiancePessimistDon't Give UpTaught UsWant To See You
Book:The Hero of Ages: Book Three of Mistborn
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“There was rarely an obvious branching point in a person's life. People changed slowly, over time. You didn't take on step, then find yourself in a completely new location. You first took a little step off a path to avoid some rocks. For a while, you walked alongside the path, but then you wandered out a little way to step on softer soil. Then you stopped paying attention as you drifted farther and farther away. Finally, you found yourself in the wrong city, wondering why the signs on the roadway hadn't led you better.”

PeopleWayFirstsLittlesPersonsFoundCitiesAttentionWonderStepsPathRocksChangedObviousPay AttentionSoilFinding YourselfLocation
Book:Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection
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