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Sometimes Vin imagined she was like the ash, or the wind, or the mist. A thing without thought, capable of simply being, not thinking, caring, or hurting. Then she could be … free.
If men read these words, let them know that power is a heavy burden. Seek not to be bound by its chains. The Terris prophecies say that I will have the power to save the world. They hint, however, that I will have the power to destroy it as well.
The only reason to be subservient to those with power is so that you can learn to someday take what they have.
You’re not noble, Vin. You don’t have to play by their rules—and that makes you even more powerful.”
“Those Inquisitors won’t just let us throw their pretty theocracy into chaos.”
“My dear friend,” Breeze replied, “the entire point of life is to find ways to get others to do your work for you. Don’t you know anything about basic economics?”
“I’ll stay,” she said. “But not because I trust you.” Kelsier raised an eyebrow. “Why, then?” Vin shrugged, and she sounded perfectly honest when she spoke. “Because I want to see what happens.”
The right belief is like a good cloak, I think. If it fits you well, it keeps you warm and safe. The wrong fit, however, can suffocate.”
In the end, I worry that my arrogance shall destroy us all.
What they do not realize—and what you must realize—is that manipulating others is something that all people do. In fact, manipulation is at the core of our social interaction.”
What would it be like if every nation—from the isles in the south to the Terris hills in the north—were united under a single government? What wonders could be achieved, what progress could be made, if mankind were to permanently set aside its squabblings and join together?
Perhaps it is due to the pressure of knowing that I must somehow bear the burden of an entire world. Perhaps it is caused by the death I have seen, the friends I have lost. The friends I have been forced to kill.
“The best liars are those who tell the truth most of the time.”
Perhaps someone else would have come to carry this terrible burden. Someone who could bear it far better than I. Someone who deserved to be a hero.
… 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.”
“Women are like … thunderstorms. They’re beautiful to look at, and sometimes they’re nice to listen to—but most of the time they’re downright inconvenient.”
Don’t forget the ash because you see a little silk. If those people in there knew you were skaa, they’d have you slaughtered as easily as they did that poor boy.
Banning books is tricky business,
After some thought, she decided that the concept of loving siblings was a little like the Allomantic pulse lengths she was supposed to be looking for—they were just too unfamiliar for her to understand at the moment.
In the end, I worry that my arrogance shall destroy us all.
Green and beautiful, Vin thought. Why would green be beautiful? That would be like having blue or purple plants—it would just be weird.
With everything they’ve done to us—the deaths, the tortures, the agonies—you’d think that we would give up on things like hope and love. But we don’t. Skaa still fall in love. They still try to have families, and they still struggle. I mean, here we are … fighting
I can still see the tears in a young child’s eyes and feel pain at his suffering. If I ever lose this, then I will know that I’ve passed beyond hope of redemption.
“But what is money? A physical representation of the abstract concept of effort.
No man dies by my hand or command except that I wish there had been another way. Still, I kill them. Sometimes I wish that I weren’t such a cursed realist.
“Now, let me give you another piece of advice, Kelsier, Survivor of Hathsin. Know when to quit.
“If you’re always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing.
I want this city to be so tense that when
it finally breaks, even the Lord Ruler won’t be able to hold it together.”
he was a good man, one who deserved a woman who was worthy of his trust. Unfortunately, he had Vin.
Is this a burden that any man should bear? Is this a temptation any man could resist? I feel strong now, but what will happen when I touch that power? I will save the world, certainly—but will I try to take it as well?
“Maybe,” Vin said. “But still … things will change.” “That is the nature of all life, mistress,” Sazed said. “The world must change.”
Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.”
Before such passion and hatred, even good men can be deceived.
She’s right. What do I owe him? The answer came immediately. I love him.
“You don’t stop loving someone just because they hurt you,” he said. “It would certainly make things easier if you did.”
His words to Valette in that area hadn’t been false—he needed to make certain his family survived the house war. After that … well, perhaps they could find a way to work around the lies and the scams.
You tried to destroy me, Pits of Hathsin, he thought, climbing down farther into the rift. It’s time to return the favor.
“You still have some things to learn about friendship, Vin. I hope someday you realize what they are.”
I never wanted to be feared. If I regret one thing, it is the fear I have caused. Fear is the tool of tyrants. Unfortunately, when the fate of the world is in question, you use whatever tools are available.
She wished she could simply … go. Float away. Become mist.
She’d once wished for freedom—and then had assumed she’d found it. She had been wrong. This wasn’t freedom, this grief, this hole within her.
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?”
“Anyone can believe in someone, or something, that always succeeds, mistress. But failure … now, that is hard to believe in, certainly and truly. Difficult enough to have value, I think.”
“He was no prophet or god. He was just a man.”
It was a fun job, wasn’t it? When you remember me, please remember that. Remember to smile.
May you rule in wisdom.
Please don’t be angry at me for abandoning you.
Farewell. I’ll tell Mare about you. She always wanted a daughter.
My place is not to seek popularity or love; my place is to ensure mankind’s survival.
