Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)

by Brandon Sanderson

‘Many people consider that sort of thing enjoyable.’ ‘Many people, unfortunately, are idiots.’

Kaladin hadn’t asked for someone else’s ideals to rule his life. He’d just wanted to survive.

‘You have bad days. You have good days. Evens out eventually.’

The man was a dear, but he was a touch overprotective. In the way a highstorm was a touch windy.

Shallan sat down on the plush, white bed, and sank almost down to her neck. What had they made the thing out of? Air and wishes? It felt luxurious.

Zahel had drawn a circle in the sand and was throwing little colored rocks into it.

‘To be human is to seek beauty,

Because they don’t want to make choices anymore, he thought. Choices can be hard. He knew how that felt. Storms,

He drank a little more, and looked around the room, noticing again how relaxed everyone seemed. This was their life. Work, then play. That was enough for them. Not for him. He needed something more.

To create art was not to capture it, but to participate in it.

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

‘What do you want, then?’ ‘What I can’t have.’ Wit turned to him, eyes solemn. ‘Same as everyone else,

Stormfather. Grey skies and miserable weather made him wonder why he’d even bothered to get out of bed.

‘Have you ever had to choose between two equally distasteful choices?’ ‘Every day I choose to keep breathing.’