Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5)

by Brandon Sanderson

He had his scholar, though in truth Gavilar was baffled by the Light he was creating … Light that could somehow kill the Voidbringers? How had Vasher made—

VASHER!?

Taravangian nodded, appearing thoughtful. “That was an inspiring speech. Do you actually believe it?” “Would I say it if I didn’t?” “Of course you would; a king will say whatever needs to be said.

“Or I,” she thundered, “shall make silly faces at you. As I alone can.” “They aren’t silly,” he said, shivering. “They’re hilarious.” “Last time you made a tentacle come out of your forehead.” “Highbrow comedy.” “Then it slapped me.” “Punch line. Obviously. All the humans in the world, and I picked the one without a taste for refined humor.”

Hahaha

Dark days. But days like this existed too. And he would remember.

Unfortunately, Oroden had been listening. He patted Kaladin on the knee. “It’s okay, Gagadin,” he said in a comforting voice. “Poop goes in potty. Get a treat!”

“If it weren’t for that capacity, then what good would choices be? If we never had the power to do terrible things, then what heroism would it be to resist?”

If hope doesn’t mean anything to you when you lose, then it wasn’t ever a virtue in the first place. It took me a long time to learn that, and I finally did so from the writings of a man who lost every belief he thought he had, then started over new.” “Sounds like someone wise,” Syl said. “Oh, Sazed is among the best. Hope I get to meet him someday.”

Awww *tear*

“That spren…” Adolin said. “It was familiar somehow. Its eyes … I’ve seen it somewhere before…”

Surebloods spren??

“I’m proud,” Kaladin repeated, drawing gloryspren. “Proud of who you are and what you’ve become. I don’t think there’s a captain all the world over who could feel more joy than I do right now, seeing you all. I started this two years ago in an effort to get a handful of sorry men to look up for a change. Little did I know they’d end up taking to the skies.”

“And Lord Kelsier?”

WHAT?!?

Every bit of metal in the room, save for her Shardblade, reacted to him—including her fabrial alarms, which went haywire, flashing rapidly.

ahhhhhh

dwelling on what you were, instead of what you are, never gets a person far.”

Shallan took the page, a sketch of a short Alethi or Veden woman Wit had identified as a Ghostblood, but not one Shallan had ever met. At the bottom he’d written: former actor, recruited recently.

Oh the audio book says "Hoid" instead of "Wit"

“You didn’t raise me, Father. You killed the woman who did.”

Ouch

“Prey can only ever run. It can survive, but it can never win. Not so long as the predator lives.”

As an inanimate object with feelings, the sword said from Szeth’s back, I think I should be offended. “No offense was implied, sword-nimi,” Szeth said. Oh, good! I won’t kill you then. Ha ha.

Ive missed this sword lol

So, she helped Red wheel a small tool cart down the roadway,

Audiobook says helped "Gaz"

Wit grew distant, a faint smile on his lips. “Once. It wasn’t a full Ascension, but a mortal did give up the power once. It proved to be the wrong choice, but it was the most selfless thing I believe I’ve ever witnessed. So yes, Dalinar, it is possible. But not easy.”

Vin?!

An elevated oath meant everything she did was more efficient: she healed better, Stormlight stayed longer, and she was less … porous to its escape.

Hmm sounds like towerlight has a possibility to be used

“Vasher?” Kaladin asked. “You call him Zahel,”

“We never courted,” Adolin said. Then, with a wince, he corrected himself. “I never thought we were courting. She … um … understood differently.”

Audio book says dated instead of courting

But people break, and sometimes the strong ones break harder than the weak ones—because they’re the ones you pile everything on top of.

Learn from the past, and you could predict the future without needing any mystical talent.

He removed the loose block by the wall, reached in, and came out with a handful of scratchy wool. Sewn together into the shape of a lamb. Oh, glories within …

Awwww. Molli.

“The world needs killers,” Kaladin said. “So if it can’t find them, it makes them out of whatever raw materials are at hand. Like children who love to dance.”

“Rule number one,” Kaladin called after him. “You’re not a thing. You’re a person. Rule number two, you get to choose. And there’s a third rule, Szeth. You deserve to be happy.”

“The truth is, there’s a balance. You are a product of what life, society, and people have done to you. You bear blame for what you did, but others bear a lot of it too. It’s never too late to accept that your past might not be an excuse, but it is a valid explanation.

neither truth nor answers are easy to find. We still have to try, rather than giving up that responsibility to someone else.

Kaladin supposed that once in a while, every person—even ruthless assassins—needed a hug.

Remember, Honor is not dead.” “Not so long as he lives within us,”

A simple, reasonable precept: if someone you deeply respected disagreed with you, perhaps it was worth reconsidering.

Why is it that all proponents of ‘free thinking’ only accept the answers they want? Anyone who agrees with them is a free thinker. Anyone who doesn’t? Why, they must be blinded by the oppressive norms of society, or are dancing on strings to the evil delight of those in control.”

perhaps re-forming the truth into what you wanted it to be was not a trait merely of liars, but of all human beings.

“You are so bad at math!” “Don’t say that, Pattern,” she replied. “My name, at least, is parallel. That’s a mathematical concept.” “… Your name?” “Yes.” “Parallel?” “Shallan,” she said. “Two ‘l’s. Pair’a’els.” His pattern froze. Then, remarkably, he let out a loud guffaw. “That was actually funny!”

Stories. Specifically, the one she’d told herself: the performance that she was happy and strong and not terrified. A lie that made it possible to shine when all the world was dark.

He waited for the objections, or at least for someone to say they’d miss him. Instead they all perked up.

So sad

He was always there, but never relevant. The quiet one at the edge of the conversation.

The Stormfather blinked open tear-reddened eyes and looked at him. “It hurts.” “Maybe that’s the point. Maybe emotions don’t make us weak. Maybe they teach us. Like the pain of touching a hot stove. They show us what we should do, and remind us what we should not.”

It is often said that the best teacher is failure. This is true. But it is also the best killer. May you be lucky enough in failure to live, and unlucky enough in success to struggle.

HAVING NO GOD IS FAR PREFERABLE TO HAVING A HEARTLESS ONE.

The dirty secret is that all governments are quietly republics—the voting is simply done with the sword or with coin. Everyone conveniently neglects to tell the lower class that it’s their coin, and their lack of swords.

“I am my own agent,” Szeth shouted. “I make my own choices. I. Am. THE LAW!”

They were wounded. So was he. Sometimes you had to press forward anyway.

An oath could be broken, but a promise? A promise stood as long as you were still trying. A promise understood that sometimes your best wasn’t enough. A promise cried with you when all went to Damnation. A promise came to help when you could barely stand. Because a promise knew that sometimes, being there was all you could offer.

Adolin raised his hand in salute, then summoned Maya as a Blade. Thank you, he thought. Life before death, she replied. Or maybe life after death this time? I never really understood that motto anyway. Let’s kick some Fused ass.

He felt them. The people of the tower, of the surrounding nations, of Alethkar, of the world. He felt their fear, their love, their dreams. Some of them hurt, as Odium said. That was terrible, but it was also life. And life could be painful.

So often, it began with just looking up. That was the first step in clawing free of this darkness.

“I’m just an old spear who wouldn’t break,

“Every parent must choose themselves or their child, every day—sometimes multiple times a day. When to play. When to rest. Every decision we make influences others, and sometimes harms them. That’s not the way of kings. That’s the way of life.”

Parents were just people.