Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5)

by Brandon Sanderson

every society in every region of every planet I’ve visited—and I’ve been to quite a large number—has made art.”

How convenient to believe that people are poor because they didn’t care enough about being rich. That they just didn’t pray hard enough. So convenient to make suffering their own fault, rather than life being unfair and birth mattering more than aptitude.

“every single member of Bridge Four now has an honorspren—except me. Curious, how people’s decisions are an individual matter when they’re confronted about them—but those decisions form blatant patterns.”

His family would never be safe unless everything everywhere was under his control. Only then would he never have to fear.

“Dalinar,” she said, “understanding the ways of God is the primary purpose of science.”

the deepest truths always sound a little trite. Because we all know them, and feel foolish being reminded.”

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.

“Keeping an oath is not an ultimate good, Taravangian,” Dalinar whispered. “It is only as good as the ideals it is sworn to.