Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)

by Brandon Sanderson

“Think of a man who gets angry often. Think of how his friends and family might start referring to that anger as a beast, as a thing that possesses him, as something external to him. Humans personify. We speak of the wind as if it has a will of its own.

“It doesn’t bother you at all?” Jasnah said. “The idea of being beholden to another, particularly a man?” “It’s not like I’m being sold into slavery,” Shallan said with a laugh.

Girl...

That’s what you do, a deeply buried part of herself accused her. You distract yourself. You refuse to think about things that bother you. But that was how she survived.

Pattern buzzed, speaking with a new voice, interpreting the sphere’s words. “I am a stick,” he said. He sounded satisfied. “You could be fire,” Shallan said. “I am a stick.”

“We are led by a king,” the newcomer said. “Gender is irrelevant.”

“You will draw more,” Pattern whispered. “I don’t want to.” Shallan blinked free more tears. “I will not stop vibrating. The wind will not stop blowing. You will not stop drawing.”

Expectation wasn’t just about what people expected of you. It was about what you expected of yourself.

Pattern buzzed uncertainly. “What is a leg? Only as it is defined by you. Without a perspective, there is no such thing as a leg, or a table. There is only wood.” “You’ve told me the table perceives itself this way.” “Because people have considered it, long enough, as being a table,” Pattern said. “It becomes truth to the table because of the truth the people create for it.”

“Captivating?” Syl said. “Amazing, witty, meaningful?” “Repetitive.” “Captivating?” Syl said. “Amazing, witty, meaningful?” “Very funny.” “Says the man not laughing,” she replied, folding her arms.