Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)

by Brandon Sanderson

Authority is not a real thing. Jasnah’s words. It is mere vapors—an illusion. I can create that illusion . . . as can you.

“I do not remember well, but did Jasnah not use a desk when . . . ‘doing scholarship’?” “Desks are for boring people,” Shallan said. “And for people who don’t have a squishy bed.”

“What you did tonight was clever,” Wit said. “You turned an attack into a promise. The wisest of men know that to render an insult powerless, you often need only to embrace it.”