Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)

by Brandon Sanderson

The first step to being in control was to see yourself as capable of being in control.

“Inappropriate?” Pattern said. “Such as . . . dividing by zero?”

The trick to happiness wasn’t in freezing every momentary pleasure and clinging to each one, but in ensuring one’s life would produce many future moments to anticipate.

“Very well, you two,” Pattern said. “No mating. NO MATING.” He hummed to himself, as if pleased, then sank down onto a plate.

“No mating!”

“No mating,” Pattern buzzed softly on the wall.

“Words are important,” Gavilar said. “Much more than you give them credit for being.” “Perhaps,” Dalinar said. “But if they were all-powerful, you wouldn’t need my sword, would you?” “Perhaps. I can’t help feeling words would be enough, if only I knew the right ones to say.”

Failure is the mark of a life well lived. In turn, the only way to live without failure is to be of no use to anyone.

“Sometimes, a hypocrite is nothing more than a man who is in the process of changing.”

Love wasn’t about being right or wrong, but about standing up and helping when your partner’s back was bowed. He would likely do the same for her someday.

‘The question,’ she replied, ‘is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die. This is your choice. You cannot pick the destination, only the path.’”

The most important step a man can take. It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step, Dalinar.

“I will take responsibility for what I have done,” Dalinar whispered. “If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.”

“I will protect those I hate. Even . . . even if the one I hate most . . . is . . . myself.”