The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)

by Brandon Sanderson

The sun blazed reddish white on the horizon, like the hottest part of a smith’s fire. It lit the framing clouds with a spray of color, paint thrown carelessly on a canvas.

But expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.

A blank page was nothing but potential, pointless until it was used.

The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”

“Please, just remember that a woman’s mind is her most precious weapon. It must not be employed clumsily or prematurely. Much like the aforementioned knife to the back, a clever gibe is most effective when it is unanticipated.”

‘Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.’ ”

As if the lack of storms left him without strength.

Forshadowing?!?!

So many objections rose in his mind, but Tien’s smile banished them. There, in the midst of the dreariest part of the year, Kaladin felt for a moment as if he had glimpsed sunshine. He could swear he felt things grow brighter around them, the storm retreating a shade, the sky lightening.

“This world, it is a tempest sometimes. But remember, the sun always rises again.”

“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon. Too often, we forget that.”

‘And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived. “ ‘In the end, I must proclaim that no good can be achieved of false means. For the substance of our existence is not in the achievement, but in the method.

She was a wonderful woman, Navani Kholin. A wonderful, amazing, dangerous woman.

Can you feel it?” Wit asked of the open night. “Something just changed. I believe that’s the sound the world makes when it pisses itself.”