Smiley C

“Well, parents have to say things like that. They’re required to see the best in their children, otherwise living with the little sociopaths would drive a person mad.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Tress of the Emerald Sea

“We want to imagine that people are consistent, steady, stable. We define who they are, create descriptions to lock them on a page, divide them up by their likes, talents, beliefs. Then we pretend some—perhaps most—are better than we are, because they stick to their definitions, while we never quite fit ours. Truth is, people are as fluid as time is. We adapt to our situation like water in a strangely shaped jug, though it might take us a little while to ooze into all the little nooks. Because we adapt, we sometimes don’t recognize how twisted, uncomfortable, or downright wrong the container is that we’ve been told to inhabit.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Tress of the Emerald Sea

“That is one of the great mistakes people make: assuming that someone who does menial work does not like thinking. Physical labor is great for the mind, as it leaves all kinds of time to consider the world. Other work, like accounting or scribing, demands little of the body—but siphons energy from the mind.

If you wish to become a storyteller, here is a hint: sell your labor, but not your mind. Give me ten hours a day scrubbing a deck, and oh the stories I could imagine. Give me ten hours adding sums, and all you’ll have me imagining at the end is a warm bed and a thought-free evening.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Tress of the Emerald Sea

“A little pebble starts an avalanche. [...]
You lose a little—and that makes you wonder if you deserve to lose. So you lose some more. You’re behind, no matter how you scramble to stop it. [...]
No one thing had ruined me. It had just…piled on.
[...]
You’ll have accomplished something truly special.” “Which is?” “You’ll have gotten out from under that avalanche, Johnny. You’ll have escaped.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England