Sanderson, Brandon

Mistborn

p.79 – " ‘I don’t work that way, Yeden. I invited Clubs to a meeting where I outlined a dangerous plan–one some people might even call stupid. I’m not going to have him assassinated because he decided it was too dangerous. If you do things like that, pretty soon nobody will listen to your plans in the first place.’ "
p.109 – " ‘I have a framework,’ Kelsier said. ‘I know what needs to happen, and I have a few ideas on how to do it. But you don’t gather a group like this and just tell them what to do. We need to work this out together, beginning with a list of problems we need to deal with if we want the plan to work.’ "
p.143 – " ‘I’ve found that in both Allomancy and life, the person who can best judge the consequences of their actions will be the most successful.’ "
p.160 – “While there were noblemen like Camon, the more impressive ones were like this Lord Renoux: calm and self-confident. Men whose nobility was in their bearing rather than their ability to speak scornfully to those around them.”
p.165 – " ‘That depends. The right belief is like a good cloak, I think. If if fits you well, it keeps you warm and safe. The wrong fit, however, can suffocate.’ "
p.167 – “Vin nodded slightly. ‘A good man…’ she said. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever known one of those before.’ "
p.187 – " ‘People don’t like us, my dear. The idea of someone who can play with their emotions, who can mystically get them to do certain things, makes them uncomfortable. What they do not realize and what you must realize– is that manipulating others is somethign that all people do. In fact, manipulation is at the core of our social interaction.’ "
p.190 – " ‘We claim to be doing good,’ Ham said. ‘But the Lord Ruler– as God– defines what is good. So by opposing him, we’re actually evil. But since he’s doing the wrong thing, does evil actually count as good in this case?’ "
p.195 – “The few times that Kelsier had used Allomancy on her emotions, his touch had been like a sudden, blunt punch to the face. He had strength, but precious little subtlety.”
p.201 – “As Reen had always said, results made quick friends.”
p.207 – “Sazed smiled. ‘Oh, often and frequently [the religions do contradict each other].’ But I respect the truths behind them all– and I believe in the need for each one to be remembered.’ "
p.213 – “It is too much, I suppose, to even hope for. A single, unified empire of man? It could never happen.”
p.214 – “In the end, it wasn’t the wealth or the job’s thrill that made her stay. It was the shadowed prospect– unlikely and unreasonable, but still seductive– of a group whose members actually trusted one another. She had to stay. She had to know if it lasted, or if it was– as Reen’s growing whispers promised– all a lie.”
p.219 – “None of them could see Vin, they could only see the face she had put on– the face she wanted them to see. They saw Lady Valette. It was as if Vin weren’t there.”
p.221 – “Many seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the obligators didn’t seem to be acting really as police, or even specifically as spies. Yet they were there. Hovering about, joining in conversations. A constant reminder of the Lord Ruler and his empire.”
p.235 – " ‘That’s the funny thing about arriving somewhere, Vin,’ he said with a wink. ‘Once you’re there, the only thing you can really do is leave again. Get some sleep– you’re looking a bit ragged.’ "
p.265 – “Many think that my journey started in Khlennium, that great city of wonder. They forget that I was no king when my quest began. Far from it.”
p.269 – “It wasn’t that she felt completely secure in her place with Kelsier’s crew– indeed, in a way her place with these people was making her more apprehensive. What if they stopped needing her? What if she became useless to them?”
p.272 – " ‘The best liars are those who tell the truth most of the time.’ "
p.285 – " ‘I risked, and I lost, but the risk was still worth it. It’s the same with my friends. Suspicion is healthy in our profession– but only to an extent. I’d rather trust my men than worry about what will happen if they turn on me.’ "
p.288 – “Vin eyed the other noblewomen, and felt a bit of her confidence vanish. Her dress was beautiful, but the other women had so much more than just gowns. Their long, flowing hair and self-assured airs matched their bejeweled figures.”
p.293 – “Elend seemed so… genuine. He felt like a real person, not a front or a face. And it did seem like he wanted her to talk to him.”
p.307 – “His smile widened. ‘I’m charming that way.’ He stood, looking at her fondly. ‘Ah, Valette. Don’t let them trick you into taking yourself too seriously. It’s not worth the effort.”
p.310 – “This is the Final Empire, Vin, she told herself as the carriage rolled away. Don’t forget the ash because you see a little silk. If those people in there knew you were skaa, they’d have you slaughtered as easily as they did that poor boy.”
p.325 – " ‘Don’t count on it,’ he said out loud. ‘Lord Elend might be reading a forbidden book, but that doesn’t make him our friend. There have always been noblemen like him– young philosophers and dreamers who think that their ideas are new. They like to drink with their firends and grumble about the Lord Ruler; but in their hearts they’re still noblemen. They’ll never overthrow the establishment.’ "
p.330 – “Once, her problems had been things like starvation and beatings– now they were things like extended carriage rides and companions who arrived late for appointments. What did a transformation like that do to a person?”
p.331 – “He probably hadn’t made the decision to go until a short time before– even the new, more responsible Kelsier was an impulsive man. Perhaps that was a good attribute in a leader. He wasn’t afraid to incorporate new ideas, no matter when they occurred to him.”
p.342 – “So many people depend on me. They say I will hold the future of the entire world on my arms. What would they think if they knew that their champion– the Hero of Ages, their savior– doubted himself?”
p.343 – “In the end, I worry that my arrogance shall destroy us all.”
p.343 – “They claimed that once, before the Ascension, the Lord Ruler had been the greatest of men. A beloved leader, a man entrusted with the fate of all mankind.”
p.347 – “One geode; that bought one more week of life. Life beneath the taskmasters’ lashes. Life beneath the rule of a sadistic god. Life beneath the sun gone red.”
p.348 – " ‘In a little over half a year, we’ve gathered a rebellion larger than he’s ever seen. Those kind of results can convert even the stubborn.’ "
p.351 – “I know how you feel, my friend, Kelsier thought. I’m a thief, not a prophet. Sometimes we have to be what the job requires.
p.362 – “Plots behind plots, plans beyond plans. There was always another secret.”
p.364 – “When pages of the logbook weren’t filled with boring notes about the Lord Ruler’s travels, they were instead packed with internal contemplations and lengthy moralistic ramblings. Vin was beginning to wish that she’d never found the books in the first place.”
p.373 – “Very stable, and very clever. While most of the others contributed some kind of Allomantic pwer to the crew, Dockson was valuable because of his simple ability to organize.”
p.395 – “In the end, I must trust in myself. I have seen men who have beaten from themselves the ability to recognize truth and goodness, and I do not think I am one of them. I can still see the tears in a young child’s eyes and feel pain at his suffering. If I ever lose this, then I will know that I’ve passed beyond hope of redemption.”
p.397 – " ‘Everything costs money,’ Ham said. ‘But waht is money? A physical representation of the abstract concept of effort.’ "
p.401 – “Vin settled back in her chair, feeling the warmth of the coal stove at the side of the room, content for the moment to simply enjoy the peace of not having to worry, fight, or plan.”
p.406 – " ‘Strength is a big part of fighting, but it’s not the only part. If you always hit your hardest, you’ll tire faster and you’ll give your opponent information about your limitations. A smart man hits his hardest at the end of a battle, when his opponent is weakest. And in an extended battle– like a war– the smart soldier is the one who survives the longest. He’ll be the man who paces himself.’ "
p.423 – “He forced himself to smile– not out of pleasure, and not out of satisfaction. He smiled despite the grief he felt at the deaths of his men; he smiled because that was what he did. Taht was how he proved to the Lord Ruler– and to himself– that he wasn’t beaten.”
p.437 – " ‘I intend to continue my fight,’ Kelsier said quietly. ‘I realize that some of you question my leadership. You think I’ve been building myself up too much with the skaa. You whisper that I’m making myself into another Lord Ruler– you think that my ego is more important to me than overthrowing the empire.’ "
p.451 – “The other her was something she had always secretly loathed. A child, really. Think to the point of scrawniness, she was lonely, hateful, and untrusting. She loved no one, and no one loved her. She always told herself quietly that she didn’t care. Was there something worth living for?”
p.451 – “She felt a sudden rush of emotions, a sense of worthlessness and confusion.”
p.457 – “Sometimes my companions claim that I worry and question too much. However, while I may wonder about my stature as the hero, there is one thing that I have never questioned: the ultimate good of our quest.”
p.471 – " ‘Elend, Elend,’ Jastes said. ‘You can’t avoid the game by saying you don’t want to play. It’ll find you.’ "
p.473 – “That girl, he thought lazily, is far too interested in politics for her own good. Perhaps he was jealous– only a few months in court, and she already seemed to be more competent than he was. She was so fearless, so bold, so… interesting.”
pp.479-480 – “What will it be like, when this is all over? I wll be just an orinary man again. An unimportant man. It sounds nice– even more desirable than a warm sun and a windless sky. I am so tired of being the Hero of Ages.. tired of enering cities to find either armed hostility or fanatic adoration. I am tired of being loved and hated for what a bunch of old men say I will eventually do. I want to be forgotten. Obscurity. Yes, that would be nice. If men read these words, let them know that power is a heavy burden. Seek not to be bound by its chains. The Terris prophecies say that I will have the power to save the world. They hint, however, that I will have the power to destroy it as well.”
p.484 – “Sazed smiled fondly. ‘Then, mistress,’ he said quietly, ‘simply enjoy what you have. The future will surprise you, I think.’ "
p.485 – " ‘How can you be so optimistic?’ Vin asked. ‘You and Kelsier both.’ … ‘I don’t know, mistress,’ Sazed said. ‘Perhaps our lives have been easier than yours. Or perhaps we are simply more foolish.’ "
p.494 – “Sazed smiled. ‘It was a good religion, Master Kelsier. It focused on discovery and knowledge– to these people, the making of maps was a reverent duty. They believed that once all of the world was known, understood, and catalogued, men would finally find peace and harmony. Many religions teach such ideals, but few actually managed to practice them as well as the Bennet.’ "
pp.494-495 – “Sazed shook his head. ‘Men are more resilient than that, I think. Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.’ "
p.505 – “She’s right. What do I owe him? … The answer came immediately. I love him.”
p.513 – “I worry about what they will say of me. Historians can make what they wish of the past. In a thousand years’ time, will I be remembered as the man who protected mankind from a powerful evil? Or will I be remembered as a tyrant who arrogantly tried to make himself a legend?”
pp.516-517 – " ‘What do you know about them, Kelsier?’ she asked. ‘When’s the last time you slept in an alley, shivering in the cold rain, listening to the beggar next to you cough with a sickness you knew would kill him? When’s the last time you had to lie awake at night, terrified that one of the men in your crew would try to rape you? Have you ever knelt, starving, wishing you had the courage to knife the crewmember beside you just so you could take his crust of bread? Have you ever cowered before your brother as he beat you, all the time feeling thankful because at least you had someone who paid attention to you?’ "
p.517 – “She couldn’t make it stop hurting. She could only sit and shiver as the tears fell, wondering how everything had collapsed so quickly.”
p.523 – “Kelsier laughed. ‘Oh, don’t worry. If you didn’t say some stupid things every once in a while, you certainly wouldn’t fit in with this group.’ "
p.526 – “Jastes sat for a moment, then he finally shook his head. ‘Elend, only you would be relieved to find out that someone was trying to steal from you. Need I remind you that the girl has been lying this entire time? You might have grown attached to her, but I doubt her own feelings are genuine.’ "
p.527 – " ‘That’s not the point. Jastes, she fooled us. If we can’t tell the difference between a skaa and a noblewoman, that means that the skaa can’t be all that different from us. And if they’re not that different from us, what right do we have treating them as we do?’ "
p.531 – “There were so many things Elend wished he could do. But his father was healthy, and young for a lord of his power. It would be decades before Elend took up the house title, assuming he survived that long. He wished he could go to Valette, talk to her, explain his frustrations. She’d understand what he was thinking; for some reason, she always seemed to understand him better than others.”
p.534 – “And with a start of surprise, Vin realized that she felt proud to have been part of it. Perhaps in the future she could help start a real rebellion– one in a place where the skaa weren’t quite so beaten down.”
p.535 – “If you want to be good at burning tin, she thought, translating as best she could, learn to deal with distraction. It isn’t about what you see– it’s about what you can ignore.”
p.537 – " ‘I don’t know,’ Vin said. ‘Once maybe I would have thought you a fool, but… well, that’s kind of what trust is, isn’t it? A willful self-delusion? You have to shut out that voice that whispers about betrayal, and just hope that your friends aren’t going to hurt you.’ "
p.537 – " ‘I…’ Vin trailed off, glancing donw at the slick, ashen street as they walked. ‘I don’t know– and it’s your fault, you know. I used to understand everything. Now it’s all confused.’ "
p.545 – " ‘I am what you will soon be,’ the stranger said, stepping up to the rift. The ribbons of his enveloping black cloak billowed around him, mixing with the mists as he turned toward Walin. ‘I am a survivor.’ "
p.549 – " ‘And that’s why we stayed,’ Dockson said. ‘Kell said it himself– he picked us because he knew we would try something a little different to accomplish a worthwhile goal. You’re good men– even you, Breeze. Stop scowling at me.’ "
p.561 – “I never wanted to be feared. If I regret one thing, it is the fear I have caused. Fear is the tool of tyrants. Unfortunately, when the fate of the world is in question, you use whatever tools are available.”
p.579 – “Sazed shook his head, walking over to stand beside her. ‘Belief isn’t simply a thing for fair times and bright days, I think. What is belief– what is faith– if you don’t continue in it after failure?’ "
p.582 – " ‘He always asked what gave religions so much power. Each time, I answered him the same…’ Sazed looked at them, cocking his head. ‘I told him that it was because their believers has something they felt passionate about. Something… or someone.’ "
p.585 – “I think that’s everything. It was a fun job, wasn’t it? When you remember me, please remember that. Remember to smile. Now, move quickly.”
p.595 – “Elend looked into those eyes– eyes that were angry not becasue his father cared for Elend’s safety, but because Elend dared defy him. And strangely, Elend didn’t feel the least bit cowed. Someone has to stop this. The rebellion could do some good, but only if the skaa don’t insist on slaughtering their allies. And that’s what the nobility should be– their allies against the Lord Ruler. He’s our enemy too.”
p.605 – “Is there anything more beautiful than the sun? I often watch it rise, for my restless sleep usually awakens me before dawn. Each time I see its calm yellow light peeking above the horizon, I grow a little more determined, a little more hopeful. In a way, it is the thing that has kept me going all this time.”
p.632 – “Vin leaned on Sazed, her teeth gritted against the pain of her broken leg. ‘I bring you a message from a friend of ours,’ she said quietly. ‘He wanted you to know that he’s not dead. He can’t be killed. He is hope.’ "
p.633 – “Oddly, on occasion I sense a peacefulness within. You would think that after all I have seen– after all I have suffered– my soul would be a twisted jumble of stress, confusion, and melancholy. Often, it’s just that. But then, there is the peace.”
p.633 – “If I fail, another shall come to finish my work.”
p.635 – “There was still much to learn about Allomancy. For a thousand years, the nobility had simply trusted that the Inquisitors and Lord Ruler told them. What secrets had they shadowed, what metals had they hidden?”

===

The Well of Ascension

p.20 – “He figured he knew as much about political theory as any living man. He’d certainly read more about economics, studied more about governments, and held more political debates than anyone he knew. He understood all the theories about how to make a nation stable and fair, and had tried to implement those in his new kingdom. He simply hadn’t realized how incredibly frustrating a parliamentary council would be.”
p.21 – “The Assembly was only twenty-four men, but getting them to agree on anything was almost more challenging than any of the problems they argued about.”
p.22 – “It all sounded wonderful in theory. Assuming they survived the next few months.”
p.23 – “Suddenly apprehensive, she slipped over to the skylight to check on him. Elend sat safely at his desk below, scribbling away on some new proposal or edict. Kingship had changed the man remarkably little. At age twenty-three– a little over four years her senior– Elend was a man who put great stock in learning, but little in appearance. He only bothered to comb his hair when he attended an important function, and he managed to wear even well-tailored outfits with an air of dishevelment.”
p.25 – “She and the other leaders of Elend’s fledgling kingdom tried their best, but without Kelsier to guide them, Vin felt blind. Plans, successes, and even goals were like shadowy figures in the mist, formless and indistinct.”
p.27 – “Of all the warlords and despots that had afflicted the Final Empire since the Lord Ruler’s death, Straff was the most dangerous. Elend knew this firsthand. His father was a true imperial nobleman: He saw life as a competition between lords to see who could earn the greatest reputation. He had played the game well, making House Venture the moste powerful of the pre-Collapse noble families.”
p.31 – " ‘Now, see,’ Elend said, ’that’s what I’m trying to prove by all this. I’m only one man, Vin– maybe my opinion isn’t better than theirs. If we all work on the proposal together, it will come out better than if one mand had done it himself.’ "

“Vin shook her head. ‘It will be too weak. No teeth. You should trust yourself more.’ "

pp.34-35 – “Elend looked over at him. ‘The Assembly is a mess, a half-dozen warlords with superior armies are breathing down my neck, barely a month passes without someone sending assassins to kill me, and the woman I love is slowly driving me insane.’ "

" ‘Oh, is that all?’ Ham said. ‘See? It’s not so bad after all. I mean, we could be facing an immortal god and his all-powerful priests instead.’ "

p.38 – “It was hard to believe that anything could be worse than the Lord Ruler’s oppression. Sazed told himself that these people’s pain would pass, that htey would somdday know prosperity because of what he and the others had done. Yet he had seen farmers forced to slaughter each other, had seen children starve because some despot had ‘requisitioned’ a villages entire food supply. He had seen thieves kill freely because the Lord Ruler’s troops no longer patrolled the canals. He had seen chaos, death, hatred, and disorder. And he couldn’t help but acknowledge that he was partially to blame.”
p.40 – “The Keepers spent a thousand years gathering and memorizing the dying religions of the world, Sazed thought. Who would have thought that now– with the Lord Ruler gone– people wouldn’t care enough to want what they’d lost?”
p.40 – “Many had left the city during the last year– noblemen fleeing, merchants seeking some other place of business. Yet at the same time, the city had swelled with an influx of skaa. They had heard of Elend’s proclamation of freedom, and had come with optimism– or at least as much optimism as an overworked, underfed, repeatedly beaten populace could manage.”
p.43 – “Yet Vin kept it, as a reminder of sorts. The truth was, she didn’t feel like a noblewoman. At times she thought she had more in common with her insane mother than she did with the aristocracy of Elend’s world. The balls and parties she had attended before the Collapse– they had been a charade. A dreamlike memory. They had no place in this world of crumbling governments and nightly assassinations. Plus, Vin’s part in the balls– pretending to be the girl Valette Renoux– had always been a sham.”

“She pretended still. Pretended not to be the urchin who had grown up starving on the streets, a girl who had been beaten far more often than she had been befriended.”

p.50 – “Vin leaned against the door, eyeing the two men as they continued their discussion. They maintained their air of forced joviality. Both were dedicated to making the new kingdom work, even if it meant pretending that they liked each other.”
p.51 – " ‘He doesn’t like me, Vin,’ Elend said. ‘It’s very hard to get along with someone who looks at me like that.’ "
p.55 – “She closed her eyes, feeling Elend’s warmth. ‘You, Elend Venture, are a good man. A truly good man.’ "

" ‘Good men don’t become legends,’ he said quietly.”

" ‘Good men don’t need to become legends.’ She opened her eyes, looking up at him. ‘They simply do what’s right anyway.’ "

p.61 – “Ball gowns and dresses were beautiful– but there was something right about Vin in simple garb. She wore it more comfortably.”
p.63 – “Clubs almost seemed to be smiling. Or was he serious? Elend couldn’t ever decide if the man was as crusty as he seemed, or if Elend was the butt of some elaborate joke.”

" ‘How is the army doing?’ Elend finally asked.”

" ‘Terribly,’ Clubs said. ‘You want an army? Give me more than one year to train it. Right now, I’d barely trust those boys against a mob of old women with sticks.’ "

p.70 – “Truth be told, even with the slightly sour end of conversation, he felt better for having come to watch the sparring. It was strange how the members of Kelsier’s crew could laugh and make light, even during the most terrible of situations. They had a way of making him forget about his problems. Perhaps that was a holdover from the Survivor. Kelsier had reportedly insisted on laughing, no matter how bad the situation. It had been a form of rebellion for him.”
p.71 – “Anyone can claim loyalty, Vin thought. If someone has a ‘Contract’ to ensure their honor, then all the better. That makes the surprise more poignant when they do turn on you.”
p.73 – “You must be patient with them, Sazed told himself sternly. His dreams now seemed like hubris. The Keepers who had come before him, the hundreds who had died safeguarding their knowledge in secret, had never expected praise or accolades. They had performed their great task with solemn anonymity.”
p.78 – It all comes back to poor Alendi. I feel bad for him, for everything he has been forced to endure. For what he has been forced to become.
p.82 – “It had been a long time since she’d gone hungry. Though she still kept a pack of dried food in her quarters, she did so more out of habit than anxiety. She honestly wasn’t sure what she thought of the changes within her. It was nice not to have to worry about basic necessities– yet those worries had been replaced by ones far more daunting. Worries involving the future of an entire nation.”
p.89 – “Yet it had been over a year since she’d spoken with another Mistborn. There were conflicts within her that she couldn’t explain to the others. Even Mistings, like Ham and Breeze, couldn’t understand the strange dual life of a Mistborn. Part assassin, part bodyguard, part noblewoman… part confused, quiet girl. Did this man have similar troubles with his identity?”
p.92 – " ‘You would be surprised, I think, at what men can forget. Wars and kingdoms may seem important now, but even the Final Empire proved mortal. Now that it has fallen, the Keepers have no involvement in politics.’ Most would say we never had any business being involved in politics at all.”
p.93 – “She needs little protection now, he thought. She’s grown more adept at Allomancy than even Kelsier was. yet Sazed knew that there were modes of protection that didn’t relate to fighting. These things– support, counsel, kindness– were vital to every person, and most especially to Vin. So much rested on that poor girl’s shoulders.”
p.94 – “Alendi’s height struck me the first time I saw him. Here was a man who towered over others, a man who– despite his youth and his humble clothing– demanded respect.”
p.96 – " ‘If everyone is a nobelman, then there is no such thing as a nobleman. Not everyone can be rich, and not everyone can be in charge. That’s simply not the way things work.’ "
p.97 – “Other skaa peppered the crowd. They looked much the same as they had before Elend’s rise to power. While noblemen generally wore suits– complete with dayhats and coats– these skaa wore simple trousers. Some of them were still dirty from their day’s labor, their clothing old, worn, and stained with ash.”