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. And yet… there was something different about them. It wasn’t their clothing, but their postures. They sat a little straighter, their heads held a little higher. And they had enough free time to atten an Assembly meeting.”
p.100 – “This was what often happened at Assembly meetings; it seemed to her that they simply didn’t give Elend the respect he deserved. Perhaps that was his own fault, for elevating them to his near equals.”
pp.112-113 – " ‘Exactly,’ Breeze said. ‘Trust me, Elend my boy. In this case, two large enemy armies are far better than a single large enemy army. In a three-way negotiation, the weakest party is the one with the most power– because his allegiance added to either of the other two will choose the eventual winner.’ "
p.114 – “Breeze continued his story, and Vin looked back at him, smiling. Not only was Breeze a natural orator, but he had a very subtle touch with Allomancy. She could barely feel his fingers on her emotions. Once she had found his intrusions offensive, but she was growing to understand that touching people’s emotions was simply part of who Breeze was.”
p.115 – " ‘Regardless,’ Breeze said. ‘Can we please return to the palace? Armies and wolfhounds are all well and good, but I believe supper is more pressing at this point.’ "
p.116 – “Vin nodded. Another man would be afraid that I’m keeping secrets from him too. Elend only tries to make me feel less guilty. He was a better man than she deserved.”
p.128 – “Even after spending so much time with Mistborn, Sazed was impressed with Allomancy’s gifts. He’d never been jealous of them– not really. True, Allomancy was better in a fight; but it could not expand the mind, giving one accessto the dreams, hopes, and beliefs of a thousand years of culture. It could not give the knowledge to treat a wound, or help teach a poor village to use modern fertilization techniques. The metalminds of Feruchemy weren’t flamboyant, but they had a far more lasting value to society.”
p.130 – “Marsh turned away. ‘You should not care about the Inquisitors. They are not worthy of your record.’ ‘It isn’t a matter of worthiness, Marsh,’ Sazed said, raising his lamp to study a square pillar. ‘Knowledge of all religions is valuable. I must make certain these things persist.’ "
pp.132-133 – “It was the same as ever– the curiosity, the need to understand the unknown. This sense had driven him as a Keeper, had led him to Kelsier’s company. His search for truths could never be completed, but neither could it be ignored. So he eventually turned and approached the stairwell, his own whispering voice his only companion.”
p.140 – OreSeur frowned– a strange expression to see on a dog’s face. ‘It would be easier for me if you would try to say what you mean, mistress.’ "
p.143 – “Why do I even worry about these things? Vin thought. The Deepness is a thing a thousand years forgotten. Elend and the others are right to be concerned about more pressing events.”
p.143 – “She’d known resentment like that. She’d felt it often during her youth, when she’d served crewleaders who had lorded over their followers. In the crews, one did what one was commanded– especially if one was a small waif of a girl, without rank or means of intimidation.”
p.144 – “She turned, meeting OreSeur’s eyes. ‘I hate being afraid.’ She knew that others thought her jumpy. Paranoid. She had lived with fear for so long that she had once seen it as something natural, like the ash, the sun, or the ground.”
p.147 – " ‘Yes, well,’ Elend said, ‘I kind of lost track of time.’ ‘For two hours?’ Elend nodded sheepishly. ‘There were books involved.’ Breeze shook his head. ‘If the fate of the Central Dominance weren’t at stake– and if it weren’t so fantastically enjoyable to watch Hammond lose an entire’s month’s earnings to the boy there– I’d have left an hour ago.’ "
p.153 – “Breeze shrugged. ‘Manipulation works so well on a personal level, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be an equally viable national policy.’ ‘That’s the way of most rulership,’ Ham mused. ‘What is a government but an institutionalized method of making sure somebody else does all the work?’ "
pp.158-159 – " ‘Stop saying that,’ Tindwyl snapped. ‘Don’t ask questions; say what you mean. If you object, object– don’t leave your words up to my interpretation.’ "
p.162 – " ‘Sometimes giving up is better than failing. I just committed my city to an extended siege. That will mean hunger, perhaps starvation, before this is over with.’ "
p.163 – " ‘I’m sorry,’ Elend said. ‘But really, Vin. Maybe my plan to try to hold on to the government is no more than arrogance. What was it you told me about your childhood? When you were in the thieving crews, and everyone was bigger, stronger, and meaner than you, what did you do? Did you stand up to the leaders?’ "
p.164 – " ‘Mostly they talked about why the nobility were privileged and the skaa cursed. I guess they wanted us to understand how fortunate we were– though honestly, I always found the teachings a little disturbing. See, they claimed that we were noble because our ancestors supported the Lord Ruler before the Ascension. But that meant we were privileged because of what other people had done. Not really fair, eh?’ "
p.166 – “…, she’d rather trust him and be wrong than deal with the worry of mistrust.”
p.170 – “Unapplied knowledge benefited no one.”
p.178 – “Now, she thought she understood the nameless logbook author better. She knew he was not the Lord Ruler, and could see him for what he might have been. Uncertain of his place in the world, but forced into important events. Determined to do the best he could. Idealistic, in a way.”
p.179 – “Back then, she still hadn’t believed in Kelsier’s plan to overthrow the Final Empire. She’d stayed with the crew because she valued the strange things they offered her– friendship, trust, and lessons in Allomancy– not because she accepted their goals. She would never have guessed where that would lead her.”
p.180 – “And… is this practical? she asked herself, setting a page in one of the stacks. Studying things I barely comprehend, fearing a threat nobody else even cares to notice?”
pp.182-183 – " ‘It’ll give us a little breathing room, I guess,’ Clubs said. Then he eyed Elend with one of his gnarled looks. ‘You’d better be up to this, kid.’ ‘I know,’ Elend whispered. ‘You’ve made yourself the focal point,’ Clubs said. ‘The Assembly can’t break this siege until you meet officially with Straff, and the kings aren’t likely to meet with anyone on the crew other than you. This is all about you. Useful place for a king to be, if he’s a good one.’ "
p.183 – “Clubs shrugged. ‘My experience has been that the man is usually made by the situation. Kelsier was a selfish dandy until the Pits nearly broke him.’ He glanced at Elend. ‘Will this siege be your Pits of Hathsin, Elend Venture?’ "
p.185 – " ‘A uniform,’ he said, frowning. ‘Indeed,’ Tindwyl said. ‘You want your people to believe that you can protect them? Well, a king isn’t simply a lawmaker– he’s a general. It is time you began to act like you deserve your title, Elend Venture.’ ‘I’m no warrior,’ Elend said. ‘This uniform is a lie.’ ‘The first point we will soon see to,’ Tindwyl said. ‘The second is not true. You command the armies of the Central Dominance. That makes you a military man whether or not you know how to swing a sword. Now, go change.’ "
pp.186-187 – “The difference was surprising. All his life, he’d seen himself as a scholar and socialite, but also as a bit of a fool. He was Elend– the friendly, comfortable man with the funny ideas. Easy to dismiss, perhaps, but difficult to hate. The man he saw now was no dandy of the court. He was a serious man– a formal man. A man to be taken seriously. The uniform made him want to stand up straighter, to rest one hand on the dueling cane. His hair– slightly curled, long on the top and sides, and blown loose by the wind atop the city wall– didn’t fit.”
p.189 – " ‘You can perhaps learn to be a king, Elend Venture,’ Tindwyl said. ‘Until then, you’ll simply have to learn to fake it.’ "
p.189 – “Elend turned to Tindwyl, who was smiling to herself with a look of satisfaction. Elend brushed by her, walking over to grab his notebook. ‘I’m going to learn to do more than merely ‘fake’ being king, Tindwyl.’ "
p.190 – " ‘Trust,’ Tindwyl said, looking him in the eyes. ‘A good king is one who is trusted by his people– and one who deserves that trust.’ "
p.193 – " ‘Definitely,’ Vin said. ‘You look like a king.’ Though she suspected a part of her would miss the tangle-haired, disheveled Elend. There had been something endearing about that mixture of earnest competence and distracted inattention.”
p.193 – “That was one nice thing about books and notes: Those could always wait for another time.”
p.203 – “His ability to push slightly against that coin would be of little use in a fight; it obviously took too much concentration. Yet there was a grace to it, a beauty to his movements that implied something Vin herself had felt. Allomancy wasn’t just about fighting and killing. It was about skill and grace. It was something beautiful.”
p.203 – " ‘To see how they treated you. Tell me, Vin. What is it about Mistborn that makes us– despite our powers– so willing to act as slaves to others?’ "
p.205 – “So, he approached the Venture army camp with a determined stride. It seemed to him that Mistborn spent too much of their existence hiding. True, anonymity offered some limited freedom. But his experience had been that it bound them more than it freed them. It let them be controlled, and it let society pretend that they didn’t exist.”
p.207 – “Regardless, he found insanity no excuse for irrational behavior. Some men were blind, others had poor tempers. Still others heard voices. It was all the same in the end. A man was defined not by his flaws, but by how he overcame them.”
p.209 – “True, he had been forced to execute a number of people to prove that he was in charge. But he did what needed to be done. That was one attribute in a man that Zane respected above all others.”
p.227 – " ‘Your Majesty,’ Sazed said. ‘I must continue to Luthadel. There are… events I need to deal with. Think what you will of my people, but you must know that we are honest. The work I do is beyond politics and wars, thrones and armies. It is important for all men.’ "
p.230 – “Why did Vin feel bitter? Elend wouldn’t change that much, would he? She tried to quiet the little piece of her that worried about this new confident, well-dressed warrior of a king– worried that he would turn out to be different from the man she loved.”
p.231 – " ‘Now, see,’ Elend said. ‘I think this is to our advantage. My father believes strongly in control and domination. If I walk into his camp, I’ll essentially be telling him that I agree he has authority over me. I’ll seem weak, and he’ll assume that he can take me whenever he wants. It’s a risk, but if I don’t do this, we die.’ "
p.234 – “More decisive indeed, Vin thought. He’s changing…”
p.236 – “She looked from him to Elend. _Why, he’s making Elend more confident! If Elend stood a little taller, it was because Breeze was quietly helping, Soothing away anxiety and worry. And Breeze did this even as he argued and made his usual mocking comments.”
p.238 – " ‘You are king, Elend Venture,’ Tindwyl said, arms folded. ‘Nobody ’lets’ you do anything. The first change in attitude has to be your own– you have to stop thinking that you need permission or agreement from those who follow you.’ ‘A king should lead by consent of his citizens,’ Elend said. ‘I will not be another Lord Ruler.’ ‘A king should be strong,’ Tindwyl said firmly. ‘He accepts counsel, but only when he asks for it. He makes it clear that the final decision is his, not his counselors’. You need better control over your advisors. If they don’t respect you, then you enemies won’t either– and the masses never will.’ "
p.238 – " ‘Ham and the others respect me.’ Tindwyl raised an eyebrow. ‘They do!’ ‘What do they call you?’ Elend shrugged. ‘They’re my friends. They use my name.’ ‘Or a close approximation of it. Right, ‘El’?’ "
p.239 – " ‘In addition,’ Tindwyl continued, ‘you still hedge too much in your language. It makes you appear timid and hesitant.’ ‘I’m working on that.’ ‘Don’t apologize unless you really mean it,’ Tindwyl said. ‘And don’t make excuses. You don’t need them. A leader is often judged by how well he bears responsibility. As king, everything that happens in your kingdom– regardless of who commits the act– is your fault. You are even responsible for unavoidable events such as earthquakes or storms.’ ‘Or armies,’ Elend said. Tindwyl nodded. ‘Or armies. It is your responsibility to deal with these things, and if something goes wrong it is your fault. You must accept this.’ "
pp.239-240 – " ‘You just told me everything that happens in the kingdom is my fault!’ ‘It is.’ ‘How can I not feel guilty then?’ ‘You have to feel confident that your actions are the best,’ Tindwyl explained. ’ You have to know thta no matter how bad things get, they would be worse without you. When disaster occurs, you take responsibility, but you don’t wallow or mope. You aren’t allowed that luxury; guilt is for lesser men. You simply need to do what is expected.’ ‘And that is?’ ‘To make everything better.’ ‘Great,’ Elend said flatly. ‘And if I fail?’ ‘Then you accept responsibility, and make everything better on the second try.’ Elend rolled his eyes. ‘And what if I can’t ever make things better? What if I’m really not the best man to be king?’ ‘Then you remove yourself from the position,’ Tindwyl said. ‘Suicide is the preferred method– assuming, of course, that you have an heir. A good king knows not to foul up the succession.’ ‘Of course,’ Elend said. ‘So, you’re saying I should simply kill myself.’ ‘No. I’m telling you to have pride in yourself, Your Majesty.’ "
p.240 – " ‘That’s not what it sounds like. Every day you tell me how poor a king I am, and how my people will suffer because of it! Tindwyl, I’m not the best man for this position. He got himself killed by the Lord Ruler.’ ‘That is enough!’ Tindwyl snapped. ‘Believe it or not, Your Majesty, you are the best person for this position.’ "
p.241 – " ‘You have no place for guilt. Accept that you’re king, accept you can do nothing constructive to change that, and accept responsibility. Whatever you do, be confident.’ "
p.241 – " ‘I don’t know,’ Elend finally said, sitting back in his chair, sighing. ‘Vin isn’t… like other women.’ Tindwyl raised an eyebrow, her voice softening slightly. ‘I think that the more women you come to know, Your Majesty, the more you’ll find that statement applies to all of them.’ "
pp.248-249 – " ‘And her request?’ Breeze asked. ‘The girl wasn’t happy in her father’s camp. Shouldn’t we at least consider her wishes?’ All eyes turned toward Elend. A mere few weeks ago, they would have kept arguing. It seemed strange that they should so quickly begin to look to him for decisions. Who was he? A mand who had haphazardly ended up on the throne? A poor replacement for their brilliant leader? An idealist who hadn’t considered the dangers his philosophies would bring? A fool? A child? An impostor? The best they had.”
p.249 – “I’ll do what I can, make the decisions as I see they must be made, Elend thought. Then accept the consequences.”
p.249 – “He could trade words with the finest of philosophers, and had an impressive memory. Nearly as good as my own. Yet he was not argumentative.”
p.250 – “Nothing seemed certain anymore. Once the night had been her refuge; now she found herself glancing over her shoulder, watching for ghostly outlines. Once Elend had been her peace, but he was changing. Once she had been able to protect the things she loved– but she was growing more and more afraid that the forces moving against Luthadel were beyond her capacity to stop.”
pp.256-257 – " ‘OreSeur,’ she said, ‘what was your life like before you were recruited by Kelsier?’ ‘I don’t see what that has to do with finding the impostor, mistress,’ OreSeur said. ‘It doesn’t have anything to do with that,’ Vin said. ‘I simply thought maybe I should get to know you better.’ ‘My apologies, mistress, but I don’t want you to know me.’ Vin sighed. So much for that. But… well, Kelsier and the others hadn’t turned away when she’d been blunt with them. There was a familiar tone to OreSeur’s words. Something in them that she recognized. ‘Anonymity,’ Vin said quietly. ‘Mistress?’ ‘Anonymity. Hiding, even when you’re with others. Being quiet, unobtrusive. Forcing yourself to stay apart– emotionally, at least. It’s a way of life. A protection.’ OreSeur didn’t answer. ‘You serve beneath masters,’ Vin said. ‘Harsh men who fear your competence. The only way to keep them from hating you is to make certain they don’t pay attention to you. So, you make yourself look small and weak. Not a threat. But sometimes you say the wrong thing, or you let your rebelliousness show.’ She turned toward him. He was watching her. ‘Yes,’ he finally said, turning to look back over the city. ‘They hate you,’ Vin said quietly. ‘They hate you because of your powers, because they can’t mak you break your word, or because they worry that you are too strong to control.’ ‘They become afraid of you,’ OreSeur said. ‘They grow paranoid– terrified, even as they use you, that you will take their place. Despite the Contract, despite knowing that no kandra would break his sacred vow, they fear you. And men hate what they fear.’ ‘And so,’ Vin said, ’they find excuses to beat you. Sometimes, even your efforts to remain harmless seem to provoke them. They hate your skill, they hate the fact that they don’t have more reasons to beat you, so they beat you.’ OreSeur turned back to her. ‘How do you know these things?’ he demanded. Vin shrugged. ‘That’s not only how they treat kandra, OreSeur. That’s the same way crewleaders treat a young girl– an anomaly in a thieving underground filled with me. A child who had a strange ability to make things happen– to influence people, to hear what she shouldn’t, to move more quietly and quickly than others. A tool, yet a threat at the same time.’ "
p.259 – " ‘I… don’t know,’ Vin said. ‘People are strange, OreSeur, adn loyalty is so often twisted. I stayed with Camon because he was familiar, and I feared leaving more than I did staying. That crew was all I had. My brother was gone, and I was terrified of being alone. it seems kind of strange now, thinking back.’ ‘Sometimes a bad situation is still better than the alternative. You did waht you needed to do to survive.’ ‘Perhaps,’ Vin said. ‘But there’s a better way, OreSeur. I didn’t know it until Kelsier found me, but life doesn’t have to be like that. You don’t have to spend your years mistrusting, staying in the shadows and keeping yourself apart.’ "
p.260 – " ‘We became your tools. As long as we remain subservient, mistress, we survive. And that is why I obey. To break the Contract would be to betray my people. We canot fight you, not while you have Mistborn, adn so we must serve you.’ "
p.261 – “Vin shook her head. ‘No, not me. I’m not a good person or a bad person. I’m only here to kill things.’ "
p.262 – “But she knew that Elend wouldn’t approve of something like that. he’d argue against using fear to motivate, even on one’s enemies. He’d point that if she killed Straff of Cett, they’d just be replaced by other men even more hostile toward the city.”
p.263 – " ‘Good job,’ she said, approaching the edge of the guard station’s roof. Only then did she realize something important. OreSeur had taken the initiative: he’d alerted her of the danger without specifically being ordered to listen. It was a small thing, but it seemed important.”
p.269 – " ‘I’m not a philospher,’ Ham said. ‘I just like to think about things.’ "
p.271 – " ‘What about teaching?’ Breeze asked, waving his hand. ‘When you left, I recall that you said something about spending the rest of your life traveling, or some nonsense like that.’ Sazed blushed slightly, glancing down again. ‘That duty will have to wait, I fear.’ "
p.274 – “What if he was imagining connections that didn’t exist? Every scholar knew that one of the greatest dangers in research was the desire to find a specific answer. He had not imagined the testimonies he had taken, but had he exaggerated their importance? What did he really have? The words of a frightened mand who had seen his friend die of a seizure? The testimony of a lunatic crazed to the point of cannibalism? The ract remained that Sazed himself had never seen the mists kill.”
p.274 – “Another life, he thought. He had always been a bit frustrated that his duties as a steward had left him little time for study. How ironic it was the should help overthrow the Final Empire, then find himself with event less time.”
p.275 – " ‘Good men can make terrible kings,’ Tindwyl noted. ‘But bad men cannot make good kings,’ Sazed said. ‘It is better to start with a good man and work on the rest, I think.’ "
p.276 – " ‘No,’ Tindwyl said, sighing. ‘Can’t you see, Sazed? You spent ten years working to overthrow the Final Empire. Now you can’t content yourself with ordinary work, so you have invented some grand threat to the land. You’re afraid of being irrelevant.’ "
p.276 –
p.300 – “And so we fall, Elend thought. With barely a hint of resistance. And there was nothing he could do. He felt impotent, forced to keep ducking down lest his white uniform make him a target. All his politicking, all his preparations, all his dreams and his plans. Gone.”
p.301 – “He was forced into war by a misunderstanding– and always claimed he was no warrior– yet he came to fight as well as any man.”
p.303 – “Going into his camp seemed a bit crazy on first impression, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was the only way they were going to get to Straff. He had to see them as weak, had to feel that his bullying tactics had worked. That was the only way they would win.”
p.310 – " ‘I do,’ Elend said. ‘But I’d like you however you were, Vin. I love you. The question is, how do you like yourself?’ "
p.310 – " ‘Clothing doesn’t really change a man,’ Elend said. ‘But it changes how others react to him. Tindwyl’s words. I think… I think the trick is convincing yourself that you deserve the reactions you get. You can wear the court’s dresses, Vin, but make them your own. Don’t worry that you aren’t giving people what they want. Give them who you are, and let that be enough.’ He paused, smiling. ‘It was for me.’ "
p.322 – “I’m too new to this, Elend thought. Ironically, if he had let his father train him better as a child, he might have known what he’d done wrong. As it was, he suddenly realized the gravity of his situation. Surrounded by a hostile army. Separated from Vin.”
p.323 – “Straff pointed at Elend as soldiers rushed in. Elend didn’t cringe. He’d grown up with this man, been raised by him, been tortured by him. And despite it all, Elend had never spoken his mind. He’d rebelled with the petty timidity of a teenage boy, but he’d never spoken the truth.”
p.326 – " ‘Ah, Father,’ Elend said. ‘I was wrong about your interest in Luthadel. However, you’re also wrong about me– you’ve always been wrong about me. I don’t care if I die, not if it brings safety to my people.’ "
p.327 – " ‘He loves you?’ Zane asked. ‘Or he loves having you?’ "
p.331 – “But… well, any victory was an enormous one for Elend. He hadn’t failed his people. He was their king, and his plan– crazy though it might have seemed– had worked. The small crown on his head suddenly didn’t seem as heavy as it had before.”
p.337 – “He left ruin in his wake, but it was forgotten. He created kingdoms, and then destroyed them as he made the world anew.”
p.412 – “None of the things Elend said were that different from what he would have said before– but the way he said them was completely different. He was firm, demanding in a way that implied he expected respect.”
p.413 – “He doesn’t need me anymore. It was a foolish thought. Elend loved here; she knew that. His aptitude wouldn’t make her less valuable to him. Yet she couldn’t stamp out her worries. He’d left her once before, when he’d been trying to weigh the needs of his house against his love for her, and the action had nearly crushed her.”
p.417 – " ‘…No, I don’t hate Elend. Though sometimes I do envy him. He has everything. And still… it seems to me that he doesn’t appreciate it.’ "
p.419 – “Or at least she could imagine herself. Confident because she accepted her place as Mistborn. Confident because she accepted her place as the one who had struck down the Lord Ruler. Confident because she knew the king loved her.”
p.420 – " ‘He is becoming the man that he always knew he would have to be– he simply didn’t know the path. Though I am hard on him, I think he would have found his way even if I hadn’t come. A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.’ "
p.426 – " ‘Honest men weren’t meant to be kings, lad. It’s a damn shame, but it’s true. That’s why I have to take the throne from you.’ "
p.436 – “This was the other great misunderstanding about Soothing. Allomancy wasn’t nearly as important as observational talent. True, having a subtle touch certainly helped. But Soothing didn’t give an Allomancer the ability to know someone’s feelings. Those Breeze had to guess on his own.”
pp.440-441 – " ‘Yet here we are,’ Breeze said. ‘I spent all day making skaa feel better about the fact that their families were slaughtered. You spent all day training soldiers that– with or without your help– will barely last a few heartbeats against a determined foe. We follow a boy of a king who doesn’t seem to have a shade of a clue exactly how bad his predicament is. Why?’ "
p.446 – " ‘The Survivor himself knew great hardship– the death of his wife, his imprisonment in the Pits of Hathsin. But he survived. That’s the point, isn’t it? We have to live on, no matter how hard all this gets. We’ll win in the end. Just like he did.’ "
p.551 – " ‘It doesn’t work that way in real politics. You take, or you get taken. Besides, I’ve alwasy been a gambling man.’ He looked up at her, meeting her eyes. ‘Do what you came to,’ he repeated.”
p.553 – “But must not even a madman rely on his own mind, his own experience, rather than that of others?”
p.555 – “Ham shrugged. He looked… haggard. This wasn’t his element, dealing with armies and worrying about the fate of kingdoms. He preferred to concern himself with smaller spheres. Of course, Elend thought, I’d prefer to be in my chair, reading quietly. We do what we must.”
p.562 – " ‘I know,’ he said, sighing. ‘But… I can’t leave them, Vin. They rejected me, but I won’t abandon them.’ "
p.566 – " ‘I would not say that,’ Sazed said. ‘Religions are promises– promises that there is something watching over us, guiding us. Prophecies, therefore, are natural extensions of the hopes and desires of the people. Not foolishness at all.”
p.571 – “He stooped down, placing his head even with heres, laying a hand on her shoulder. ‘Oh, child. When will you stop worrying and simply let yourself be loved?’ "
p.572 – " ‘But is that love? Is it love to assume for Elend that he has no place with you? Or is it love to let him make his own decision in the matter?…You must love him enough to trust his wishes, even if you disagree with them. You must respect him– no matter how wrong you think he may be, no matter how poor you think his decisions, you must respect his desire to make them. Even if one of them includes loving you.’ "
p.573 – " ‘It is hard to defend others when our own lives are in turmoil,’ Sazed said.”
p.574 – " ‘She is extremely competent, and so are you,’ Sazed said. ‘She was oppressed by her brother, you by your father. Both of you hated the Final Empire and fought it. And both of you think far too much about what should be, rather than what is.’ "
p.582 – “This is what cornered men are like, my dear Terrisman, Breeze thought. This is what happens when they lose hope. They might be able to keep up appearances in front of the soldiers, but put them alone with their friends…”
p.585 – " ‘You wonder if we should give up. Well, we’re not going to do that. Kell wouldn’t let us, and so we won’t let ourselves. We’ll fight, and we’ll die with dignity. Then the city will burn– but we’ll have made our statement. The Lord Ruler pushed us around for a thousand years, but now we skaa have pride. We fight. We resist. And we die.’ "
p.585 – " ‘And we die for nothing,’ Ham said with a scowl.”
p.585 – " ‘No,’ Sazed said. ‘Not nothing, Lord Hammond. We will die to show that there are skaa who will not be bullied, who will not back down. This is a very important precedent, I think. In the histories and legends, this is the kind of event that inspires. If the skaa are ever to take rule of themselves, there will need to be sacrifices that can look to for motivation. Sacrifices like that of the Survivor himself.’ The men sat in silence.”
p.592 – “She had to decide. Elend was the one she wanted to be with. He represented peace. Happiness. On the other hand, Zane represented what she felt she had to become. For the good of everyone involved.”
p.596 – “Lately, it seemed that she couldn’t succeed at anything. Love, protection, duty. I’ve let myself get stretched too thin, she thought. There were so many things that demanded her attention, and she’d tried to give heed to them all. As a result, she had accomplished nothing. Her research about the Deepness and the Hero of Ages lay untouched for days, still arranged in piles scattered across her floor. She knew next to nothing about the mist spirit– only that it watched her, and that the logbook author had thought it dangerous. She hadn’t dealt with the spy in her crew; she didn’t know if Zane’s claims regarding Demoux were true.”
p.673 – “Elend fell silent, and Vin could see a hardness growing in his eyes. Not a dangerous hardness, like Kelsier. More of a… regal bearing. The sense that he was more than he wanted to be. He stood straight, looking down a he man pleading before him.”
p.677 – “My pleas, my teachings, my objections, and even my treasons were all ineffectual. Alendi has other counselors now, ones who tell him what he wants to hear.”
p.681 – “How dare they! she thought again. How dare they not give me the same cahance that Kelsier had! How dare they refuse my protection, refuse to let me help them! How dare they die…”
p.682 – “Breeze hesitated, then noticed that glimmer in Clubs’s eyes. That spark ofhumor was hard to recognize unless one knew Clubs very well. I was that spark that toold the truth– that showed Clubs to be a man of rare understanding.”
p.688 – “Yet something felt different to her now. She had acceped her place as a knife. Wha was a knife, but another tool? I could be used for evil or for good; it could kill or protect.”
p.693 – “By the time she waws an hour of the village, she’d added a fifth shoe. The result was a continuous flow of flipping metal chunks. Vin Pulled, then Pushed, then Pulled, then Pushed, moving wih continual single-mindedness, juggling herself through the air.”
p.704 – “Cett shook his head. ‘The good men are all dead, Allrianne. They died inside that city.’ "
p.707 – “Fascinating, Breeze thought, as if looking at himself from the outside, seeing the pitiful creature in the ripped, bloodied suit. So this is what happens to me, when the stress gets tooo strong? It’s ironic in a way. I’ve spent a lifetime controlling the emotions of others. Now I’m so afraid, I can’t even function.”
p.710 – “It was because she understood her purpose. And she agreed with it. She could fight, could kill, if it meant defending those who were unable to defend themselves. Kelsier might have been able to kill for shock or retribution, but that wasn’t good enough for Vin.”
p.722 – “He tried to think of something proper to say– something proper to think– but suddenlyall of his religious knowledge seemed hollow. What was the use in giving her a burial? What was the value in speaking the prayers of a long-dead god? What good was he? The religion of Dadradah hadn’t helped Clubs; the Survivor hadn’t come to rescue the thousands of soldiers who had died. What was the point?”
p.722 – “So when his tears fell– and nearly began to freeze to his face– they gave him as little comfort as his religions. He moaned, leaning over the frozen corpse. My life, he thought, has been a sham.”