Brandon Sanderson

You search for truth

The ardents who passed through town were careful to explain that the Calling of a farmer was a noble one, one of the highest save for the Calling of a soldier. Kal’s father whispered under his breath that he saw far more honor in feeding the kingdom than he did in fighting and dying in useless wars.

You know how he was. That force of will, that air of natural entitlement. It always seemed to surprise him when someone denied him or when the world itself didn’t do as he wished. He didn’t force me to defer—it was simply how life was.

Someone has to care

At times, it seems to me that to be human is to want that which we cannot have. For some, this is power. For me, it is peace.

“I have to protect him,” Kaladin whispered.
Why?
“If I protect …” He coughed. “If I protect…only the people I like, it means that I don’t care about doing what is right.” If he did that, he only cared about what was convenient for himself.
That wasn’t protecting. That was selfishness.

Why, Jasnah? Why have you always denied me?

What's the point of goals, if not to spur you to something lofty?

Adeline placed the glyphward in the brazier, then bowed his head as it burned. A prayer to the Almighty for aid. His combatants for the day would probably be burning their own prayers. How did the Almighty decide whom to help?

I’d hoped…I’d hoped you could tell me, give me an absolute right. For once, I’d like my moral code not to come with a list of exceptions at the end.

That's the funny thing about arriving somewhere, Vin. Once you're there, the only thing you can really do is leave again

I know full well how to have a good time.

I am a soldier, not a musician

Morality is not a thing you can simply doff to put on the helm of battle, then put back on when you’re done with the slaughter.

It was a frantic, insane brawl for power.