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Better to be the failure who nobly strived than the success who never really had to.

Brandon Sanderson

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Brandon Sanderson
Age: 48
Born: 1975
Born: December 19
Novelist
Science Fiction Writer
Writer
Lincoln
Nebraska
Never
Strived
Nobly
Failure
Success
Better
Really

More quotes by Brandon Sanderson

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Those candle flames were like the lives of men. So fragile. So deadly. Left alone, they lit and warmed. Let run rampant, they would destroy the very things they were meant to illuminate. Embryonic bonfires, each bearing a seed of destruction so potent it could tumble cities and dash kings to their knees.
Brandon Sanderson
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Wayne's a little attached to that hat, Waxillium said. He thinks it's lucky. Wayne: It is lucky. I ain't never died while wearing that hat. Marasi frowned. I ... I'm not sure I know how to respond. Wax: That's a common reaction to Wayne.
Brandon Sanderson
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Never throw the first punch. If you have to throw the second, try to make sure they don't get up for a third.
Brandon Sanderson
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It's a mystery, Vin said, narrowing her eyes and smiling. We Mistborn are incredibly mysterious. Elend paused. Um...I'm Mistborn too, Vin. That doesn't make any sense. We Mistborn need not make sense, Vin said. It's beneath us. Come on-the sun's already down. We need to get moving.
Brandon Sanderson
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A person knows when they’re in darkness, even when they can’t see. -Nightblood
Brandon Sanderson
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You are inexperienced. So was I, once. So is every man. The measure of a person is not how much they have lived. . . It's in how they make us of what life has shown them.
Brandon Sanderson
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If you don't believe what I'm telling you, then ask yourself this: would any decent, kind-hearted individual become a writer? Of course not.
Brandon Sanderson
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So, there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians.
Brandon Sanderson
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You will find that hate can unify people more quickly and more fervently than devotion ever could.
Brandon Sanderson
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It was strange, how easily and quickly protection could cause destruction. Sometimes, Vasher wondered if the two weren't really the same thing. Protect a flower, destroy pests who wanted to feed on it. Protect a building, destroy the plants that could have grown in the soil. Protect a man. Live with the destruction he creates.
Brandon Sanderson
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Vin snorted, kneeling in the low tent as she pulled her belt tight then she crawled over to him. I don't know how you read while riding, she said. Oh, it's quite easy - if you aren't afraid of horses. I'm not afraid of them, Vin said. They just don't like me. They know I can outrun them, and that makes them surly.
Brandon Sanderson
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Ignorance is hardly unusual, Miss Davar. The longer I live, the more I come to realize that it is the natural state of the human mind. There are many who will strive to defend its sanctity and then expect you to be impressed with their efforts.
Brandon Sanderson
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Pain los[es] its power when other things bec[o]me more important.
Brandon Sanderson
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Are there any religions on your list that include the slaughter of noblemen as a holy duty?
Brandon Sanderson
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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.
Brandon Sanderson
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Sometimes it was daunting, knowing how easily I could break things. This one simple curse seemed to dominate my entire life.
Brandon Sanderson
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I'm not really sure why. But... do you stop loving someone just because they betray you? I don't think so. That's what makes the betrayal hurt so much - pain, frustration, anger... and I still loved her. I still do.
Brandon Sanderson
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That isn’t greatness. That’s just foolishness.
Brandon Sanderson
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Faith means that it doesn't matter what happens. You can trust that somebody is watching. Trust that somebody will make it all right.
Brandon Sanderson
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When I do research, I cast my net very widely and then snatch what feels right out of that. Occasionally I'll read a specific book for a specific book, but usually I'm trying to increase my general understanding.
Brandon Sanderson