Warbreaker Quotes

“Mocking a woman is like drinking too much wine. It may be fun for a short time, but the hangover is hell.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“I swear, my dear. Sometimes our conversations remind me of a broken sword."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Sharp as hell," Lightsong said, "but lacking a point.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Unknowing ignorance is preferable to informed stupidity.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Every man is a hero of his own story.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“You're a very difficult person to manipulate, you know."
"Nonsense," he said. "You just have to promise me that I won't have to do a thing, and then I'll do anything you want."
"Anything?"
"Anything that doesn't require doing anything."
"That's nothing, then."
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's something.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“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, Warbreaker

“My dear, did you just try to prove the existence of God through the use of your cleavage?”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Regardless, you ask why I
did not greet you. Well, let us assume that I had acted as you suggest I
should. Upon your approach, you would have had me gush over you?”
“Naturally.”
“You would have me point out how stunning you appear in that gown?”
“I wouldn’t complain.”
“Mention how your dazzling eyes glisten in the fireworks like burning
embers?”
“That would be nice.”
“Expound on how your lips are so perfectly red that they could leave any
man breathless with wonder, yet drive him compose the most brilliant of
poetry each time he recalled the moment?”
“I’d be flattered for certain.”
“And you claim you want these reactions from me?”
“I do.”
“Well blast it, woman,” Lightsong said, picking up his cup. “If I’m
stunned, dazzled, and breathless, then how the hell am I supposed to greet
you? By definition, won’t I be struck dumb?”
She laughed. “Well, then, you’ve obviously found your tongue now.”
“Surprisingly, it was in my mouth,” he said. “I always forget to check
there.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“A person knows when they’re in darkness, even when they can’t see. -Nightblood”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“She’s only seventeen years old,” Llarimar said. “I can’t imagine being
married to the God King at her age.”
“I can’t imagine you being married to the God King at any age, Scoot,”
Lightsong said. Then he pointedly cringed. “Actually, yes I can imagine it,
and the dress looks painfully inelegant on you. Make a note to have my
imagination flogged for its insolence in showing me that par tic u lar sight.”
“I’ll put it in line right behind your sense of decorum, Your Grace,”
Llarimar said dryly.
“Don’t be silly,” Lightsong said, taking a sip of wine. “I haven’t had one
of those in years.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“You see, the great thing about madness is that it's all in your head.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Have you no thoughts on the matter?" Blushweaver finally asked.
"I try to avoid having thoughts. They lead to other thoughts, and-if you're not careful-those lead to actions.
Actions make you tired. I have this on rather good authority from someone who once read it in a book."
Blushweaver sighed. "You avoid thinking, you avoid me, you avoid effort... is there anything you don't
avoid?"
"Breakfast.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“I like words. And I always learn a few new ones when Father gets angry. I shouldn't neglect my education, now should I?”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“What I'm trying to say is that you don't understand a man until you understand what makes him do what he does. Every man is a hero in his own story, Princess. Murderers don't believe that they're to blame for what they do. Thieves, they think they deserve the money they take. Dictators, they believe they have the right—for the safety of their people and the good of the nation—to do whatever they wish. . . . The truth is, most people who do what you'd call "wrong" do it for what they call "right" reasons. Only mercenaries make any sense. We do what we're paid to do. That's it. Perhaps that's why people look down on us so. We're the only ones who don't pretend to have higher motives. . . In a way, we're the most honest men you'll ever meet.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“They say a man doesn't know himself until he faces death for the first time. . . I don't know about that. It seems to me that the person you are when you're about to die isn't as important as the person you are during the rest of your life. Why should a few moments matter more than an entire lifetime?”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“My life to yours. My breath become yours.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“You don't have to believe in my miracles. You can call them accidents or coincidences, if you must. But don't pity me for my faith. And don't presume that you're better, just because you believe something different.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Llarimar had told him to do his best. That sounded like an awful lot of work. Unfortunately, doing nothing was beginning to seem like even MORE work.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“War is far worse. At least where politics is going on, there are
usually nice hors d’oeuvres.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Our names and titles are assigned randomly by a small monkey who has been fed an exceedingly large amount of gin.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Work, my dear Blushweaver, is like fertilizer.”
“It smells?”
He smiled. “No, I was thinking that work is like fertilizer in that I’m glad it exists; I just don’t ever want to get stuck in it.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“She loved the teachings of the Five Visions. Humility. Sacrifice. Seeing another's problems before your own. Yet she was beginning to think that she-- along with others-- had taken this belief too far, letting her desire to seem humble become a form of pride itself. She now saw that when her faith had become about clothing instead of people, it had taken a wrong turn.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“I am what the universe made me to be, my dear.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“My dear, have you ever known me to make an inflammatorily ridiculous statement without providing an equally ridiculous explanation to substantiate it?”

“Of course not,” she agreed. “You are nothing if not exhaustive in your self-congratulatory made-up logic.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“I don’t suppose you’d want to go destroy some evil, would you? the voice said. I’m not really sure what that means, to be honest. I’ll just trust you to decide.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Hello! Would you like to destroy some evil today?”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“You're wonderful. So full of life and excitement. The priests and servants of the palace, they wear colors, but there's no color inside of them. They just go about their duties, eyes down, solemn. You've got color on the inside, so much of it that it bursts out and colors everything around you.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“The door slammed open. Vivenna jumped, putting a hand to her chest.

Vasher walked in. 'Start reaching for that sword when you're startled,' he said. 'There's little reason to grab your shirt, unless you're planning to rip it off.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“You are a god. To me, at least. It doesn't matter how easily you can be killed, how much Breath you have, or how you look. It has to do with who you are and what you mean.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

“Lightsong met the man's eyes, then smiled broadly, looking down at the God King. "My life to yours," Lifesong said. "My breath become yours.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker