"The problem with being clever, Serene thought with a sigh, is that everyone assumes you're always planning something."

"It is a time of change,'' Sazed said. ''Perhaps it is also time to learn of other truths, other ways."

"To live was to be a fragment of the cosmere that was experiencing itself."

"Is human nature to believe that other places and other times are better than the here and now."

"Heavens, no," Wax said. "If I approved of half the thngs Wayne does, Harmony would probably strike me on the spot."

"Oh, Wax has always been solemn, but when he's at his best, there's a smirk underneath."

"It's what happens when you shoot someone, Wayne pointed out. "At least, usually someone has the good sense to get dead when you go to all the trouble to shoot them."

"Personally, I say, "Out of the frying pan and into the deadly pit filled with sharks who are wielding chainsaws with killer kittens stapled to them." However, that one's having a rough time catching on."

"Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack."

"I am a Smedry, and we do ridiculous, unexpected, eccentric things like this all the time! Ha-ha!"

"Grains of sand will only flow with the winds, Kenton, never against them."

"Magic works best for me when it aligns with scientific principles."

"The right belief is like a good cloak, I think. If it fits you well, it keeps you warm and safe. The wrong fit however, can suffocate."

"Deserters, they've given up everything. Oaths. Families. When you desert, it breaks you. It leaves you willing to do anything, because you've already given away everything you could have cared about losing."

"Those who take lightly promises they make to those they love are people who find little lasting satisfaction in life. This is not an easy time in which to live. That does not mean that it has to be a difficult time to love, but it does mean that you will find unusual stresses upon your lives and your relationship."

"The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones."