1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson Quotes

Brandon Sanderson is an American fantasy and science fiction writer. He is best known for the Cosmere universe, in which all his adult fantasy books are set; and his work in finishing Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time.

Sanderson was raised in Lincoln, Nebraska before attending Brigham Young University, where he received degrees in English literature and creative writing. In 2008 Sanderson started a podcast with author Dan Wells and cartoonist Howard Tayler called Writing Excuses, involving topics about creating and producing genre writing and webcomics.

In 2016, the American media company DMG Entertainment licensed the movie rights to Sanderson's entire Cosmere universe.

✵ 19. December 1975
Brandon Sanderson photo

Works

The Way of Kings
The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson
Words of Radiance
Words of Radiance
Brandon Sanderson
The Wheel of Time
Brandon Sanderson
The Way of Kings
The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson
Words of Radiance
Words of Radiance
Brandon Sanderson
The Wheel of Time
Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson: 313 quotes21 likes

Famous Brandon Sanderson Quotes

“It's easy to believe in something when you win all the time… The losses are what define a man's faith.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Well of Ascension

“You see, that is the sad, sorry, terrible thing about sarcasm.

It's really funny.”

Brandon Sanderson Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Source: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

“Sometimes the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“Every man had to die. He’d always found it odd that so many died when they were old, as logic said that was the point in their lives when they’d had the most practice not dying.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: Shadows of Self

“Honor is dead. But I'll see what I can do.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

“Are there any religions on your list that include the slaughter of noblemen as a holy duty?”

Brandon Sanderson

Kelsier, Chapter 10
Source: Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)
Context: [.. ] overthrowing the Final Empire seems like a good start. Are there any religions on your list that include the slaughter of noblemen as a holy duty?

Brandon Sanderson Quotes about time

“What would you think if I told you that I wasn’t an Allomancer?” Sazed asked.
“I’d think that you were lying,” Vin said.
“Have you known me to lie before?”
“The best liars are those who tell the truth most of the time.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“If you're always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing.”

Brandon Sanderson book Mistborn: The Final Empire

Variant: If you’re always on time, it implies that you never have anything better you should be doing.
Source: Mistborn: The Final Empire

“You want to be a better person? Go listen to someone you disagree with. don't argue with them just. It's remarkable what interesting things people will say if you take the time to not be a jerk.”

Brandon Sanderson book Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia

Source: Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia

“Other men are strong like bricks - firm, unyielding, but if you pound on them long enough, they crack. You… you're strong like the wind. Always there, so willing to bend, but never apologetic for the times when you must be firm.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Well of Ascension

“If there was a universal law regarding mankind, it was that they’d find a way to ferment anything, given time.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: Firefight

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

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Well of Ascension

Brandon Sanderson: Trending quotes

“Stop moping, sule," galladon said with a grunt."It doesn't suit you-it takes a fine sense of pessimism to brood with any sort of respectability.”

Brandon Sanderson Elantris

Source: Elantris

“It's going to be painful."
"It's a fun tradition."
"So was witch-burning," Melody said. "Unless you were the witch.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Rithmatist

“Don’t worry that you aren’t giving people what they want. Give them who you are, and let that be enough.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: Mistborn Trilogy

Brandon Sanderson Quotes

“Everything is a contest. All dealings among men are a contest in which some will succeed and others fail. And some are failing quite spectacularly.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“You can't just avoid the game by saying you don't want to play.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“Weakness can imitate strength if bound properly, just as cowardice can imitate heroism if given nowhere to flee.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“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 book Warbreaker

Source: Warbreaker

“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Hoid
Source: The Way of Kings (2010)

“Life before Death.
Strength before Weakness.
Journey before Destination.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“You should try not to talk so much, friend. You'll sound far less stupid that way.

- Breeze”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“I've always been very confident in my immaturity.”

Brandon Sanderson

Kelsier, Chapter 12
Source: Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)

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

Brandon Sanderson book Warbreaker

Source: Warbreaker

“But you can't kill me, Lord Tyrant. I represent that one thing you've never been able to kill, no matter how hard you try. I am hope.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“My behavior is nonetheless, deplorable. Unfortunately, I'm quite prone to such bouts of deplorability--take for instance, my fondness for reading books at the dinner table.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“There's always another secret.”

Brandon Sanderson

Kelsier, at various points during the novel
Source: Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)

“People can do great things. However, there are some things they just CAN'T do. I, for instance, have not been able to transform myself into a Popsicle, despite years of effort.”

Brandon Sanderson Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Source: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

“Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“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.”

Brandon Sanderson book Warbreaker

Lightsong the Bold
Warbreaker (2009)

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

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“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

Source: The Final Empire

“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 just do what's right anyway.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Well of Ascension

“To lack feeling is to be dead, but to act on every feeling is to be a child.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“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 book Warbreaker

Source: Warbreaker

“Men rarely see their own actions as unjustified.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“A man can only lead when others accept him as their leader, and he has only as much authority as his subjects give to him. All of the brilliant ideas in the world cannot save your kingdom if no one will listen to them.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Well of Ascension

“If you give up what you want most for what you think you should want more, you'll end up miserable.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Hero of Ages

“Unknowing ignorance is preferable to informed stupidity.”

Brandon Sanderson book Warbreaker

Source: Warbreaker

“… A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Well of Ascension

“Why hasn't anyone killed him yet?”
“Dumb luck,” Wit said. “In that I’m lucky you’re all so dumb.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

“It was amazing how many books one could fit into a room, assuming one didn't want to move around very much.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Well of Ascension

“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

Source: Steelheart

“Belief?"
"Yes," Sazed said. "Tell me, Mistress. What is it that you believe?"
Vin frowned. "What kind of question is that?"
"The most important kind, I think.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“Somehow, we'll find it. The balance between whom we wish to be and whom we need to be. But for now, we simply have to be satisfied with who we are.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Hero of Ages

“In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you accomplished.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

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

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Alloy of Law

“Every man is a hero in his own story, Princess.”

Brandon Sanderson book Warbreaker

Denth
Source: Warbreaker (2009)

“Ah, the outdoors,' Shallan said. 'I visited that mythical place once.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“We follow the codes not because they bring gain, but because we loathe the people we would otherwise become.”

Brandon Sanderson book The Way of Kings

Source: The Way of Kings

“? Is that boy crazy?"
"Most young men his age are somewhat crazy, I think," Sazed said with a smile. "However, this is hardly unexpected. Haven't you noticed how he stares at you when you enter a room?"
"I thought he was just creepy.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“Remember, the past need not become our future as well.”

Brandon Sanderson Elantris

Source: Elantris

“I ain't grouchy,” Teft snapped. “I just have a low threshold for stupidity.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

“A man was defined not by his flaws, but by how he overcame them.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Well of Ascension

“The only time you seem honest is when you’re insulting someone!”
“The only honest things I can say to you are insults.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

“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.”

Brandon Sanderson Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones

Source: Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones

“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.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Final Empire

“Lately, I feel like my life is a book written in a language I don't know how to read.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Hero of Ages

“I'm convinced that responsibility is some kind of psychological disease.”

Brandon Sanderson book Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia

Source: Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia

“That hat looks ridiculous.”
“Fortunately, I can change hats,” Wayne said, “while you, sir, are stuck with that face.”

Brandon Sanderson

Source: The Alloy of Law

“You sent him to the sky to die, assassin," Kaladin said, Stormlight puffing from his lips, "but the sky and the winds are mine. I claim them, as I now claim your life.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

“As I fear not a child with a weapon he cannot lift, I will never fear the mind of a man who does not think.”

Brandon Sanderson book Words of Radiance

Source: Words of Radiance

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

Brandon Sanderson

Kelsier, Chapter 13
Source: Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)

Similar authors

Patrick Rothfuss photo
Patrick Rothfuss236
American fantasy writer None
P. C. Cast photo
P. C. Cast136
American writer None
Laurell K. Hamilton photo
Laurell K. Hamilton261
Novelist None
Johnny Depp photo
Johnny Depp76
American actor, film producer, and musician None
Sherrilyn Kenyon photo
Sherrilyn Kenyon752
Novelist None
Gerard Way photo
Gerard Way1
American musician and comic book writer None
Jenny Han photo
Jenny Han226
American writer None
Rick Riordan photo
Rick Riordan1402
American writer None
Angelina Jolie photo
Angelina Jolie36
American actress, film director, and screenwriter None
Nicholas Sparks photo
Nicholas Sparks646
American writer and novelist None