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

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.

How do you do that?” Mennis asked, frowning. “What?” “Smile so much.” “Oh, I’m just a happy person.

Remember that your job as a practicing writer is to remember it's never going to be perfect on your first pass.

I have no idea what you just said, child,' Breeze said. 'So I'm simply going to pretend it was coherent, then move on.

That's the point, isn't it? We have to live on, no matter how hard it gets. We'll win in the end.

Kelsier smiled. 'It means that you, Vin, are a very special person. You have a power that most high noblemen envy. It is a power that, had you been born an aristocrat, would have made you one of the most deadly and influential people in all of the final empire.' Kelsier leaned forward again. 'But, you weren't born an aristocrat. You're not noble, Vin. You don't have to play by their rules--and that makes you even more powerful.