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.

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

That, after all, was his job. The title of emperor carried with it only a single duty.To make everything better.

We create things to watch them grow, Ruin, she said. To take pleasure in seeing that which we love become more than it was before.

That's what trust is. It's about giving someone else power over you. Power to hurt you.

I can't worry about everything at once, Elend thought with determination. I just have to trust. Trust in myself and keep going.

She would always love him. But she would not cease to function because he was gone

He didn’t recruit me, ” Cett pointed out. “I got pulled by my balls into this little fiasco.”“I wish I cared enough to apologize, ” Elend said, staring at them.

It was a shallow thing, this acceptance, but sometimes even shallow things feel important.

The only point in creating something is to watch it die. Like a story that must come to a climax, what I have done will not be fulfilled until the end has arrived.

Ruthlessness is the most practical of emotions, Reen's voice whispered. She ignored it.

The beginning of wisdom, as they say. When you're seventeen you know everything. When you're twenty-seven if you still know everything you're still seventeen.

Generate great impressions. This is a direct result of setting higher standards for yourself in your speech, dress, living environment, grooming, etiquette, study, research and commitment.

Each one of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done.

it's all a popularity contest, which unfortunately often has more to do with good looks rather than actual talent.

Drama lives on conflict. If you're trying to deal with social issues seriously, there's no way of avoiding violence, which is so present in society.

I’ve found that people tend to trust other people who dress like them.

I'm one of the first Americans who wasn't a torturer or an interrogator.

The alternative to the market process is government control, and we know where that principle leads.

Thunder only happens when it's raining.

Writing is a way of sharing our humanity.