Smiley C

“If bravery is the wind that makes us soar like kites, fear is the string that keeps us from going too far.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Tress of the Emerald Sea

“Men often described the girl as having hair the color of wheat. Others called it the color of caramel, or occasionally the color of honey. The girl wondered why men so often used food to describe women’s features. There was a hunger to such men that was best avoided.”
― Brandon Sanderson, Tress of the Emerald Sea

“A little pebble starts an avalanche. [...]
You lose a little—and that makes you wonder if you deserve to lose. So you lose some more. You’re behind, no matter how you scramble to stop it. [...]
No one thing had ruined me. It had just…piled on.
[...]
You’ll have accomplished something truly special.” “Which is?” “You’ll have gotten out from under that avalanche, Johnny. You’ll have escaped.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England

“At last, he was being decisive once again. Playing for the highest stakes, shrugging off the inertia of the last few years. He felt almost as he had done as a child, thrilling in the audacity of his actions. That was how it had often been before politics and the stultifying role of John Mandrake had closed in on him. And he no longer wished to play that part.”
― Jonathan Stroud, Ptolemy's Gate