13th

“People,” Shai said, rising to fetch another seal, “by nature attempt to exercise power over what is around them. We build walls to shelter us from the wind, roofs to stop the rain. We tame the elements, bend nature to our wills. It makes us feel as if we’re in control. “Except in doing so, we merely replace one influence with another. Instead of the wind affecting us, it is a wall. A man-made wall. The fingers of man’s influence are all about, touching everything. Man-made rugs, man-made food. Every single thing in the city that we touch, see, feel, experience comes as the result of some person’s influence. “We may feel in control, but we never truly are unless we understand people. Controlling our environment is no longer about blocking the wind, it’s about knowing why the serving lady was crying last night, or why a particular guard always loses at cards. Or why your employer hired you in the first place.” Gaotona”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor's Soul

“That was always their mistake—assuming they knew why Shai did what she did.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor's Soul

“Perhaps he had been looking for that branching point in his life where he had stepped down the wrong path. He”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor's Soul

“At times, I want to explode like a bomb or give in to my animalistic instincts like the others. But my father raised me better. He’d”
― Abi Ketner, Branded