mistborn

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

Men are more resilient than that, I think. Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.

Sometimes Vin imagined she was like the ash, or the wind, or the mist itself. A thing without thought, capable of simply being, not thinking, caring, or hurting. Then she could be...free.

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.

Cleaning the wound is often more painfulthan the cut itself.

Kelsier exhaled in exasperation. __lend Venture? You risked your life__isked the plan, and our lives__or that fool of a boy?__in looked up, glaring at him. __es.___hat is wrong with you, girl?_ Kelsier asked. __lend Venture isn__ worth this.__he stood angrily, Sazed backing away, the cloak falling the _or. __e__ a good man!___e__ a nobleman!___o are you!_ Vin snapped. She waved a frustrated arm toward the kitchen and the crew. __hat do you think this is, Kelsier? The life of a skaa? What do any of you know about skaa? Aristocratic suits, stalking your enemies in the night, full meals and nightcaps around the table with your friends? That__ not the life of a skaa!__he took a step forward, glaring at Kelsier. He blinked in surprise at the outburst.__hat do you know about them, Kelsier?_ she asked. __hen__ the last time you slept in an alley, shivering in the cold rain, listening to the beggar next to you cough with a sickness you knew would kill him? When__ the last time you had to lay awake at night, terri_d that one of the men in your crew would try to rape you? Have you ever knelt, starving, wishing you had the courage to knife the crewmember beside you just so you could take his crust of bread? Have you ever cowered before your brother as he beat you, all the time feeling thankful because at least you had someone who paid attention to you?__he fell silent, puf_g slightly, the crewmembers staring at her.__on__ talk to me about noblemen,_ Vin said. __nd don__ say things about people you don__ know. You__e no skaa_ you__e just noblemen without titles.__he turned, stalking from the room. Kelsier watched her go, shocked, hearing her footsteps on the stairs. He stood, dumbfounded, feeling a surprising _sh of ashamed guilt.And, for once, found himself without anything to say.

Vin paused. "And you have all of these religions memorized?""As much as is possible," Sazed said. "Their prayers, their beliefs, their mythologies. Many are very similar -- break-offs or sects of one another.""Even still, how can you remember all of that?""I have...methods," Sazed said."But, what's the point?"Sazed frowned. "The answer should be obvious, I think. People are valuable, Mistress Vin, and so--therefore--are their beliefs.

There's always another secret.' -Kelsier