Death is lighter than a feather. Duty, heavier than a mountain.

— Robert Jordan

Defying the Dark One no matter the length of his shadow. We will live, that defiance said. We will love and we will hope.

— Robert Jordan

Does it make you brave to stick your hand in a bear's mouth? Would you do it again just because you didn't die?

— Robert Jordan

Do you know how to unite people behind you, Child Carrion? The quickest way? No? Loose a lion - a rabid lion - in the streets. And when panic grips the people, once it has turned their bowels to water, calmly tell them you will deal with it. Then you kill it, and order them to hang the carcass up where everyone can see. Before they have time to think, you give another order, and it will be obeyed. And if you continue to give orders, they will continue to obey, for you will be the one who saved them, and who better to lead?

— Robert Jordan

Even fools say something worthwhile now and again. Even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes.

— Robert Jordan

Execution is everything. Even if you start a business with the wrong idea or too many competitors, you can out-execute all the better ideas in the right market.

— Robert Jordan

Facing them (men) with knives and spears was much easier than loving them, much easier.

— Robert Jordan

Give me your trust, said the AES Sedan. On my shoulders I support the sky. Trust me to know and to do what is best, And I will take care of the rest. But trust is the color of a dark seed growing. Trust is the color of a heart's blood flowing. Trust is the color of a soul's last breath. Trust is the color of death. Give me your trust said the queen on her throne, for I must bear the burden alone. Trust me to lead and to judge and to rule, and no man will think you are fool. But trust is the sound of the grave-dog's bark. Trust is the sound of betrayal in the dark. Trust is the sound of a soul's last breath. Trust is the sound of death.

— Robert Jordan

He hadn’t asked to become a leader, but did that absolve him of responsibility? People needed him. The world needed him. And, with an understanding that cooled in him like molten rock forming into a shape, he realized that he wanted to lead. If someone had to be lord of these people, he wanted to do it himself. Because doing it yourself was the only way to see that it was done right.

— Robert Jordan

Heroes in the stories never had to sleep in haystacks, or under hedges. But it was not easy to pretend, anymore, that he was a hero in a story.

— Robert Jordan