Teft Quotes

I ain't grouchy,” Teft snapped. “I just have a low threshold for stupidity.

Life breaks us, Teft. Then we fill the cracks with something stronger.

You're young," Teft said. "I'm old." "That makes you wiser, presumably?" "Damnation no. The only thing it proves is that I've more experience staying alive than you.

Your insult has offended me. If we were at the Peaks, we would have to duel in traditional alil'tiki'i fashion." "Which is what?" Teft asked. "With spears?" Rock laughed. "No, no. We upon the Peaks are not barbarians like you down here." "How then?" Kaladin asked, genuinely curious. "Well," Rock said, "is involving much mudbeer and singing." “How's that a duel?” "He who can still sing after the most drinks is winner. Plus, soon' everyone is so drunk that they forget what argument was about." Teft laughed. "Beats knives at dawn, I suppose.

I ain’t grouchy,” Teft snapped. “I just have a low threshold for stupidity.

We lift the bridge together, Teft,” Kaladin said. “And we carry it.

How did you get to know people so well?” Teft asked. “It involves a lot of cutting them apart,” Kaladin said.

—Estoy roto. —¿Y quién no? La vida nos rompe, Teft. Y entonces rellenamos las grietas con algo más fuerte.

I need you, Teft,” Kaladin said. “I said—” “Not your food. You. Your loyalty. Your allegiance.” The older man continued to eat. He didn’t have a slave brand, and neither did Rock. Kaladin didn’t know their stories. All he knew was that these two had helped when others hadn’t. They weren’t completely beaten down. “Teft—” Kaladin began. “I’ve given my loyalty before,” the man said. “Too many times now. Always works out the same.” “Your trust gets betrayed?” Kaladin asked softly. Teft snorted. “Storms, no. I betray it. You can’t depend on me, son. I belong here, as a bridgeman.” “I depended on you yesterday, and you impressed me.” “Fluke.” “I’ll judge that,” Kaladin said. “Teft, we’re all broken, in one way or another. Otherwise we wouldn’t be bridgemen. I’ve failed. My own brother died because of me.” “So why keep caring?” “It’s either that or give up and die.” “And if death is better?” It came back to this problem. This was why the bridgemen didn’t care if he helped the wounded or not. “Death isn’t better,” Kaladin said, looking Teft in the eyes. “Oh, it’s easy to say that now. But when you stand on the ledge and look down into that dark, endless pit, you change your mind. Just like Hobber did. Just like I’ve done.” He hesitated, seeing something in the older man’s eyes. “I think you’ve seen it too.” “Aye,” Teft said softly. “Aye, I have.” “So, are you with us in this thing?” Rock said, squatting down. Us? Kaladin thought, smiling faintly. Teft looked back and forth between the two of them. “I get to keep my food?” “Yes,” Kaladin said. Teft shrugged. “All right then, I guess. Can’t be any harder than sitting here and having a staring contest with mortality.

Stories and legends, Teft,” Kaladin said. “We want to believe that there were better men once. That makes us think it could be that way again. But people don’t change. They are corrupt now. They were corrupt then.

Life before death,” Teft said, wagging a finger at Kaladin. “The Radiant seeks to defend life, always. He never kills unnecessarily, and never risks his own life for frivolous reasons. Living is harder than dying. The Radiant’s duty is to live. “Strength before weakness. All men are weak at some time in their lives. The Radiant protects those who are weak, and uses his strength for others. Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service.” Teft picked up spheres, putting them in his pouch. He held the last one for a second, then tucked it away too. “Journey before destination. There are always several ways to achieve a goal. Failure is preferable to winning through unjust means. Protecting ten innocents is not worth killing one. In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you accomplished.

Tradition is the blind witness they use to condemn us, Teft,” Kaladin said. “It’s the pretty box they use to wrap up their lies. It makes us serve them.” Teft

How can you be a lighteyes without light eyes?” Teft said with a scowl. “By having dark eyes,” Rock said, as if it were obvious. “We do not pick our leaders this way. Is complicated. But do not interrupt story.” He milked another reed, tossing the husk into a pile beside him. “The nuatoma, they see our lack of Shards as great shame. They want these weapons very badly. It is believed that the nuatoma who first obtains a Shardblade would become king, a thing we have not had for many years. No peak would fight another peak where a man held one of the blessed Blades.” “So you came to buy one?” Kaladin asked. No Shardbearer would sell his weapon. Each was a distinctive relic, taken from one of the Lost Radiants after their betrayal. Rock laughed. “Ha! Buy? No, we are not so foolish as this. But my nuatoma, he knew of your tradition, eh? It says that if a man kills a Shardbearer, he may take the Blade and Plate as his own. And so my nuatoma and his house, we made a grand procession, coming down to find and kill one of your Shardbearers.” Kaladin almost laughed. “I assume it proved more difficult than that.” “My nuatoma was not a fool,” Rock said, defensive. “He knew this thing would be difficult, but your tradition, it gives us hope, you see? Occasionally, a brave nuatoma will come down to duel a Shardbearer. Someday, one will win, and we will have Shards.

Tu insulto me ha ofendido. Si estuviéramos en los Picos, habríamos tenido que librar un duelo a la forma tradicional alil’tiki’i. —¿Y eso cómo es? —preguntó Teft—. ¿Con lanzas? Roca se echó a reír. —No, no. En los Picos no somos bárbaros como vosotros aquí abajo. —¿Cómo entonces? —preguntó Kaladin, sintiendo verdadera curiosidad. —Bueno —dijo Roca, soltando el verdín y sacudiéndose las manos—. Implica cerveza y cantar. —¿Y eso es un duelo? —El que puede cantar después de beber más cerveza es el ganador. Además, todo el mundo se emborracha tanto y tan pronto que probablemente olvidan de qué iba la discusión. Teft se echó a reír. [...] —Dunny —le dijo al joven—. Es un nombre extraño. ¿Qué significa? —¿Qué significa? —preguntó Dunny—. No lo sé. Los nombres no siempre tienen significado. Roca sacudió la cabeza, disconforme. […] -¿Entonces tu nombre significa algo? —preguntó Teft—. Nu…, ma…, nu… —Numuhukumakiaki​’aialunamor —dijo Roca. El comecuernos nativo sonaba fácil en sus labios—. Naturalmente. Describe la roca especial que descubrió mi padre el día antes de mi nacimiento. —¿Entonces tu nombre es una frase entera? —preguntó Dunny, inseguro, como si no estuviera seguro de encajar en el grupo. —Es un poema —dijo Roca—. En los Picos, todos los nombres son poemas. —¿Y eso? —dijo Teft, rascándose la cabeza—. Llamar a la familia a comer debe ser como escuchar a un coro. Roca se echó a reír. —Cierto, cierto. También provoca discusiones interesantes. Normalmente, los mejores insultos en los Picos son en forma de poemas, similares al nombre de la persona en composición y rima. —Kelek, parece un montón de trabajo. —Quizá por eso la mayoría de las discusiones terminan bebiendo —dijo Roca.” Pasaje de El camino de los reyes Brandon Sanderson

So your name means something?” Teft asked. “Nu … ma … nu …” “Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor,” Rock said, the native Horneater sounds flowing easily from his lips. “Of course. Is description of very special rock my father discovered the day before my birth.

Death isn’t better,” Kaladin said, looking Teft in the eyes. “Oh, it’s easy to say that now. But when you stand on the ledge and look down into that dark, endless pit, you change your mind. Just like Hobber did. Just like I’ve done.” He hesitated, seeing something in the older man’s eyes. “I think you’ve seen it too.

I ain’t grouchy,’ Teft snapped. ‘I just have a low threshold for stupidity.

Storms, but they were good men. Better friends than he deserved. They were all growing into something grand, while Teft... Teft just stayed on the ground, looking up.

Then there I was, staring at my friends, knowing they would do their best to kill me.…” “That’s terrible,” Syl said, causing Teft and Rlain to glance at her. Apparently she’d decided to let them see her. “That’s so terrible.…” “It was war,” Rlain said. “Is that an excuse?” she asked. “An explanation,” Teft said. “One used to explain too much,” Syl said, wrapping her arms around herself and growing smaller than usual. “It’s war, you say. Nothing to be done about it. You act like it’s as inevitable as the sun and storms. But it’s not. You don’t have to kill each other.” Kaladin shared a glance with Teft and Rlain, the latter humming to a mournful cadence. She wasn’t wrong

Teft,’ Kaladain said flatly, ‘if we rejected bridgemen based on their looks, we’d have kicked you out weeks ago for that face of yours.

Permission to stab him a little, sir,” said Teft, the bridgeman leader. “How do you stab someone ‘a little,’ soldier?” “I could do it,” Lyn said. “I’ve only started training with a spear. We could claim it was an accident.” “No, no,” Lopen said. “You want to stab him a little? Let my cousin Huio do it, sir. He’s the expert on little things.” “Short joke?” Huio said in his broken Alethi. “Be glad not short temper.” “I’m just trying to involve you, Huio. I know that most people overlook you. It’s very easy to do, you see.…

Life before death,” Teft said, wagging a finger at Kaladin. “The Radiant seeks to defend life, always. He never kills unnecessarily, and never risks his own life for frivolous reasons. Living is harder than dying. The Radiant’s duty is to live. “Strength before weakness. All men are weak at some time in their lives. The Radiant protects those who are weak, and uses his strength for others. Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service.” Teft picked up spheres, putting them in his pouch. He held the last one for a second, then tucked it away too. “Journey before destination. There are always several ways to achieve a goal. Failure is preferable to winning through unjust means. Protecting ten innocents is not worth killing one. In the end, all men die.

That’s because he’s almost as grouchy as you are, Teft.” “I ain’t grouchy,” Teft snapped. “I just have a low threshold for stupidity.

Life before death,” Teft said, wagging a finger at Kaladin. “The Radiant seeks to defend life, always. He never kills unnecessarily, and never risks his own life for frivolous reasons. Living is harder than dying. The Radiant’s duty is to live. “Strength before weakness. All men are weak at some time in their lives. The Radiant protects those who are weak, and uses his strength for others. Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service.” Teft picked up spheres, putting them in his pouch. He held the last one for a second, then tucked it away too. “Journey before destination. There are always several ways to achieve a goal. Failure is preferable to winning through unjust means. Protecting ten innocents is not worth killing one. In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you accomplished.

What’s your real name, then?” Teft asked. “You won’t be able to say it.” Teft raised an eyebrow. “Numuhukumakiaki’aialunamor,” Rock said. Teft hesitated, then smiled. “Well, I guess in that case, Rock will do just fine.

A man can’t hate himself because of what he’s done or not done,” Teft said.

Teft—” Kaladin began. “I’ve given my loyalty before,” the man said. “Too many times now. Always works out the same.” “Your trust gets betrayed?” Kaladin asked softly. Teft snorted. “Storms, no. I betray it. You can’t depend on me, son. I belong here, as a bridgeman.

I’m broken.” “Who isn’t? Life breaks us, Teft. Then we fill the cracks with something stronger.

Tradition is the blind witness they use to condemn us, Teft,” Kaladin said. “It’s the pretty box they use to wrap up their lies. It makes us serve them.

Is...Teft complimenting us? Wait, no, I’m not part of the group that is going. Everything makes sense again.

Why do we fight, Kal? Why do we keep going?” “I don’t know,” Kaladin whispered. “I’ve forgotten.” “It’s so we can be with each other.” “They all die, Tien. Everyone dies.” “So they do, don’t they?” “That means it doesn’t matter,” Kaladin said. “None of it matters.” “See, that’s the wrong way of looking at it.” Tien held him tighter. “Since we all go to the same place in the end, the moments we spent with each other are the only things that do matter. The times we helped each other.” Kaladin trembled. “Look at it, Kal,” Tien said softly. “See the colors. If you think letting Teft die is a failure—but all the times you supported him are meaningless—then no wonder it always hurts. Instead, if you think of how lucky you both were to be able to help each other when you were together, well, it looks a lot nicer, doesn’t it?” (less)