Ruin/Quotes

“Kill him. ”

—Ruin to Zane, upon the latter's encountering anyone except Vin

“There are two ways to stay safe. Either be so quiet and harmless that people ignore you, or be so dangerous that they're terrified of you. ”

—Ruin to Vin (as Reen)

“I am FREE! ”

—Upon Ruin's release.

“"Ah, Vin," Ruin said, its voice almost fatherly in tone. "You act as if I were your enemy."

"You are my enemy. You seek to end the things I love."
"And is an ending always bad?" it asked. "Must not all things, even worlds, someday end?"

”

—Ruin to Vin.

“Do not mourn because the day of this world's end has arrived. That end was ordained the very day of the world's conception. There is a beauty in death--the beauty of finality, the beauty of completion.

For nothing is truly complete until the day it is finally destroyed.

”

—Ruin to Vin.

“There was one good thing about Ruin's voice--it tended to warn her when people were nearby, even if it did always tell her to kill them. ”

—Vin's thoughts about Ruin.

“You still don't understand, I see. You're all on my side, Vin. I created you. You're my tools--each and every one of you. Zane, Yomen, you, your dear Emperor Venture... ”

—Ruin taunting Vin.

“This process we are engaged in, the end of all things—-it's not a fight, but a simple culmination of inevitability. Can any man make a pocket watch that won't eventually wind down? Can you imagine a lantern that won't eventually burn out? All things end. Think of me as a caretaker—-the one who watches the shop and makes certain that the lights are turned out, that everything is cleaned up, once closing time arrives. ”

—Ruin taunting Vin.

“You are a piece of me, you know. Beautiful destroyer. Blunt and effective. Of all those I've claimed over this brief thousand years, you are the only one I think just might be able to understand me. ”

—Ruin to Vin.

“The only point in creating something is to watch it die. ”

—Ruin to Vin.

“Those quakes are the earth's final sighs," Ruin said. "Like an old man, moaning as he dies, calling for his children so that he can pass on his last bits of wisdom. ”

—Ruin to Vin

“That's the way it must always be, as I told you. When men think they are helping the world, they actually do more harm than good. Just like you. You tried to help, but you just ended up freeing me. ”

—Ruin to Vin

“You can't fool me, Vin, I am God. ”

—Ruin to Vin

“For Ruin, there is Preservation. Time immemorial! Eternity! And each time I push, YOU push back. Even when dead, you stopped me, for we are forces. I can do nothing! And you can do nothing! Balance! The curse of our existence. ”

—Ruin to Vin after her ascension.

“Balance, Ruin spat. Balance imprisoned me. Preservation's sacrifice--that was to siphon off the part of me that was stronger, to lock it away, to leave me equal with him again. For a time.

Only for a time. And what is time to us, Vin?
Nothing.

”

—Ruin to Vin as she tries to get a message to Elend.

“Opposition. Balance. You'll learn to hate it, I suspect, though Preservation never could.”

—Ruin to Vin as she first attacks Ruin directly and withdraws.

“I can't decide if you're a fool, or if you simply exist in a way that makes you incapable of considering some things.”

—Vin to Ruin as Elend fights the koloss.

“How do you like that! I killed him! I Ruined everything you love! I took it from you! ”

—Ruin to Vin as he kills Elend

“He gave up his power at the Well, and into the mists, giving it to us so that we could take it. He always intended this to happen. You think this was your plan? It was his. His all along.

You created the thing that can kill you, Ruin. And you just made one huge final mistake. You shouldn't have killed Elend.
You see, he was the only reason I had left to live.

”

—Vin's last words.

“You realize the forces I can bring to bear against you, child? You realize the power I have, the destruction I represent? I am mountains that crush. I am waves that crash. I am storms that shatter. I am the end. ”

—Ruin to Vin.