Quotes and Sayings I Like
Over time, I have collected a few quotes and sayings that stay with me. They are not conclusions, but small reminders that shift meaning depending on the moment. Some are quotes from real people or from characters in anime, manga and manhwa; others are proverbs or sayings whose origin I do not know. When I know the source, I include the name.
“The tallest tree gets the wind.”
— Zhuo Fan (The Steward Demonic Emperor)This resonates with my understanding of a broader Chinese mindset that values modesty, balance, and staying low rather than seeking prominence.
“Their memory serves as an example to us all!
The courageous fallen! The anguished fallen!
Their lives have meaning because we, the living, refuse to forget them!
And as we ride to certain death, we trust our successors to do the same for us!”— Erwin Smith (Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin))
“A king never wavers, never bends, never relies on others, and never gives up.”
— Qin Shi Huang (Record of Ragnarok)
“Wherever I sit, that place shall become my throne.”
— Qin Shi Huang (Record of Ragnarok)
“80 percent of success is showing up.”
— usually attributed to Woody Allen
“Drinking wine and being joyful is my creed;
Being free from both unbelief and religion is my religion.
I asked the Bride of Time: ‘What is your dowry?’
She answered: ‘Your cheerful heart is my dowry.’”— Omar Khayyam
“What’s the biggest lie you were ever told?
— It’s not that simple.
No, that’s the biggest lie I was ever told: ‘It’s not that simple.’
And it’s a lie they tell you over and over again.
What’s not simple? Any of it. All of it.
It’s how they get you to give up.”— Vinny Pazienza (Bleed for This)
“Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values!”
— Donquixote Doflamingo (One Piece, Marineford Arc)
“Those who stand at the top determine what’s wrong and what’s right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!”
— Donquixote Doflamingo (One Piece, Marineford Arc)
“Next time you think you are making an independent choice, ask yourself: who benefits from this choice I make?
Did I really choose, or did someone engineer it in my mind and choose it for me?”
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
— usually attributed to Napoleon BonaparteOften misattributed to Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, where it does not appear.
“Why would I chase a glacier when there’s a perfectly good sunshine right in front of me?”
“Did I owe the entire Milky Way money to end up with this?”
“Fortune favors the bold.”
— Latin proverbFound in Virgil’s Aeneid as audentes fortuna iuvat and in Terence as fortes fortuna adiuvat.
“Your religion is only based on geography, nothing more.”
I return to these lines not for answers, but for perspective. Each time I read them, they feel slightly different. Whether they come from a person, a character or an old saying, I find meaning in all of them in the same way.