!!!Fiction

->'''Vin''': You know, Louie, there's one good thing about this Ghost Dog guy.
->'''Louie''': What's that, Vin?
->'''Vin''': He's sending us out [[GoodOldWays the old way]]. Like real fucking gangsters.
-->-- ''Film/GhostDogTheWayOfTheSamurai''

->''"Do not go gentle into that good night,\\
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;\\
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."''
-->-- '''Creator/DylanThomas''', "Literature/DoNotGoGentleIntoThatGoodNight"

->'''Dr. Diane Turner:''' [referencing the Dylan Thomas poem] Thornton, what does that poem mean to you?\\
'''Thornton Mellon:''' It means... [[LaymansTerms I don't take shit from no one!]]
-->-- ''Film/BackToSchool''

->''"We do not know what our chances of survival are, so we fight as if they were zero. We do not know what we are facing, so we fight as if it was the dark gods themselves. No one will remember us now and we may never be buried beneath Titan, so we will build our own memorial here. The Chapter might lose us and the Imperium might never know we existed, but the Enemy - the Enemy will know. The Enemy will remember. We will hurt it so badly that it will never forget us until the stars burn out and the Emperor vanquishes it at the end of time. When Chaos is dying, its last thought will be of us. That is our memorial -carved into the heart of Chaos. We cannot lose, Grey Knights. We have already won."''
-->-- '''Justicar Alaric''', ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''

->''"So this was [[PsychicPowers the mentalist]] Nupraptor, this broken, pathetic little man. As crippled as he was, he would not wield without battle - very well, old fool! If it is death you seek, I will not deny you!"''
-->-- '''Kain''', ''VideoGame/BloodOmenLegacyOfKain''

->''"Zeon's strength was expended in the Battle of Loum! There is no way they can create new soldiers overnight, and Ghiren Zabi knows it. I therefore appeal to all the citizens of the Earth Federation, to each and every one of you. Zeon is exhausted! Now is not the time for us to kneel before Zeon. It is time for us to rise! Now, more than ever, is our chance to defeat Zeon!"''
-->-- '''General Revil''', ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam: Awakening'' by Creator/YoshiyukiTomino

->“Do not tell me what I am or am not,” the demon hissed, “It doesn’t matter that {{God}} has [[FallenAngel Felled]] me, that [[{{Satan}} the Adversary]] is ready to welcome me to Hell, that my wings are, are ''icky'' and that I have talons, because I still want to ''help people'', I still want to undo all of the wrongs I see, and, God-approved or not, the most grievous wrong is that this world, this beautiful world that I’ve spent the last six thousand years in, that ''we’ve'' spent the last six thousand years in, is going to be destroyed, and it’s all my fault, and that you and I are going to be parted ''forever'' when I finally got the courage to tell you how I’ve felt for a thousand years if not longer - angel, demon, Heaven, Hell, good, evil, they’re all words, they’re all labels, they all mean ''absolutely bloody nothing'', all that matters is that [[AWorldHalfFull I love this world]], I love this life, and I love ''you'', you complete and utter bastard, and I will do ''[[PapaWolf anything]]'' to keep the things I love safe, and if we ''don’t'' do this, you and I, we’ll cease to exist anyway, or we will spend a short time on the run, maybe, before we are captured and you’re put through all kinds of torments that I simply ''cannot abide'', and I think if you were thinking clearly you would agree you’d ''rather'' stop ''being'' if it meant you wouldn’t have to go through that, and that if there were a chance, any chance at ''all'', that you could avoid that, that the ''world'' could avoid that, you would take that opportunity, so you, right now, are going to turn this stupid old amazing wonderful piece of machinery around, and we are going to go to Manchester, and we are ''going to do our damnable, blessed best to save the world so that we can live in it together''.”
-->-- '''Zira''', ''Fanfic/ManchesterLost''

->''"I know at the end of [[AlternateRealityGame the blogs]], they tell you that when the time comes that [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos he]] comes after you, that you should end it yourself. Take your own life so that he doesn't take it. Well today, I tell you the opposite. Don't quit. Don't give up. Fight. Fight him as long and as hard as you can. He may win in the end. But don't give him the satisfaction of an easy kill. Let the fucker work for his food. You can't keep letting him think that just because he [[CosmicHorrorStory holds the royal flush]] that it means you have to [[DespairEventHorizon just fold]]. If enough people fight, if enough people give him a good run around... it may be enough to finish him. So please. Don't give up. Give it everything you've got. If you have to end it before he gets you, then do it. But give it your all before you do. [[TheLastDance Give him one hell of a show before you do]]."''
-->-- '''Zeke Strahm''', ''Blog/SeekingTruth''

->''"My brethren, hear me, for there is little time left. All that remains of our race, our civilization, are those that stand beside you now. Trust in each other. Strike as one will. Let our last stand burn a memory so bright we will be remembered forever. En taro Tassadar!"''
-->-- '''Artanis''', ''VideoGame/StarcraftII''

->'''Stukov:''' The fallen xel'naga. A being of unknowable power.\\
'''Kerrigan:''' There's no way, we can win.\\
'''Stukov:''' Then why fight?\\
'''Kerrigan:''' Because the other option is to lie down and die.\\
'''Stukov:''' Well, I never wanted to die lying down. So, fight a god to the bitter end? That sounds like a worthy death. I am with you.
-->-- Conversation discussing the GreaterScopeVillain of ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'', ''VideoGame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm''

->''"It's good to see you survived that last assault, but when the Burning Legion makes its final push, they'll wipe us out. It's been an honor to fight by your side all these years, but our strength was not enough to save Azeroth. Before we meet death, let's send a few hundred demons screaming back to the Twisting Nether!"''
-->-- '''Archmage Khadgar''', ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''

->''"Maybe you're right. Maybe we can't win this but we'll fight you regardless, just like we did Sovereign. Just like I'm doin' now. However "insignificant" we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice, and we '''will''' find a way. That's what humans do."''
-->-- '''Commander Shepard''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''

->''"The [[SpaceRomans turians]] insist that Palaven is not lost--the battle has merely moved to the ground. [[MechanicalAbomination Reaper]] troop transports have dumped hordes of husks to capture Palaven's inhabitants, but met with little success. Reaper capital ships are destroying city after city. But much of the turian fleet is still operable, and the citizenry is heavily armed. The turians refuse to be intimidated."''
-->-- '''Codex Entry: The Battle of Palaven''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''

->''"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die historic on the fury road!"''
-->-- '''Nux''', ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad''

->''"Your last chance\\
Last summer\\
Your last dance\\
Beat to your own drummer\\
Go out fighting\\
Go out young\\
A flash of lightning\\
Eclipse the sun"''
-->-- '''Madeon''', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0h2u87JwyA Finale]]"

->''"Well, I can't say I'm happy to return to that guy, [[DefiantToTheEnd but him seeing me again should at least piss him off.]]"''
->[Later in the fight]
->''"Well, I'm out of rockets, but I want to unload ''everything''. It's better to die in a [[GravityScrew low-gravity ballet]] [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu trying to kill an Elder God]] than... well, that's my only option, really."''
-->-- '''[[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon Freeman]]''', ''WebVideo/FreemansMind''

->''"I'm not going to lie to you, the odds are a [[MillionToOneChance million to one]], and that's with some generous rounding. Still, though, [[LetsGetDangerous let's get mad!]] If we're going to explode, let's at least explode with some dignity."''
-->-- '''[=GLaDOS=]''', ''VideoGame/Portal2''

->'''M'Baku:''' This will be the end of Wakanda.\\
'''Okoye:''' Then it will be the noblest ending in history.
-->-- ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''

->''I will not let God decide '''MY''' fate!''
-->-- '''Kraven the Hunter''', ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2''

->''[[FromNobodyToNightmare The enemy ascended beyond your control,]]\\
or was that all your intention?\\
They have managed to demolish whatever we made,\\
you're failing to comprehend...\\
\\
[[PayEvilUntoEvil If they can, they will easily butcher you whole,]]\\
while you're blinded by your depression.\\
[[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes I have gotten to the point where I'm just too afraid\\
that you're going to meet your end.]]\\
\\
[[HoldTheLine My screams echo out through the fire,]]\\
And your rival dares stand in my way...\\
[[DarkestHour Yes, this is a hardship most dire,]]\\
and one day you will heed what I say\\
\\
This is my message to my master:\\
this is a fight you cannot win.\\
I think that past your great disasters,\\
[[AntagonistInMourning their victory stirs below your skin.]]\\
\\
[[UndyingLoyalty If you proceed, I will not blame you;\\
I will move forth and win your war.]]\\
[[DefiantToTheEnd But if I should die before you continue,\\
You shall have heard my final dying roar.]]''
-->-- '''[[https://youtu.be/5GcPA3C0QeI Roar of the Jungle Dragon]]''' [[note]]sung from [[TheDragon Yharon's]] perspective[[/note]], from [[VideoGame/TerrariaCalamity the Calamity mod for Terraria]].

->'''Myers''': You're going to dismantle the bomb. I'll be your assistant.\\
'''Stiles''': What!? I can't do that!\\
'''Myers''': ... So you'd rather do nothing? Are you going to sit here and cry for help like everyone else? Tch... Screw that. If this doesn't work, at least we can say we tried.\\
'''Stiles''': I... I'm ready.
-->-- ''[[VideoGame/TraumaCenterAtlus Trauma Center]]: Under the Knife''

->''"Odds seemed really good that I was going to get killed, whether I tried to face him or not. To hell with it, then. If I was going to go out, it wasn't going to be while I was lying around moaning and bitching about how useless it all was. If [[spoiler: Victor Sells]] wanted to take out Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, he was going to have to shove his magic right down my throat."''
-->-- '''Harry Dresden''', ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': ''Literature/{{Storm Front|DresdenFiles}}''

->'''Lapis:''' That's why we can't fight them.\\
'''Steven:''' That's why we ''have'' to fight them!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''

->'''Gilgamesh:''' At that point, I foresaw the future and told my people: "Uruk will be destroyed in six months. This doom cannot be averted." There's no need to say what came after that. You saw all of it with your own eyes.
->'''[[CanonName Fujimaru]]:''' The people of Uruk knew-\\
'''Mash:''' And they still fought. They tried their hardest to survive till the last day.
-->-- ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''

->'''[[PowerBornOfMadness Ray Delgado]]''': I've learned that when Death stares right at you, and smiles its big ol' toothy grin- the best thing to do is smile right back at the fucker.
-->--- '''ComicBook/WelcomeToHoxford'''

->'''Y'shtola''': So, [[TeamSwitzerland Sharlayan]] would keep its council while [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the world is lost to ruin?]]\\
'''Fourchenault Leveilleur''': It would. Come what may, we shall live on. ''We must.''\\
'''Y'shtola''': Do as you must, then, but we Scions will continue to fight, until the heavens fall, ''until out last breath!''
-->-- ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV: Endwalker''

->''"How would your life play out, if you knew the exact day you were going to die? If every moment of your existence revolved around its ending? I had to do everything in my power to save myself. I know my actions are not entirely moral.. Perhaps not even justifiable. But I cannot just let myself ''die'', I refuse to go without a fight. So, young crow.. Are you ready to fight for your life, as I am for mine?"''
-->-- '''The Final Boss''', ''VideoGame/DeathsDoor''

->''The Forsaken think we're weak, a broken people. They think we'll roll over like a scared dog... [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent how wrong they are...]] We will fight them in the fields until the last trench collapses and the last cannon is silenced. We will fight them on the streets until the last shot is fired, and when there is no more ammunition, we'll crush their skulls with the stones that pave our city. We will fight them in the alleys until our knuckles are skinned and bloodied, and our rapiers lay on the ground, shattered. And if we find ourselves surrounded and disarmed, wounded and without hope; [[SpitefulSpit we will lift our heads in defiance and spit in their faces.]] '''BUT WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER! FOR GILNEAS!'''''
-->-- '''Prince Liam Greymane before launching an attack to retake Gilneas City''', ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''

->''I know I can never defeat you,'' lobo. ''But I will never stop fighting for'' this ''life.''
-->--'''Puss in Boots''' to [[spoiler:''[[TheGrimReaper Death himself]]'']], ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish''

->''I do not doubt [[DreamingOfThingsToCome your]] [[BadFuture visions]]. But what do they change? Shall we stare up at the shadows and let our blades fall from our hands? Know this, son of Magnus. There is more under the arch of heaven than victory and defeat. We may fall back, but not forever. We may feint and we may weave, but not forever. We may yet be doomed to lose all we cherish, but we shall do so in the knowledge that we could have turned away, and did not. We remained true. They can never have this, not if they burn all we ever built and scorn us through the dancing flames. You hear me? We remained true.''
-->--'''Jaghatai Khan''', ''Literature/HorusHeresy: The Path of Heaven''

->'''Rimmer''': (Gesturing at the metal pipe) Lister, what's that for?\\
'''Lister''': I'm going out like I came in. Screaming and kicking.\\
'''Rimmer:''' You can't whack death on the head.\\
'''Lister:''' If it comes near me, I'm gonna rip its nipples off.
-->-- ''Series/RedDwarf'', "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIFutureEchoes Future Echoes]]"

!!!RealLife
->''"I ''[would]'' rather die on my feet than live upon my knees."''
-->-- First said by '''Emiliano Zapata''', popularized by later revolutionaries such as '''Dolores Ibárruri'''.

->''"In God's name, if it is absolutely necessary to declare either for peace or war, and the former can not be preserved with honour, why is not the latter commenced without delay? I am not, I confess, well informed as to the resources of this kingdom, but I trust it has still sufficient to maintain its just rights, though I know them not. But, my Lords, any state is better than despair. Let us at least make one effort, and, if we must fall, '''let us fall like men!'''"''
-->-- '''UsefulNotes/WilliamPittTheElder''', during the American Revolution

->''"Whether or not a woman should give an example of courage to men, is neither here nor there. At a moment of desperate danger one must do what one can. I think that flight, even if it brings us to safety, is not in our interest. Every man born to see the light of day must die. But that one who has been emperor should become an exile I cannot bear. May I never be without the purple I wear, nor live to see the day when men do not call me "Your Majesty." If you wish safety, my Lord, that is an easy matter. We are rich, and there is the sea, and yonder our ships. But consider whether if you reach safety you may not desire to exchange that safety for death. As for me, I like the old saying, that the purple is the noblest shroud."''
-->-- '''Empress Theodora''', during the Nika Riots

->''"Hitler is plotting to annihilate all the Jews of Europe. It befell the Jews of Lithuania to be the first in line. Let us not go like sheep to the slaughter! It's true, we are weak and defenseless, but the only response to the enemy is resistance! Brothers! It is better to die as free fighters than to live at the mercy of murderers. Resist! To our last breath."''
-->-- '''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abba_Kovner Abba Kovner]]''', in a pamphlet from 1942, warning Eastern-European Jews about UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust

->''"A large Japanese fleet has been contacted. They are fifteen miles away and headed in our direction. They are believed to have four battleships, eight cruisers, and a number of destroyers. This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."''
-->-- '''Lt. Cmdr Robert W. Copeland''' to the crew of USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'', immediately before the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar Battle off Samar]]

->''"You call it [[YouCantFightFate struggling in vain]], I call it [[ShoutOut raging against the dying of the light]]. There's a difference."''
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/WoolieVersus Woolie Madden]]''', during the finale of the ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'' playthrough.

->''"God forbid that I should live as an Emperor without an Empire. As my city falls, I will fall with it. Whosoever wishes to escape, let him save himself if he can, and whoever is ready to face death, let him follow me."''
-->-- '''Constantine XI Palaiologos,''' the last Roman (Byzantine) Emperor, during the fall of Constantinople

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