Quotes / Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

"Humankind can not gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. In those days we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth."

—Alphonse Elric

Forgive me, little brother
I am so sorry before you.
It's forbidden to try to return
One taken by the earth.

The one who knows the law of existence
Could help me to find the answer.
I was very mistaken
There's no cure for death.

Dear Mom, sweet Mom!
We loved you so much.
But all our efforts
Unfortunately were in vain.

I tempted you
With the wonderful hope
Of returning our home.
My brother, it's all my fault.

Don't cry, don't be sad, big brother.
You're not the only guilty one.
There's only one road before us,
We will purge our sins completely.

I cannot blame you,
I am not hurt at all.
Well, we sinned
By wanting to be stronger than everyone else.

Dear Mom, sweet Mom!
We loved you so much.
But all our efforts
Unfortunately were in vain.

I was tempted
With the wonderful hope
Of returning our home.
I'm guilty for all of it.

But what should we do, how should we be?
How to fix everything, to forget?
It's forbidden to try to return
One taken by the earth.

—Bratya, Lyrics

"Either because of love or out of foolish curiosity, human transmutations are attempted. And when these attempts all backfire, a different life is created. A being that has its own body and mind, but no soul. That is how the damned are born. That is a Homunculus!"

—Wrath

"Where did I come from? Where will I go?"

—Lust

"A man who inflicts suffering can not rest. His guilty mind won't allow it. But today I can finally close my eyes to the living nightmare and lay down knowing that I won't wake again... brother."

—Scar

"Even when our eyes are closed, there's a whole world out there, that lives outside ourselves and our dreams."

—Edward Elric

Dante: Equivalence? Don't tell me you still believe in that naïve theory.
Edward: It's no theory, it's the absolute law of alchemy. No, of the whole world! To obtain anything, something of equal value must be lost! You couldn't have gotten anywhere without knowing that!
Dante: A beautiful story, told to comfort the oppressed and make children do their lessons. The truth is that the law of equivalent exchange is a lie.
Edward: That's impossible!
Dante: 'To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost? Conversely, if you give something up, you will always get a prize of equal worth in return?'
Edward: Exactly, that's why people work hard at anything they do. Because it pays off.
Dante: Wrong. People work because they believe it will pay but equal effort does not always mean equal gain.
Edward: Like what?
Dante: Consider the state alchemy exam that you passed with flying colors. How many others took the test that day? Spent months, years preparing, some working much harder than you. Yet you were the only one who passed. Where was their reward? Is it their fault they lacked your natural talent? Or what about the equal value of each person's life? If I clap my hands, the baby won't survive. And if I do that, where is the world's balance in that? Does that mean the baby was born just so it could die? It's doing all an infant CAN to survive, breathing, crying for help. But what does it get in exchange? People can say there is a balance, a logic that everything happens for a reason. But the truth is far less designed. No matter how hard you work; when you die, you die. Some spend their entire life trying to scratch their way to the top and still die in poverty, while others are born into wealth without ever lifting an arm. It's a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful.
Edward: That's enough Dante!
Dante: Equivalent exchange is a myth. A contrived order to give sense to a world that has none. Can you accept that now or do you need another lesson?

“Nothing's perfect, the world's not perfect, but it's there for us, trying the best it can. That's what makes it so damn beautiful.”

—Roy Mustang

"But nothing's ever perfect, haven't you realized that yet? Earth turns on a tilted axis, just doing the best it can."

—Hohenheim

Edward: It's wrong. I thought I made an equal exchange—my body, mind, and soul for his. Yet here I am, still alive. So does that mean Dante was right, except to the opposite extreme, and I got something for nothing? Or does that mean that in reality Al wasn't...
Hohenheim: You boys had a long journey together. All the people you helped along the way, all the hardships, the pain of losing friends you loved, the determination, sweat, and blood, don't you think that may have been the price you paid?

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth. But the world isn't perfect, and the law is incomplete. Equivalent Exchange doesn't encompass everything that goes on here, but I still choose to believe in its principle, that all things do come at a price, that there's an ebb and a flow, a cycle, that the pain we went through, did have a reward, and that anyone who's determined and perseveres, will get something of value in return, even if it's not what they expected. I don't think of Equivalent Exchange as a law of the world anymore. I think of it as a promise, between my brother and me. A promise that someday, we'll see each other again."

—Alphonse Elric