Fiction
He was no saviour, not a Knight In Shining Armour here to bring justice to evil. He was neither of those things, but he could try and salvage what he could.
—The Night Unfurls, Chapter 16, "Quietus"
"Honor is dead. But I'll see what I can do."
— Kaladin Stormblessed, Words of Radiance
"If there's a new way,
I'll be the first in line
But it better work this time"
I'll be the first in line
But it better work this time"
— MEGADETH, "Peace Sells"
Sometimes cynicism is the last refuge of the idealist.
— L.E. Modesitt Jr., The Ethos Effect
Fighting for the little guy is for suckers. We all do it once in a while, but the trick is to get in and out quickly without getting involved. That's one trick I never really mastered.
—Michael, Burn Notice ("Pilot")
Ha. 'Legendary guardian'? I was just a boy. A boy about your age, actually. I wanted to change the world too — but I changed nothing. That is my story.
—Auron, Final Fantasy X
Taylor: Everything I’ve said in the past stands. Humans are idiots. They’re selfish and injust and unfair, they’re violent and clumsy and petty and shortsighted. Don’t get me wrong. Every part of that applies to me, too. I’m not setting myself above them on any level. But at the end of the day, sometimes humanity isn’t so bad.
Lisa: Sometimes. Took me a while to realize that. The more you find out, the uglier things tend to look. But you keep looking, and it’s not all bad at the end.
Lisa: Sometimes. Took me a while to realize that. The more you find out, the uglier things tend to look. But you keep looking, and it’s not all bad at the end.
— Worm
Woman in alley: Thank you! Thank you! That thing was going to kill me!
Spike: Well, what did you expect? Out alone in this neighborhood — I've got half a mind to kill you myself, you half-wit.
Woman in alley: What?
Spike: I mean honestly, what kind of retard wears heels like that in a dark alley? Take two steps and break your bloody ankle.
Woman in alley: [annoyed] I was just trying to get home.
Spike: Well, get a cab, you moron, and on the way, if a stranger offers you candy, don't get in the van!
Spike: Well, what did you expect? Out alone in this neighborhood — I've got half a mind to kill you myself, you half-wit.
Woman in alley: What?
Spike: I mean honestly, what kind of retard wears heels like that in a dark alley? Take two steps and break your bloody ankle.
Woman in alley: [annoyed] I was just trying to get home.
Spike: Well, get a cab, you moron, and on the way, if a stranger offers you candy, don't get in the van!
— Angel, "Soul Purpose"
Jon Snow: I did what I thought was right. And I got murdered for it. Now, I'm back. Why?
Davos Seaworth: ...I don't know. Maybe we'll never know. What does it matter? You go on. You fight for as long as you can. You clean up as much of the shit as you can.
Jon Snow: I don't know how to do that. I thought I did...but I failed.
Davos Seaworth: Good. Now go fail again.
Davos Seaworth: ...I don't know. Maybe we'll never know. What does it matter? You go on. You fight for as long as you can. You clean up as much of the shit as you can.
Jon Snow: I don't know how to do that. I thought I did...but I failed.
Davos Seaworth: Good. Now go fail again.
— Game of Thrones, "Oathbreaker"
John McClane: You know what you get for being a hero? Nothin'. You get shot at. You get a little pat on the back, blah, blah, blah, 'attaboy! You get divorced. Your wife can't remember your last name. Your kids don't want to talk to you. You get to eat a lot of meals by yourself. Trust me, kid, nobody wants to be that guy.
Matt Farrell: Then why you doing this?
John McClane: Because there's nobody else to do it right now, that's why. Believe me, if there were somebody else to do it, I'd let them do it, but there's not. So we're doing it.
Matt Farrell: Then why you doing this?
John McClane: Because there's nobody else to do it right now, that's why. Believe me, if there were somebody else to do it, I'd let them do it, but there's not. So we're doing it.
Liara: So tell me, Shepard, what are you fighting for?
Shepard: I guess I'm fighting for us. All of us.
Liara: That's a pretty big responsibility.
Shepard: People are messy, awkward, sometimes selfish and cruel. But they're trying, and I'm going to make sure they have a chance.
Shepard: I guess I'm fighting for us. All of us.
Liara: That's a pretty big responsibility.
Shepard: People are messy, awkward, sometimes selfish and cruel. But they're trying, and I'm going to make sure they have a chance.
I'm no hero. Never was, never will be. I'm just an old killer, hired to do some wet-work.
— Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Do not be deceived, Wormwood. [Satan's] cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy [God]'s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.
— The Demon Screwtape, The Screwtape Letters
The future is an inherently good thing. And we move into it one winter at a time. Things get better one winter at a time. If you're going to celebrate anything, then have a drink on this: The world is, generally and on balance, a better place to live this year than it was last year.
— Spider Jerusalem, Transmetropolitan
Hey! Mother Teresa! I was gonna do it anyway. I just hate being lectured.
— Gene Ryack, Air America
Marston: Escuella was always a torn man. A cynic who desperately wanted to be a romantic.
Abraham: Whereas you, John, are a romantic who wants to be a cynic.
Abraham: Whereas you, John, are a romantic who wants to be a cynic.
Arthur: I did build a stronghold. Kaamelott, they call it. I sought and hired knights in the whole kingdom; in Caledonia, in Carmelid, in Gaunes, in Vannes, in Wales; I ordered a big table, to have the knights sitting together; I ordered it round, to prevent having a knight sitting in a corner, or at the end of it; it was complicated, so I tried to explain what was the Grail, to make sure everyone understand; it was hard, so I tried to laugh, to make sure nobody got bored; I failed; but I don't want anyone to say that I did nothing. Because it's not true.
A Knight in Shining Armor did nothing for nobody. He never fought. A knight in dented, scraped armor, now that's what you want.
— Renate, Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
Nicodemus: Such as why you chose this kind of life for yourself. To appoint yourself protector of mortal kind, and to make yourself the enemy of any who would do them harm. To live outcast from your own kind, laughed at and mocked by most mortals. Living in a hovel, barely scraping by. Spurning wealth and fame. Why do you do it?
Harry Dresden: I'm a disciple of the Tao of Peter Parker, obviously.
Harry Dresden: I'm a disciple of the Tao of Peter Parker, obviously.
Funny... Sometimes I still feel like a cop. Only now it's the bad guys that are in charge.
— James Raynor, Starcraft II Wings Of Liberty
Tough cop, whore from the slums, true love—love that overcomes a powerful curse. A fairy tale... In a world dominated by scorn and meanness, a world full of bandits and murderers, true love can still work wonders. Lost causes are worth the struggle. A fairy tale...
— Geralt, The Witcher
A sword is a weapon. The art of swordsmanship is learning how to kill. That is the truth. What Miss Kaoru says is sweet and innocent talk that only those whose hands have never been stained with the blood of men can believe. But to tell you the truth, I much prefer Miss Kaoru's sweet and innocent talk over the truth, that I do.
— Himura Kenshin, Rurouni Kenshin
Word of advice, Ressler. This work we perform, it does not serve to look backward. This city (London), wickedness will ever leave its spores here. You and I, we are not magicians. We cannot see through walls or into men's minds. Dozens perished but hundreds who were ill are now well once more. We fight. Well fight with all the skills we may muster. Beyond that, we may do no more.
— Edmund Reid, Ripper Street
"Stop that," he says. "That pseudo-mysterious omnipotent voice might trick the soccer moms at the local Renaissance fair, but due to my inherent cynicism it's going to take a hell of a show to convince me."
"Oh, no," she says. "You, Mr. Vantas, are a fake cynic, the worst and most tragic kind."
— The fic look up, look up
"Hey! I'm going to be dead in a few hours, so before I go, let's have this out. You and me, once and for all. "Winning?" Is that what you think it’s about? I'm not trying to win. I'm not doing this because I want to beat someone, because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It's not because it's fun. God knows it's not because it's easy. It's not even because it works because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it's right! Because it's decent! And above all, it's kind! It's just that... Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there's no point to any of this at all. But it's the best I can do. So I'm going to do it. And I'm going to stand here doing it until it kills me. And you're going to die too! Some day... And how will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall. Stand with me. These people are terrified. Maybe we can help a little. Why not, just at the end, just be kind?"
— The Twelfth Doctor, "The Doctor Falls"
"I don't know any of you. But that doesn't matter, does it? My family: the family you demonized and excommunicated, has fought and died through generations for this country. We do this thing... for Wallachia, and her people. We don't have to know you all. We do it anyway. And it's not the dying that frightens us; it's never having stood up and fought for you. I'm Trevor Belmont. Of the House of Belmont. And dying... has never frightened me."
—Trevor Belmont, Castlevania (2017)
"And yeah, it's a shit, shit world, but you know what? Good things are done every day. Just not, apparently, by you."
— Maddie Bowen, Blood Diamond
"If I let everyone I thought was an idiot die, then there wouldn't be very many people left."
— Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, Girl Genius
Harry: "Morgan, what the hell are you doing?"
Morgan: "My duty. I've always known that it might call for me to give up my life to protect the Council. And so it has."
Harry: "Morgan..."
Morgan: "You did your best. Despite everything that has gone between us. You put yourself to the hazard again and again for my sake. It was a worthy effort. But it just wasn't to be. No shame in that. You'll learn, if you live long enough. You never win them all."
See, here's the thing. Morgan was right: you can't win them all. But that doesn't mean you give up. Not ever. Morgan never said that part - he was too busy living it.
Harry: "Morgan..."
Morgan: "You did your best. Despite everything that has gone between us. You put yourself to the hazard again and again for my sake. It was a worthy effort. But it just wasn't to be. No shame in that. You'll learn, if you live long enough. You never win them all."
See, here's the thing. Morgan was right: you can't win them all. But that doesn't mean you give up. Not ever. Morgan never said that part - he was too busy living it.
Judy Hopps: I came here to make the world a better place, but I think I broke it.
Chief Bogo: Don't give yourself so much credit, Hopps. The world has always been broken. That's why we need good cops... like you.
Chief Bogo: Don't give yourself so much credit, Hopps. The world has always been broken. That's why we need good cops... like you.
"You know, I regularly wonder why I do this job. And then I come across somebody like you. We are living in such evil times and the whole world seems to be sinking into some sort of mire, and as if Hitler wasn't enough, we've got the likes of you, who capitalise on other people's misery, who hurt them, make things worse for them when they're at their weakest. And it's with the likes of you that this mire begins. And it's some small consolation to know that I've helped clean up just a little of it."
— DCS Foyle, Foyle's War, "Fifty Ships"
Sypha: This could not have gone wrong. How did this happen?
Trevor: We spent a couple of months living your life. Adventures and victories. And now, we're living my life.
Trevor: We spent a couple of months living your life. Adventures and victories. And now, we're living my life.
We sharpen our blades... and pull what hope is left from this foul earth.
— Bayek, Assassin's Creed Origins
"The point is that you keep going. The point is that for as long as you can, however you can, you leave goodness in your wake. You don’t have to love your lot in life. Be pissed off! […] But what keeps you on the good side of the world is doing good for the world despite how it’s treating you. And if you can’t do good, just don’t do harm. That’s it. That’s all."
— Bet's Rabbi, Seen and Not Heard, "Prologue Four: An Extremely Jewish Answer"
"Suffer long and it will set you free
Only through trial do we find the strength we need
It's never over - just another day
Of hope and tragedies, and everything that comes our way
Determination of the strong
Found the meaning that you searched for so long"
Only through trial do we find the strength we need
It's never over - just another day
Of hope and tragedies, and everything that comes our way
Determination of the strong
Found the meaning that you searched for so long"
— "All Hail Shadow", Theme of Shadow the Hedgehog
", Theme of Shadow the Hedgehog... Mr. Naruhodo... I've lost all faith in my country's justice system. I don't trust the police, the judiciary, or the lawyers. But there's still one thing I'm willing to believe in... that which you see in the eyes in another across the courtroom: a simple determination to know the truth.
—Barok van Zieks, The Great Ace Attorney
Jimmy Dix: Damn. I knew there was a hero lurking under that gruff exterior.
Joe Hallenbeck: Yeah, I'm a prince. Shut the fuck up.
Joe Hallenbeck: Yeah, I'm a prince. Shut the fuck up.
"I want the world to stop sucking. Cause it sucks. For me, for people I care about. For Ava and Lenore. I don't want them to lose their house. This team, it says it can make a difference. Okay, fine. I'll give it a shot. But because I love my brother and I'm desperate, not because I believe in hope or something stupid like that."
—Breanna, Leverage: Redemption
Real Life
I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.
— Antonio Gramsci
You have to be pretty goddamn tough to be an optimist, and you have to be an asshole to stay completely apathetic. Find the middle ground. It's the best you can do.
A good game's gonna have both. In a good game, you fight for a dozen reasons, against men with similar drives and goals. You play politics, you fuck up. You try to do good, but often settle for trying not to make things any worse. You do your best, and hope that's enough.
And then one day you're on patrol, fighting in a war you've forgotten the reasons for, on a side that you can't say for sure is better than any other, and you come to a town. Someone's been there first. The men are dead. The children are crying. The women have been taken. And you remember who the hell you are, and you ride out and kick ass and bring those kids' mothers back to them.
And then one day you're on patrol, fighting in a war you've forgotten the reasons for, on a side that you can't say for sure is better than any other, and you come to a town. Someone's been there first. The men are dead. The children are crying. The women have been taken. And you remember who the hell you are, and you ride out and kick ass and bring those kids' mothers back to them.
— /tg/
A knight in shining armor is a man who has never had his metal truly tested.
— Here,◊
◊