History Quotes / PyrrhicVictory

->'''The Champion of the Universe:''' ''[clinging to an asteroid''] I WON! No one can stand against Champion's might! I'VE WON IT ALL!
->'''ComicBook/{{Thanos}}:''' Have you now? It looks to me that all you've managed to do is [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy Tamarata]], the prize we fought over, and strand yourself in outer space.
-->--''The Thanos Quest:''

->[On Lady Death]''I could force her to speak directly to me. I have the power to bend even her to my will. But what good would that do? That's not the way I wanted it to be. [[MadLove I desire her love]], not her blind subservience. [[DidntThinkThisThrough How could I have miscalculated so badly?]] \\
Thanos, the master schemer and deceiver. I set out on a quest beyond the reach of any but myself, an impossible mission. [[WeDoTheImpossible And I succeeded at it]]. I have wrestled the reins of power from the hands of the Supreme Being. No sentient could ever dream or hope for more than I have accomplished. \\
[[SingleTear Who could have guessed that becoming God would prove to be such a hollow victory?]]''
-->-- '''ComicBook/{{Thanos}}''', ''The Thanos Quest''

[[folder:Film - Animation]]
->''"I can't believe [[Franchise/{{Batman}} you]] got him! You expert, rootin'-tootin', eagle-eyed, Goth-loving marksman! I love it, you managed to find a way to win, '''and everybody still loses!'''"''
-->--'''ComicBook/TheJoker''', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood''

-->--'''Mike Wazowski''', ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc''

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

-->-- '''LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}}'''[='s=] first 50/1 victory in ''VideoGame/UltimateCustomNight''

->'''GreyGoo Avatar:''' No, isolate. That way is behind me. [[DarkFuture It is true I consumed the cosmos.]] I spread my body until I became the very light that speckles the night sky. I became all and all became one. [[GoMadFromTheIsolation And then I was alone. Do you know what it means to]] ''[[GoMadFromTheIsolation literally]]'' [[GoMadFromTheIsolation be alone in the universe?]] To wonder what's out there, and know without question that the answer is ''me''. [[KingOfAllCosmos To seek a higher power and know that I am both the peak and nadir?]] Be the void that stares back at itself… [[{{Metaphorgotten}} To say "Good morning" but know you are both morning and the measure of good. To wish to talk about the weather only to realize you are raining on yourself…]]

->''"Hey, you all right? Come on, pal, cheer up, we did it! We got Boo home! Sure, we put the company in the toilet, and, gee, hundreds of people will be out of work now. Not to mention the angry mob that'll come after us when there's no more power, but hey... at least we had some laughs, right?"

->The next worst thing to a battle lost is a battle won.
-->-- '''The Duke of Wellington''' a day after Waterloo

->If we have eight more victories such as these there shall be nobody left to bring news of them.
-->-- A British politician learning of the "victory" at [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution Bunker Hill]] (226 men dead, 828 wounded out of ~3000)

->We have won just about enough ground to bury our dead.
-->-- '''Unknown Soviet General''' on the results of the Winter War

->'''David French''': The embrace of political power carried with it a number of dangers that ultimately the church couldn't escape. I've heard a number of people who've reflected on the beginning of [[TheFundamentalist the religious right]] and this decision to not just engage in politics, but to engage in politics through the GOP almost exclusively. You can engage in politics, and you can be intellectually independent, [[DidntThinkThisThrough but to engage in politics through the GOP specifically in pursuit of political power was a big mistake]].\\
'''Sean Illing''': Why?\\
'''David French''': Because the right may have acquired political power, but the left was much more effective at achieving cultural power, and if you believe, as I do, that politics is downstream from culture, the quest for pure political power was always going to be limited. The religious right lost the culture and with it their ability to impact the world the way they envisioned.
-->-- ''Vox'', "[[https://www.vox.com/22188646/trump-evangelical-christianity-david-french The Trump presidency was a catastrophe for American Christianity]]"

->''I can't believe [[Franchise/{{Batman}} you]] got him! You expert, rootin'-tootin', eagle-eyed, Goth-loving marksman! I love it, you managed to find a way to win, and everybody still ''loses!
-->--'''ComicBook/TheJoker''', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood''

->''"You expert, rootin' tootin', eagle-eyed, Goth lovin' marksman. I love it. You managed to find a way to win. '''AND EVERYBODY STILL LOSES!'''''
-->-- '''The Joker''', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood''

->''"If this is a ''victory'', I'd ''hate'' to see a ''defeat''!"''

-->-- Very old UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash game ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}: The Revolution''

->To stop Kishin from resurrecting, we anxiously kept on attacking. But we never thought about what would happen after you knew Kishin was resurrected for certain...that moment when you felt a sense of accomplishment, you showed a weak point. What irony. I won because of Kishin. But Kishin resurrected. I lost in the end.

->So, your reports say you were victorious? Ignorance is a frightening thing.

->I can't believe [[Franchise/{{Batman}} you]] got him! You expert, rootin'-tootin', eagle-eyed, Goth-loving marksman! I love it, you managed to find a way to win, and everybody still ''loses!''

->"If this is a ''victory'', I'd ''hate'' to see a ''defeat''!"

->You won't be their messiah anymore. Your zealots, so blind to the truth. I will open their eyes. Whatever you do from now on, you will do it without admiration, without those who once respected you. You will do it without your friends. You might still manage to force your arrogant vision onto the world. But you will do so broken, unloved... And completely alone.

->[''On Lady Death''] I could force her to speak directly to me. I have the power to bend even her to my will. But what good would that do? That's not the way I wanted it to be. [[MadLove I desire her love]], not her blind subservience. [[DidntThinkThisThrough How could I have miscalculated so badly?]]
->Thanos, the master schemer and deceiver. I set out on a quest beyond the reach of any but myself, an impossible mission. [[WeDoTheImpossible And I succeeded at it]]. I have wrestled the reins of power from the hands of the Supreme Being. No sentient could ever dream or hope for more than I have accomplished.
->[[SingleTear Who could have guessed that becoming God would prove to be such a hollow victory?]]

->Your combat telemetry died a whopping 3.5 seconds before mine! [[MutualKill You died first!]] I won!

->''[[BondOneLiner "Nightmare slain."]] He said to himself.''\\
''It didn't feel like victory in the slightest.''

->Nightmare stood up slowly and made her way to the window to gaze down upon the ruins of Ponyville below.

->She had the throne, she had her daughter, her enemies were scattered or imprisoned, and ponies were coming to fear her sister’s sun. There was nothing that she had desired a thousand years ago that was not in her possession now.

->She was…not content though. Though instead of desiring more, she now didn’t realize what she truly wanted. What Luna did know was that what she had now did not bring her the satisfaction she thought she would have. She didn’t know how to proceed with her daughter. Twilight was unfeeling and everything between them now was strictly formal. Everything had been going so well until Twilight had challenged her, and now….

->“What do I do?”
-->-- ''[[FanFic/HeiroftheNightmare Heir Of The Nightmare]]''

->Sometimes when you win, you lose.

-> So this is the number of combat troops available for these figures, twelve thousand troops [...] But that's not enough. That's the amount that are going to die. And at the end of a war you need some soldiers left, really, or else it looks like you've lost.

->The first rule of prosperity is not to let yourself weaken so much in battle that you can't defend yourself against another threat.

->I've lost a hand, a father, a son, a sister, and a lover, and soon enough I will lose a brother. And yet they keep telling me House Lannister has won this war.

->"They don’t have your back, Cherie. They’re going to kill you someday. Probably sooner than later, when you’re no longer useful and they want the thrill of the hunt again. You’ve probably seen what they can do. [[FateWorseThanDeath Fates worse than death]]. Just don’t ask for ''my'' help when you realize it’s happening. You just screwed me over, Cherie. Don’t know why you did it, but I think you did a pretty fucking good job of it. You trying to be like [[ManipulativeBastard Ja]][[TheDreaded ck]]? Trying to act like them, pretend you have a place there? Rest assured, you screwed yourself ten times as bad as you screwed me."

->"If we burn, you burn with us!"
-->-- The motto of [[DefiantToTheEnd the rebels]], directed at [[DecadentCourt the Capitol]], ''Literature/TheHungerGames''

->You know, we were baited – ''baited'' – into [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror an unnecessary war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars]]. And, what did it really get us besides [[Film/AmericanSniper an Oscar nomination for Bradley Cooper]]?

->When Rhaenyra's last son wed Aegon's only daughter, the [[CivilWar Dance of Dragons]] officially ended.
->Ash and burned men: all that was left of the Riverlands.
->Two scared children spouting oaths they didn't understand: all that was left of [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen the mighty House Targaryen]].
->Ancient skulls and [[DyingRace hatchlings that grow no bigger than cats]]: [[HereThereWereDragons all that was left of the dragons]].

->You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars.\\

Did I hear you say that this is victory?

->His only son,\\

When all that's left is hurt?

->You've crossed the finish line,\\

Was it worth it after all?

->So tell me who won here tonight\\
The price of winning worthless fight

->For years and years I wandered the earth\\

That's how I finally got rid of it.

-->-- '''Michael Murry, "The Misfortune Teller,"'''

->The enemy has been destroyed, sir. So have [[GaiasLament the forest,]] [[DoomedHometown the city,]] [[YouCantGoHomeAgain your palace,]] [[AndYourLittleDogToo your dog...]]
-->-- Keldon Soldier, ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=45396 "Obliterate"]]

->Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning.

->One of my own people has been feeding Ryan evidence of my activities, and now I am to be detained. As a religion, they merely monitored us. But as a commune, they would see us crucified. And yet... though he will be the last to see it, [[ControlFreak Andrew Ryan]] has [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating already lost the people]]. Wherever I am sent, [[UnderwaterCity Rapture]] [[AfterTheEnd will follow]].

->The defense of the Bastion was the longest and most grueling battle I've ever fought. We staved off the Blighted hordes, defended the kingdom. But none were left to thank us. Now we're trapped in our own undying shells, just like the Blighted themselves. I've dreamt of dying on the battlefield for so long. Now I'll never die at all.

->Here lies everything\\

So hail to the king...
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Dr Horrible]]'''

->There's no happy ending\\

Not for me, anyway
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Dr Horrible]]'''

->I mean, anybody who has beaten this [[NintendoHard incredibly hard]] piece of shit will not have any sense of satisfaction, but rather regrets, because it is a complete waste of fuckin' time. I mean, it's like coming out of a brutal fight, being the winner, but achieving nothing for all your troubles but some bloody bruises and broken bones. It's just not worth it.

->I am a competitive woman.\\

'''But I won.'''

->[Creator/GeorgeLucas] had made ''Franchise/StarWars'' because he had dreamed of movies like those he'd seen in his youth. He made it into a trilogy because he dreamed of an independent film-maker's paradise in Skywalker Ranch. He had risked ''everything,'' sacrificed so much, given up six years of his life in order to make this dream a reality. But in the end... all he had was a building. The facility was so state-of-the-art that the only ones who could use it were big Hollywood film-makers, not little independents, and its remoteness, no doubt meant to encourage the Northern California film industry, instead discouraged people from making the long trip there. Skywalker Ranch would be used, but mostly by Lucasfilm to serve their own film-making needs and really only because it was already there and, of course, could not be sold. And in his attempt to fulfill this dream, so many people were gone now: Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, Gary Kurtz, Charles Lippincott, John Dykstra, [=Ralph McQuarrie=]... Marcia Lucas. And there remained George Lucas. His friends and colleagues wanted to make ''Film/CitizenKane'', but Lucas? He ''lived it.'' After that, he was done.

->Our homes have been returned to us... but not before they were looted. Ransacked by a megalomaniacal ship with designs to become a ruler, just like its brain-diseased masters.\\

Because we had metal. Just because we had metal.

->i've won......\\
but at what cost?
-->-- VideoGame/{{Wario}}, [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ive-won-but-at-what-cost in a widely-known image macro]]

->''Well, OK. You were killed in the nuclear explosion too, but every last one of those damned communist pokemon [sic] has been blown to smithereens. The revolution has been crushed and most of Brazil has been vapourised [sic], [[BlatantLies which can't be a bad thing.]] Unfortunately, the fight has only just begun; literally millions of those little bastard pokemon [sic] still infest the universe...''

->We can put this defeat to political use. The charred ruins of Ryloth will demonstrate to the galaxy the cost of a Republic victory.

->Savor your moment of triumph Superman, but remember, victory has its price.

->"Whatever; before, you were always talking about [[BombThrowingAnarchists Chaos]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist and Freedom]]! Then you [[KickTheSonOfABitch took out]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the Earth Queen]] and [[AllForNothing created the worst dictatorship the Earth Kingdom has ever seen]]! ''[[SarcasmMode Thanks for that!]]''"

-->-- '''Stein''' after defeating [[BigBad Medusa]], ''Manga/SoulEater''

-->-- '''Chris''', ''Film/WhatDreamsMayCome''

-->-- '''ComicBook/PepperPotts''', ''ComicBook/SuperiorIronMan''

->'''Gamora:''' Did you do it?\\
'''Thanos:''' [[TheBadGuyWins Yes.]]\\
'''Gamora:''' [[WasItReallyWorthIt What did it cost?]]\\
'''Thanos:''' ...Everything.

-> '''Dilbert:''' I had a great day at work. For some reason, no one interrupted me so I got a lot done.\\

No promised omelette, just the broken eggs?\\

-->--'''Sofia Lamb,''' ''VideoGame/Bioshock2''

-> '''Random Fireman:''' We put out the blaze!\\

-> We can put this defeat to political use. The charred ruins of Ryloth will demonstrate to the galaxy the cost of a Republic victory.

-->--'''Backstreet''', ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'', "Kings of The Wild Frontier"

->You know, we were baited – baited – into [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror an unnecessary war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars]]. And, what did it really get us besides [[Film/AmericanSniper an Oscar nomination for Bradley Cooper]]?