Ares: You cannot save them, Kratos. You gave them up in your quest for ultimate power. There is a price to pay for everything you gain.
Kratos: Not that price... I didn't want them to die.
Ares: No price is too high for what I offered!
Kratos: Not that price... I didn't want them to die.
Ares: No price is too high for what I offered!
"All magic comes with a price!"
— Rumpelstiltskin's catchphrase, Once Upon a Time
"I spent all morning in the hospital, injecting poison into my body, on purpose. Toxic chemical designed to kill the cancer cells growing inside me. But as soon as I picked up the hammer, that was all for nothing. The transformation neutralizes the effects of the chemotherapy. It purges the poison from my body. But not the cancer. Because cancer is just another part of me now. A part that keeps getting bigger and is killing me a little bit more each time I change back."
— Jane Foster, Thor (2014)
To darkest depths I pledge my soul,
And crush my heart to burning coal,
To summon forth the deathly power,
To see my hated foe devoured!
And crush my heart to burning coal,
To summon forth the deathly power,
To see my hated foe devoured!
— Eclipsa's Curse, Star vs. the Forces of Evil
Whomsoever takes up this blade shall wield power eternal. Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit.
— Inscription on Frostmourne's pedestal, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
"Magic isn't free. There's always a cost. [...] If there was a way to get magic for free, do you really think I'd have spent so much time sacrificing children to my dark gods? For spells, I mean. Obviously there'd still be sacrifices. A hobby's a hobby."
— Black Mage, 8-Bit Theater
Zombieman: You're really telling me that someone could obtain all that strength, without any consequences?
Dr. Genus: No. He paid a high price for it. In exchange for his boundless strength, he became bald. What's more, that very strength also brought him boundless alienation... it was written all over his face... in one blow, he utterly destroyed the strongest warrior we had ever created, and yet...
Dr. Genus: No. He paid a high price for it. In exchange for his boundless strength, he became bald. What's more, that very strength also brought him boundless alienation... it was written all over his face... in one blow, he utterly destroyed the strongest warrior we had ever created, and yet...
Ridcully: We are a university, Mr. Stibbons, not a bandage. We can't just wave a magic wand and make everything better.
Ponder: Actually, sir—
Ridcully: Yes, yes, all right, I know. We can just wave a magic wand and make everything better. Except, of course, that making everything better by magic only makes things much, much worse!
Ponder: Actually, sir—
Ridcully: Yes, yes, all right, I know. We can just wave a magic wand and make everything better. Except, of course, that making everything better by magic only makes things much, much worse!
