"You're right when you say we all come out of high school thinking we're going to save the world. And sometimes we do. And sometimes — sometimes we don't. So you don't think about saving the world. You think about saving just one person. Because sometimes, that's enough. All I know is that we have to try."
Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.
— The Talmud, Sanhedrin, 37a
Terminator: This is tactically dangerous.
John: Drive faster.
Terminator: The T-1000 has the same files that I do. It knows what I know. It might anticipate this move.
John: I don't care. We gotta stop her.
Terminator: Killing Dyson might actually prevent the war.
John: I don't care! Haven't you learned anything yet? Haven't you figured out why you can't kill people?
John: Drive faster.
Terminator: The T-1000 has the same files that I do. It knows what I know. It might anticipate this move.
John: I don't care. We gotta stop her.
Terminator: Killing Dyson might actually prevent the war.
John: I don't care! Haven't you learned anything yet? Haven't you figured out why you can't kill people?
"You know what? I don't get to decide who lives and who dies. Somebody needs help, I help them. I save lives. The End."
— Cale'Anon, Looking for Group
"How can we go on a quest to regenerate the world if we can't even save the people standing right in front of us?!"
— Lloyd Irving, Tales of Symphonia
"You can't deny that lives were saved because those bastards [i.e., Ragou and Cumore] were put down! You'd rather tell people, 'sorry you have to die today, I promise we'll change things soon'?"
— Yuri Lowell, Tales of Vesperia
Dev-Em: Frab the innocent! You endangered us all with your actions, Kara. Me. Laurel. Cham. Dawnstar. Yourself. If I'd been a hair later with my pickups, we'd have had Ar-Ual and Adam to deal with, too. Plus all of Zerox. Think you could take on a planet of magicians? By yourself?
Kara: Listen, Dev, and listen damn good. I am not a spy. I'm a super-heroine, and a Legionnaire, and a human being. Do you think I could have let a little girl die, at the hands of my own clone? Do you think I could ever have lived with myself if that happened?
Laurel: Kara's right, Dev. We can't abandon people in danger just because of your mission. Even one like this.
Kara: Listen, Dev, and listen damn good. I am not a spy. I'm a super-heroine, and a Legionnaire, and a human being. Do you think I could have let a little girl die, at the hands of my own clone? Do you think I could ever have lived with myself if that happened?
Laurel: Kara's right, Dev. We can't abandon people in danger just because of your mission. Even one like this.
High Elf Archer: Don't you get it!? An army of demons is coming! We're talking about the fate of the world! Do you understand that!?
Goblin Slayer: Perfectly.
High Elf Archer: Then—!
Goblin Slayer: But before the world ends, goblins will put an end to many more villages.
Goblin Slayer: Perfectly.
High Elf Archer: Then—!
Goblin Slayer: But before the world ends, goblins will put an end to many more villages.
"The managers always talked about having the view from 30,000 feet. The only problem with having the view from 30,000 feet, is that at that height, everyone looks like ants."
The Big Picture has been romanticized by humans, even some loyal to the Enemy's camp. It is something we always encourage. For, you see, once a human, or this soul-bearing hybrid Angel, gets it into his head that the war must be fought, not simply the current battle, it is almost embarrassingly simple for us to slip in Despair. When Angel is confronted by a war he cannot possibly win, one that must be fought by eternal forces, not temporal, he will ask the fatal question: "What's the use of me?"
This is always a question we encourage, primarily because temporal beings don't often understand the answer. The answer, of course, being that they are called only to this battle—this day, this hour, this act of kindness, this pride to be swallowed, this peace to be made. In these actions lie the seeds of eternity. If once they understand this, we have been dealt a serious blow. Fortunately, not many do. They focus, as you know, upon The Big Picture.
This is always a question we encourage, primarily because temporal beings don't often understand the answer. The answer, of course, being that they are called only to this battle—this day, this hour, this act of kindness, this pride to be swallowed, this peace to be made. In these actions lie the seeds of eternity. If once they understand this, we have been dealt a serious blow. Fortunately, not many do. They focus, as you know, upon The Big Picture.
