"What can I do to this guy that life hasn't already done?!"
— The Monarch, The Venture Bros.
"You can't break what's already broken!"
— Old Man McGucket, Gravity Falls, "Society of the Blind Eye"
"I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the dementors couldn't suck it out of me ... but it kept me sane and knowing who I am ... helped me keep my powers [...] But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand. ...
"But then I saw Peter in that picture ... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry ... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again [...] ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies .. and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors. ...
"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive. [...] It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it. ... It wasn't a happy feeling ... it was an obsession ... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind."
"But then I saw Peter in that picture ... I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry ... perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again [...] ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies .. and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors. ...
"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive. [...] It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the dementors couldn't destroy it. ... It wasn't a happy feeling ... it was an obsession ... but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind."
— Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
"I've felt worse."
I'm pretty cool, I think. As a guy. Overall. I mean, I also think I'm kind of a useless dirtbag, but when it comes to weird alien shit? I'm your man. I've had two different brain buddies, been held at tailblade-point more times than I can count, and had about sixty different kinds of gun pointed at my face or at what the guy holding the gun assumed was my face. I've been on missions away from Earth, I've talked to Skrit Na and the Rakkam Garoo who were friendly with us and Taxxons and Hork-Bajir and Leerans and God knows how many other extraterrestrials who'd give the little puppet guy a run for his money. I've watched while Feriss made a fool of himself chasing after Esplin, I watched Esplin give himself a sugar coma the first time he ever morphed human, and I watched the pair of them drag Alloran and I into an office affair from hell. I can keep my head, if shit goes sideways.
— Tom's narration, What Tomorrow Brings
