"The story goes that Athena— you know Athena, right? Seems she heard there was this woman on Earth— a mere mortal, like you and me— who happened to be a better spinstress than she was. Athena wasn't too happy to hear this and she came down to Earth and she destroyed this woman's creations. When this mortal girl saw what had happened— that she had insulted the gods and that her life's work had been destroyed— she hanged herself. Athena took pity on this poor girl, and touched her on her forehead with a magic liquid and said, 'You shall not die, Arachne. Instead you shall be transformed and weave your web forever.' At Athena's words, Arachne shrank and blackened. First, her nose and ears fell off, and then her fingers turned into legs— what was left of her became her body, out of which she spins and was left to spin her web."
—Norman Osborn, issue #1.
"Oh, Peter. You're such— really, you're such a good kid. Such a bright— no, more than bright. You're smart as they come. And this— this is just stupid. You know, your father, God rest his soul... Your father had a philosophy that he held to pretty strongly. And it's one that served him very, very well... He believed that if there were things in this world that you had to offer, things that you did well— better than anyone else... Things that you could do that helped or made people feel better about themselves... Well, he believed that it wasn't just a good idea to do those things... He believed it was your responsibility to do those things. Don't try to be something else, don't try to be less. Great things are going to happen to you and life, Peter. Great things. And with that will come great responsibility. Do you understand? Great responsibility."
Ben Parker, issue #4.
"I was selfish. So selfish— and you paid the price. You did, I did, Aunt May did. I will never ever forgive myself for that. I will never ever forget that I could have stopped it. It's all so clear now, Uncle Ben. It's like I've been wearing a blindfold and earmuffs all my life— and someone just ripped them off me. I see the world clearly now— and I see my place in it. You were right— with power comes responsibility, absolutely. For some reason I've been given great power. And with great power then must comes great responsibility. I will never let you down again, Uncle Ben."
Peter Parker, issue #5.
"They - society - hates you because they don't want your help. You remind them of how weak-willed and sheep-like and unspecial they are. How gleeful they are, deep down, to be ordinary. They don't want heroes. They don't want special people around them. Because if there are special people and they aren't one of them— well, who wants that? Who wants a constant reminder that they aren't even trying to be special? See, the difference between you and I is that you really are just a child. You benefit from the wide-eyed optimism of youth. I do envy that, somewhat. But... like many of your decisions in life... it's just naive. And I don't envy that harsh cold slap of reality that will come your way soon enough. But I guess it's inevitable. People don't want to be special. I do think that. It is my philosophy. They- people want to be told what to do and how to live and they want men like me to tell them. They want to go to work and do as little as they can possibly get away with, and they want a big cookie at the end of the day for doing it. And they want men like me to give it to them. And if it wasn't me it would be someone else."
— Wilson Fisk, Issue #80.
