Quotes taken from A Crown of Stars:
Daniel:“Asuka, how long has it been since you’ve had a friend? Or even just someone to talk to?”
Asuka:“I don’t need friends. I don’t need anybody. Everyone leaves.”
Daniel:“Is that what you want, Asuka? I can take them all away. I can take him away. Do you want to be alone?”
Asuka (thinking, nearly crying): ‘Don’t take him away. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be alone.’
Asuka:“I don’t need friends. I don’t need anybody. Everyone leaves.”
Daniel:“Is that what you want, Asuka? I can take them all away. I can take him away. Do you want to be alone?”
Asuka (thinking, nearly crying): ‘Don’t take him away. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be alone.’
Asuka:“Shinji... [...] ...this... isn’t going to be easy. I know...I can be hard to live with. And you… we’ve both got... a lot of problems.”
Shinji (laughing):“Asuka, both of our parents practically dumped us by the side of the road before we were four. Both of us have actually died in combat with alien monsters before we were fifteen. We outlived the end of the world, and then some. Why should anything in our lives be easy, even the good things?”
Asuka:“And this is a good thing?”
Shinji:“The best, Asuka. The best in the world.”
Shinji (laughing):“Asuka, both of our parents practically dumped us by the side of the road before we were four. Both of us have actually died in combat with alien monsters before we were fifteen. We outlived the end of the world, and then some. Why should anything in our lives be easy, even the good things?”
Asuka:“And this is a good thing?”
Shinji:“The best, Asuka. The best in the world.”
Daniel:“I dislike having to hammer you on this, Shinji, but I’d have thought someone who’s devoted serious time to study of philosophy would have a better appreciation for the implications of his choices.”
Shinji:“What do you mean?”
Daniel:“I am, and always have been, a soldier. A fighter. And yes, a killer. I long ago made peace with the fact that what I do will cause death and destruction, and that will sometimes spill over on those perhaps innocent. I became the greatest killer in the omniverse so that in the end I wouldn’t have to at all because opposing me would be futile. I take every possible measure to minimize innocent suffering. But choosing inaction is a moral choice too, Shinji. I find myself in agreement with Asuka here, though she made the same point much less delicately in that battle; ‘You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs’, she said. Even when she pointed out to you that by refusing to fight the other MP Evas in Berlin you’d be condemning far more innocents to death under Winthrop’s rule than the fighting in the city could possibly cause, it wasn’t that logical conclusion that got you, if not to take up the fight yourself, to at least stop preventing her from taking action. What got you to stop holding her back was her reminding you of the choice you’d made to stop her from killing herself earlier that night, and her pointing out that stopping her from dying then would be meaningless if you got the both of you killed in the name of not getting blood on your hands. Wanting to avoid innocent blood being shed is a noble thing, Shinji, but you were choosing to avoid personal responsibility for such to the extent that you didn’t seem to care if your choice would cause more people to suffer or die because of that.”
Shinji:“What do you mean?”
Daniel:“I am, and always have been, a soldier. A fighter. And yes, a killer. I long ago made peace with the fact that what I do will cause death and destruction, and that will sometimes spill over on those perhaps innocent. I became the greatest killer in the omniverse so that in the end I wouldn’t have to at all because opposing me would be futile. I take every possible measure to minimize innocent suffering. But choosing inaction is a moral choice too, Shinji. I find myself in agreement with Asuka here, though she made the same point much less delicately in that battle; ‘You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs’, she said. Even when she pointed out to you that by refusing to fight the other MP Evas in Berlin you’d be condemning far more innocents to death under Winthrop’s rule than the fighting in the city could possibly cause, it wasn’t that logical conclusion that got you, if not to take up the fight yourself, to at least stop preventing her from taking action. What got you to stop holding her back was her reminding you of the choice you’d made to stop her from killing herself earlier that night, and her pointing out that stopping her from dying then would be meaningless if you got the both of you killed in the name of not getting blood on your hands. Wanting to avoid innocent blood being shed is a noble thing, Shinji, but you were choosing to avoid personal responsibility for such to the extent that you didn’t seem to care if your choice would cause more people to suffer or die because of that.”
