Anime and Manga
Ronnie: What are you thinking, setting yourself against Nebula, gathering up the incomplete elixir of immortality?
Huey: Why do you ask? It would be the work of a moment for you to read my mind, would it not?
Ronnie: Hmph. Where's the fun in that? Do you want me to die of boredom?
Huey: Why do you ask? It would be the work of a moment for you to read my mind, would it not?
Ronnie: Hmph. Where's the fun in that? Do you want me to die of boredom?
— Baccano! 1933 - The Slash: Bloody to Fair
Comic Books
Dr. Manhattan: Blake, she was pregnant. You gunned her down.
The Comedian: Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Pregnant woman. Gunned her down. Bang. And y'know what? You watched me. You coulda changed the gun into steam or the bullets into mercury or the bottle into snowflakes! You coulda teleported either of us to goddamn Australia...but you didn't lift a finger! You really don't give a damn about human beings. I watched you. You never cared about whatshername, Jenny Slater, even before you ditched her. Soon you won't be interested in Sally Jupiter's little gal, either. You're drifting outta touch, Doc. You're turning into a flake. God help us all.
The Comedian: Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Pregnant woman. Gunned her down. Bang. And y'know what? You watched me. You coulda changed the gun into steam or the bullets into mercury or the bottle into snowflakes! You coulda teleported either of us to goddamn Australia...but you didn't lift a finger! You really don't give a damn about human beings. I watched you. You never cared about whatshername, Jenny Slater, even before you ditched her. Soon you won't be interested in Sally Jupiter's little gal, either. You're drifting outta touch, Doc. You're turning into a flake. God help us all.
— Watchmen
Film
"Nothing. You demand nothing of me, Mr. D'Antonio. This kingdom is mine, and mine alone."
— Winston, John Wick: Chapter 2
Literature
"What is the point of a life held in the paws of another? There must be choice. There must be freedom. I can point the way, but every cat must walk on its own paws."
— Rock, Warrior Cats: The Last Hope
"O Lord Most High, Creator of the Cosmos, Spinner of Galaxies, Soul of Electromagnetic Waves, Inhaler and Exhaler of Inconceivable Volumes of Vacuum, Spitter of Fire and Rock, Trifler with Millennia - what could we do for Thee that Thou couldst not do for Thyself on octillion times better? Nothing. What could we do or say that could possibly interest Thee? Nothing. Oh, Mankind, rejoice in the apathy of our Creator, for it makes us free and truthful and dignified at last. No longer can a fool like Malachi Constant point to a ridiculous accident of good luck and say, 'Somebody up there likes me.' And no longer can a tyrant say, 'God wants this or that to happen, and anybody who doesn't help this or that to happen is against God.' O Lord Most High, what a glorious weapon is Thy Apathy, for we have unsheathed it, have thrust and slashed mightily with it, and the claptrap that has so often enslaved us or driven us into the madhouse has been slain!"
— The Reverend C. Horner Redwine, The Sirens of Titan
The Ellimist: Once I put you and your friends in a position to give your own former species a chance. I looked deep into the future, and found a way to help you - without using my power directly. And now, you are in a position to help the Hork-Bajir. Do they not deserve the same chance as humans?
Tobias: You're trying to save the Hork-Bajir race from the Yeerks?
The Ellimist: We do not interfere. We do not use our power for one species against another.
Tobias: Bull.
The Ellimist: I will not force you, Tobias. And I will not guarantee you will even succeed. There is every chance you will die and the two Hork-Bajir will die, and all will have been a waste.
Tobias: Thanks. That really cheers me up. Why me? Why stick me with this job? What am I, some kind of hero?
The Ellimist: Tobias, you are a beginning. You are a point on which an entire time line may turn.
Tobias: You're trying to save the Hork-Bajir race from the Yeerks?
The Ellimist: We do not interfere. We do not use our power for one species against another.
Tobias: Bull.
The Ellimist: I will not force you, Tobias. And I will not guarantee you will even succeed. There is every chance you will die and the two Hork-Bajir will die, and all will have been a waste.
Tobias: Thanks. That really cheers me up. Why me? Why stick me with this job? What am I, some kind of hero?
The Ellimist: Tobias, you are a beginning. You are a point on which an entire time line may turn.
— Animorphs #13: The Change
Live-Action TV
"Captain's Log, Stardate 43153.7. We are departing the Rana system for Starbase 133. We leave behind a being of extraordinary power and conscience. I'm not certain if he should be praised or condemned, only that he should be left alone."
— Captain Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "The Survivors"
Webcomics
"I have to be a neutral force. The natural progression of time is more important to me than even helping out people in need. It's part of what makes me a Prophet of Stability."
Web Video
"GOHAN IS THE STRONGEST IN THE UNIVERSE, BUT STILL DOESN'T DO CRAAAAAAAAAP!"
