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"Everything they say about us is true. General staffs and politicians? We're parasites. But a parasite needs to understand the value of a healthy host."
—Field Marshall Gopp, Mobile Suit Gundam MSV:R, The Return of Johnny Ridden
Fan Works
Naofumi: I just need you to know there may still be a way to give your people a proper miracle seed. I've now obtained some shields that if used right may be able to modify these seeds. Turning them into something beneficial... But that can't be done today. I plan on staying the night and possibly the next day if need be. I will ensure it works properly unlike the Spear Idiot.
Lord Lerno: This is more than we can repay...
Naofumi: Don't be so sure. If this works these original unmodified seeds will become a blank canvas that I can turn into whatever I need in a plant. I could even modify seeds for the sole purpose of creating monsters to become new shields for me... I'd like them as payment.
Lord Lerno: This is more than we can repay...
Naofumi: Don't be so sure. If this works these original unmodified seeds will become a blank canvas that I can turn into whatever I need in a plant. I could even modify seeds for the sole purpose of creating monsters to become new shields for me... I'd like them as payment.
— Chapter 14, Family of the Shield
Literature
Gratitude: An imaginary emotion that rewards an imaginary behavior, altruism. Both imaginaries are false faces for selfishness, which is a real and honest emotion.
Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please—this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more!
So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.
(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please—this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more!
So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.
(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)
Live-Action TV
Ambassador G'Kar: What if I told you a ship is ready to spirit you away to Narn space?
CWO. Michael Garibaldi: I'd say, "why?"
G'Kar: You could serve us in various ways. Analyst, security, cryptographer. If you grow homesick we could arrange for your return to human space with proper genetic alterations. That, too, might serve our needs.
Garibaldi: You want me to betray my own world?
G'Kar: Stop seeing things in such absolute terms. The universe is run by the interweaving of three elements: Energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest. Unless you comprehend that fact and soon, you will be cornered and caged.
CWO. Michael Garibaldi: I'd say, "why?"
G'Kar: You could serve us in various ways. Analyst, security, cryptographer. If you grow homesick we could arrange for your return to human space with proper genetic alterations. That, too, might serve our needs.
Garibaldi: You want me to betray my own world?
G'Kar: Stop seeing things in such absolute terms. The universe is run by the interweaving of three elements: Energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest. Unless you comprehend that fact and soon, you will be cornered and caged.
Londo Mollari: During the Shadow War, Sheridan risked his life and the lives of every human on this station to help save our worlds. Would the Gaim have done that for the pak'ma'ra? Would the Drazi have done that for the Narn? No. That sacrifice must be rewarded.
G'Kar: Since the war, we have begun working together as never before. In the past, we had nothing in common. But now the humans have become the glue that holds us together.
Londo: If Sheridan's forces are defeated, then Earth will turn in upon itself. They will become isolated, or they'll turn against the rest of us. Politically, it is very wise.
G'Kar: Morally, it is even wiser.
Vir Cotto: Politics and morality on the same side? That doesn't happen every day, Delenn.
G'Kar: Since the war, we have begun working together as never before. In the past, we had nothing in common. But now the humans have become the glue that holds us together.
Londo: If Sheridan's forces are defeated, then Earth will turn in upon itself. They will become isolated, or they'll turn against the rest of us. Politically, it is very wise.
G'Kar: Morally, it is even wiser.
Vir Cotto: Politics and morality on the same side? That doesn't happen every day, Delenn.
Video Games
Aloy: I'm past trusting you with secrets.
Sylens: Good, that means you're wising up. Trust is for fools. It shifts and crumbles like sand — a poor foundation for any partnership. But mutual self-interest, now that is a solid bedrock upon which you and I might build a new science of understanding.
Sylens: Good, that means you're wising up. Trust is for fools. It shifts and crumbles like sand — a poor foundation for any partnership. But mutual self-interest, now that is a solid bedrock upon which you and I might build a new science of understanding.
Webcomics
"When you get hearts, minds, wallets, and mooch factor aligned on the same axis, you've come as close to creating an irresistible force as humanly possible."
Real Life
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."
— Adam Smith
