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Anime
Communicator: One who recognizes their own sin, has no sin.
Rakka: What?
Communicator: That is a riddle called the Circle of Sin. Think about it. One who recognizes their own sin, has no sin. Now I ask you, are you a sinner?
Rakka: I...if the dream in the cocoon was for real, then I think I am a sinner.
Communicator: Then are you one who recognizes their own sin?
Rakka: If so, will my sin be erased?
Communicator: Then I ask you again. One who recognizes their own sin, has no sin. Then are you a sinner?
Rakka: Oh, if I think I have no sin, then I do become a sinner?
Communicator: Perhaps that is what it means to be bound by sin. To keep going around in the same circle looking to find where the sin lies, and at some point losing sight of the way out.
Rakka: What?
Communicator: That is a riddle called the Circle of Sin. Think about it. One who recognizes their own sin, has no sin. Now I ask you, are you a sinner?
Rakka: I...if the dream in the cocoon was for real, then I think I am a sinner.
Communicator: Then are you one who recognizes their own sin?
Rakka: If so, will my sin be erased?
Communicator: Then I ask you again. One who recognizes their own sin, has no sin. Then are you a sinner?
Rakka: Oh, if I think I have no sin, then I do become a sinner?
Communicator: Perhaps that is what it means to be bound by sin. To keep going around in the same circle looking to find where the sin lies, and at some point losing sight of the way out.
Film
Literature
A disciple said to Jesus [before they embark], "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
Jesus said, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
Jesus said, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
— The Bible, Matthew 8:21-22
The Tao (Way) that can be spoken of is not the everlasting Tao.
The Ming (Name) that can be named is not the everlasting Ming.
The Ming (Name) that can be named is not the everlasting Ming.
— Dao De Jing
In the second scroll of Wen the Eternally Surprised, a story is written concerning one day when the apprentice Clodpool, in a rebellious mood, approached Wen and spake thusly: "Master, what is the difference between a humanistic, monastic system of belief in which wisdom is sought by means of an apparently nonsensical system of questions and answers, and a lot of mystic gibberish made up on the spur of the moment?"
Wen considered this for some time, and at last said: "A fish!"
And Clodpool went away, satisfied.
Wen considered this for some time, and at last said: "A fish!"
And Clodpool went away, satisfied.
The artist deals with what cannot be said in words.
The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words.
The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words.
Live Action TV
Odo: When you return to The Link, what will become of the entity I'm talking to right now?
Female Changeling: The drop becomes the ocean.
Odo: And if you choose to take solid form again?
Female Changeling: The ocean becomes a drop.
Female Changeling: The drop becomes the ocean.
Odo: And if you choose to take solid form again?
Female Changeling: The ocean becomes a drop.
Daniel: How do I know it's really you?
Oma: How deep is the river if you cannot see the bottom?
Jim: Deeper than the coffee in my cup, I'll tell you that.
Oma: How deep is the river if you cannot see the bottom?
Jim: Deeper than the coffee in my cup, I'll tell you that.
"I am rejected by all worlds. No world is my world. In other words, any world can be my world."
— Tsukasa, Kamen Rider Decade
"Stick likes his fortune-cookie wisdom."
— Matt Murdock, Daredevil (2015)
M'Ola: Will you consider one thing. Please. If it were your child, or even you yourself, how would you feel if the doctor of Babylon 5 wanted to perform an unwelcome procedure on you?
Kosh Naranek: The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.
Kosh Naranek: The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.
— ''Babylon 5 — "Believers"
Tabletop Games
Once, there was a maiden...
...who met a thing outside the world, and there was a beauty to it.
It burned with an unholy wrath that could destroy Creation.
It hated her as much as it loved her.
Its kiss was blood and perfection, for its teeth were sharp.
It offered her power, and with it, hooks to tear her soul.
With care not to burn her fingers, she took it into her life.
"Love is what you make of it," she said.
...who met a thing outside the world, and there was a beauty to it.
It burned with an unholy wrath that could destroy Creation.
It hated her as much as it loved her.
Its kiss was blood and perfection, for its teeth were sharp.
It offered her power, and with it, hooks to tear her soul.
With care not to burn her fingers, she took it into her life.
"Love is what you make of it," she said.
— The Scripture of Lover and Maiden, Exalted
Video Games
"You can only live forever if you die today."
— Vill-V, Honkai Impact 3rd, "Für Elysia"
Webcomics
Lord Intra gathered his retainers, who were hungry for tutelage. "Lord Intra!" said his sandal bearer, "What is the first step on the path to Royalty?"
"There are no steps," replied Intra, "It is zero-sum with your reality. It is not measured in finger-lengths."
"Lord Intra," said his bodyguard, "Is the path to Royalty the path of struggle, then?"
"No," said Intra, "One may attain it without any effort at all. It is, in fact, the antithesis of struggle."
Intra's steward was very discontent with his master's evasiveness. "Lord," he said, "Allow us lowly men some small measure of understanding. For sympathy's sake, and the sake of we good and loyal servants, please tell us in plain language the nature of Royalty."
"I will tell you precisely what Royalty is," said Intra, "It is a continuous cutting motion."
"There are no steps," replied Intra, "It is zero-sum with your reality. It is not measured in finger-lengths."
"Lord Intra," said his bodyguard, "Is the path to Royalty the path of struggle, then?"
"No," said Intra, "One may attain it without any effort at all. It is, in fact, the antithesis of struggle."
Intra's steward was very discontent with his master's evasiveness. "Lord," he said, "Allow us lowly men some small measure of understanding. For sympathy's sake, and the sake of we good and loyal servants, please tell us in plain language the nature of Royalty."
"I will tell you precisely what Royalty is," said Intra, "It is a continuous cutting motion."
— The Song of Maybe, Kill Six Billion Demons
"Here's a proverb for you: 'A pebble cast today is the start of a thousand-year causeway'. My master was fond of it. But I will mention that my master slept in a barrel in the marketplace. She was also habitually drunk. So her advice is rather untrustworthy. As is mine. The only thing you can trust from me is my cooking. I should mention I am likewise habitually drunk."
— Mathangi Ten Meti, aka Murder The Gods And Topple Their Thrones, Kill Six Billion Demons
Web Original
A master programmer passed a novice programmer one day. The master noted the novice's preoccupation with a hand-held computer game. "Excuse me," he said, "may I examine it?"
The novice bolted to attention and handed the device to the master. "I see that the device claims to have three levels of play: Easy, Medium, and Hard," said the master. "Yet every such device has another level of play, where the device seeks not to conquer the human, nor to be conquered by the human."
"Pray, great master," implored the novice, "how does one find this mysterious setting?"
The master dropped the device to the ground and crushed it underfoot. And suddenly the novice was enlightened.
The novice bolted to attention and handed the device to the master. "I see that the device claims to have three levels of play: Easy, Medium, and Hard," said the master. "Yet every such device has another level of play, where the device seeks not to conquer the human, nor to be conquered by the human."
"Pray, great master," implored the novice, "how does one find this mysterious setting?"
The master dropped the device to the ground and crushed it underfoot. And suddenly the novice was enlightened.
