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Ginko: Aren't you afraid of losing light forever?
Amane: I am. But I'm more afraid of a world with nothing but light.
Amane: I am. But I'm more afraid of a world with nothing but light.
— Mushishi, "Eye of Fortune, Eye of Misfortune"
Are they servants of God? Or are they minions of the Devil?
— Garterbelt, referring to the other titular characters of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Comic Books
In blackest day, in brightest night,
Beware your fears made into light.
Beware your fears made into light.
— From the Sinestro Corps motto
Fan Works
In my brightness I found contentment, and in my brightness my desire to rub my holiness in their faces grew. One foggy night, my seventh or so after being drowned, I flew up the river. I illuminated the streets, a paler, colder lamp than those lighting up the place, right in the procession to celebrate my righteous death.
Oh, their faces when they saw my light! They thought I was an angel, sent to congratulate that sinful maggot’s due death, to bless their hallowed night with heaven-sent radiance. Most of the clerics instantly broke in hymns and praise, except Father Trinellus, who was a bit more savvy than that, and eyed me with thinly veiled suspicion.
Oh, their faces when they saw my light! They thought I was an angel, sent to congratulate that sinful maggot’s due death, to bless their hallowed night with heaven-sent radiance. Most of the clerics instantly broke in hymns and praise, except Father Trinellus, who was a bit more savvy than that, and eyed me with thinly veiled suspicion.
— The narrator of Will-o’-the-wisp
Don't let his title fool you. Kefka is the light that blinds, and the fire that consumes.
Sora: I- I don’t understand! Galeem is a being of light. How can he-
Ganondorf, whirling on him: And where, pray tell, is it written that Light must be good? Does not the Light blind? Does not the Light burn? Does not the Light expose all we might wish to hide from the world? No, you naïve child, the Light need not be good. The Light must merely shine, without care of what it burns or exposes.
Ganondorf, whirling on him: And where, pray tell, is it written that Light must be good? Does not the Light blind? Does not the Light burn? Does not the Light expose all we might wish to hide from the world? No, you naïve child, the Light need not be good. The Light must merely shine, without care of what it burns or exposes.
Film—Animated
Rex: Woody, look! I can see daylight! We're gonna be okay!
All: Yay!
(Woody's smile fades)
Woody: ...I don't think that's daylight... (camera zooms in to reveal that the light is coming from an incinerator!) RUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!
All: Yay!
(Woody's smile fades)
Woody: ...I don't think that's daylight... (camera zooms in to reveal that the light is coming from an incinerator!) RUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!
Film—Live-Action
Daredevil: Hey, that light? At the end of the tunnel? Guess what? That's not heaven.
Jose Quesada: (struggling on the subway tracks) I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!
Daredevil: THAT'S THE C-TRAIN!
Jose Quesada: (struggling on the subway tracks) I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!
Daredevil: THAT'S THE C-TRAIN!
Literature
I had always presumed white light to be pure and somehow chaste, to be noble and good. But this whiteness was unutterably evil, chilling, its purity an abomination.
— Inquisitor Eisenhorn, Hereticus
Gilgamesh: Were you watching, King of Conquerors? That was Saber's light. Would you still claim her unworthy, having seen her brilliance?
Alexander the Great: That light comes from taking the hopes and dreams of her people onto her shoulders. It was so dazzling that it hurt to even look...
Alexander the Great: That light comes from taking the hopes and dreams of her people onto her shoulders. It was so dazzling that it hurt to even look...
And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!
— Galadriel, The Lord of the Rings
We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.
— O'Brian, Nineteen Eighty-Four
"Even Satan masquerades as an angel of light."
Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel turns out to be a flamethrower.
Live-Action TV
I know. My hair is dark so I look evil, but I'm wearing white, which is ironic.
—Rebbeca Bunch, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos - you know, Michael Landon. Not dicks.
— Dean, Supernatural Season 4, Episode 2, "Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester"
Music
But an angel ain't an angel
If it's burning from above you
A star is just a mockery
Mocking me too far too reach.
If it's burning from above you
A star is just a mockery
Mocking me too far too reach.
— Halo
This is the dark side of the morning
I’ve seen the dark side of day
It came in like sorrow without warning
And hung around like the cold winter rain...
I’ve seen the dark side of day
It came in like sorrow without warning
And hung around like the cold winter rain...
— Katie Brianna, "Dark Side of the Morning"
In hellish glare and inference
The other one's a duplicate
The queenly flux, Eternal Light
Oh, the light that never warms
The other one's a duplicate
The queenly flux, Eternal Light
Oh, the light that never warms
I still remember your light
And it was streaming down
And burning out my eyes
And it was streaming down
And burning out my eyes
— Voltaire, "Almost Human"
I'm guarding 28-14, I dunno why it's chosen me
But from the corner of my eye
I catch a glimpse of evil light
I fear it tries to swallow me, like I'm just some guy with an emerald
But from the corner of my eye
I catch a glimpse of evil light
I fear it tries to swallow me, like I'm just some guy with an emerald
Ask not the sun why she sets
Why she shrouds her light away
Or why she hides her glowing gaze
When night turns crimson gold to grey
For silent falls the guilty sun
As day to dark does turn
One simple truth she dare not speak:
Her light can only blind and burn
Why she shrouds her light away
Or why she hides her glowing gaze
When night turns crimson gold to grey
For silent falls the guilty sun
As day to dark does turn
One simple truth she dare not speak:
Her light can only blind and burn
—Daylight's End, League of Legends
Poetry
For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.
— William Shakespeare, "Sonnet 147"
Tabletop Games
"Follow the light at your own risk."
— Beckoning Will-o'-Wisp◊ from the Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons crossover set Battle for Baldur's Gate
◊ from the Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons crossover set Battle for Baldur's GateSnuffing the light of a lantern without saying a small prayer is bad luck. Though its flame can only singe, its soul can repeatedly visit misery on one's house.
— Magic: The Gathering, Teachings of Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, "Lantern Kami"
In the Maelstrom, a trick of the light can feast on human flesh.
"It is not sad." - Radiant chided the lesser angel - "It is right. Every society must have its outcasts."
Those who fear darkness have never seen what the light can do.
— Selenia, Dark Angel, Magic: The Gathering, "Lightning Blast"
Together, the Tech-Priests command enough firepower to drive back the night forever. They extend the iron grip of the Omnissiah wherever they go, illuminating the dark corners of the galaxy with his white-hot enlightenment. It is a light they wield not as a giver of life, but as a weapon – a killing blaze that burns uncertainty from the universe and replaces it with a cold and terrible logic.
— Warhammer 40,000: Codex - Cult Mechanicus
A seething brilliance lanced through the kami's image like lightning. A light like a poison, for with its every flash, another image burned through Chishiro's mind:
Crush. Gore. Devour. End this faithless wretch—and then end the next, and the next.
"My power can be contained no longer! This world will be cleansed by my light! Nothing can stop me!"
—Citizen Dawn, Sentinels of the Multiverse
Video Games
They say it is a light that brings truth and love. I say it is a light that blinds us – and forces us to stumble about in ignorance.
— Altaïr's Codex (XX), Assassin's Creed
I was deceived, deceived by the light.
— Balder, Bayonetta 2.
Face the light, and see past its beauty. Bear witness to its cruel and fearsome alter ego.
— Inscription in a stone found on the first floor of the Trial of Light, Fantasy Life
Bright Lord, Dark Lord, same thing really.
— Bruz, Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Unlike the riddles in this ruin's towers - light and truth do not always go hand-in-hand. As our friend Adrienn said just moments ago - things aren't that black or white. Sometimes, light can be even more blinding than darkness.
— Randomus in regards to El, Pokémon Reborn
Let there be light! Painful light!
— Luminous, Skylanders: Trap Team
-E SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN THE SUN TH-
— Journal Entry after encountering the Dawn Machine, Sunless Sea
The light: it's pretty.
The light fascinates.
The light compels.
The light is a secret electricity in your blood.
When you close your eyes, you see the light.
Whenever you close your eyes, you see the shining towers rise. The Name burns within.
The towers rise, the name burns. Forget it. Rise to the Sun.
The Sun growls in your dreams like a pent river. Be glad.
You will rise to the Sun and be lost.
You will rise to the Sun and be lost. Soon, O God, soon.
Enough of this darkness. Go to the sun. Give yourself like a spark to smoke.
— Descriptions of increasing Menaces: Yearning, Burning, Sunless Sea
Still, such a terrible light, so bright yet so hideous, as if the heavens' wrath were upon us...
The medication of the Filth lobotomises their brains. Vibrations from profane angles of undiscovered dimensions tickle their tongues to inspiration. Listen to them...
"With your light burn away all hateful things!"
"Don't resist. Our bodies are unworthy of the majesty."
"See how your radiance burns my skin. I am blessed!"
"I too feared Aten. So wrong, I was very wrong."
"I give you my eyes, and I see! I see! It is beautiful!"
—The Buzzing,The Secret World
"Are you afraid of the dark? Hah! ‘Tis light’s glare that will strip you bare!"
"Mercy," saith the Watchman, "is found only in shadow."
— An Unmerciful Mantra, Cultist Simulator
First rule of the skies: just because you fear the darkness doesn't mean you can trust the light.
—The Amiable Vagabond, Sunless Skies
Malthael's plan is finally clear. He will use the Black Soulstone to end the Eternal Conflict forever—at a terrible and insane cost. I remember that the angels voted against exterminating humanity long ago, but it seems they cannot be trusted to keep their word. They represent light and order, but they are not our allies.
—Demon Hunter's Quest Log, Act V, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
Take us there, please. A place where light can not haunt us, a place without dreams...Please...
— No Eyes, Hollow Knight
"There are two kinds of light — the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures."
"Walk always in the light, or we will drag you to it."
""None escape the Vigil. All come into the light."
— "Vigilants of Stendarr", "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim"
Visual Novels
I didn't want to see his light.
— Nik, on a hallucination of his dead friend covered with glowing mushrooms.
Webcomics
Ally: Is this holy white 'r somethin'?
Tim: Y'ever see Neverending Story? Read Crisis on Infinite Earths? Watch Six Feet Under? Imagine a nuclear explosion? White is almost always bad!
Tim: Y'ever see Neverending Story? Read Crisis on Infinite Earths? Watch Six Feet Under? Imagine a nuclear explosion? White is almost always bad!
— Fans!
Web Original
White, as well as every other color in Magic, will do things that can be labeled both "good" and "evil," and even that might not be consistent from person to person. Preservation of life is very white. Most of you would probably classify that as "good." Fascism is also very white. Most of you would probably classify that as "evil."
"Learn to embrace the darkness, friends. Fear the light."
"Hey, can we go on land?"
"NO."
"Why?"
"THE SUN IS A DEADLY LAZER."
"NO."
"Why?"
"THE SUN IS A DEADLY LAZER."
Western Animation
The dawn is your enemy
— [adult swim]'s sign-out bumper before the shift to Cartoon Network
I see the light... it burns!
— Homer Simpson, The Simpsons, “Faith Off”
They warned me Satan would be attractive.
— Ned Flanders, The Simpsons, “Midnight Rx”
If Luna can turn into Nightmare Moon, you can absolutely turn into me - Daybreaker! The better, prettier, and more powerful version of you!
— Daybreaker, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, "A Royal Problem"
Real Life
White witchcraft is the one most favoured because it is seen as the "good" version of witchcraft but this is more a fallacy because people who take to "white" witchcraft can often do more damage to themselves and others through their practices than those who practice "black" witchcraft. This is because white witchcraft generally does not require an individual to ask permission or inform another that they are doing a spell on behalf/to another, even practicing hexing in order to do "the greater good." This is largely inappropriate morally and can do a lot of damage to those who find out this has happened.
People associated darkness with evil and light with good. Explain to me, then, why history's worst monsters all sided with the light, fighting for the radiant Sun, while the shadows were burned.
— Unknown
I don't fear what hides in the darkness. I fear what hides in the light.
— Unknown
We say that evil is dark. But this metaphor is imprecise. Evil is actually intensely bright. So painfully bright that many people look away from it. Many even deny it's existence. Why? Because once people acknowledge evil's existence, they know they have to confront it. And most people prefer not to confront evil.
—Dennis Prager, "The Iran Nuclear Deal", PragerU
, PragerU