"Don't push your own feelings onto others. No matter what pretty words you string together, your kindness is just hypocrisy. You're just pretending to be nice to make yourself feel better."
"If you use your wish to grant someone else's, you should be careful you know exactly why you're doing it. Are you really doing it for someone else's benefit, or the opposite, you're doing it for that person's everlasting gratitude?"
— Mami Tomoe, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, to Sayaka Miki
Superman: There are at least six different ways I can stop you right now.
President Luthor: But they all involve deadly force, don't they? And you don't do that. No, you need me. You wouldn't be much of a hero without a villain, and you do love being a hero, don't you? The cheering children, the swooning women... You love it so much, it's made you my most reliable accomplice!
Superman: Accomplice?! What're you—
Luthor: You could have crushed me any time you wanted. And it wasn't the law or the will of the people that stopped you; it was your ego. Being a hero was too important to you. You're as much responsible for this as I am. So go ahead. Fix it somehow, put me on trial, lock me up... But I'll beat it. And then we'll start the whole thing all over again.
Superman: ...I did love being a hero. But if this is where it leads... I'm done with it.
President Luthor: But they all involve deadly force, don't they? And you don't do that. No, you need me. You wouldn't be much of a hero without a villain, and you do love being a hero, don't you? The cheering children, the swooning women... You love it so much, it's made you my most reliable accomplice!
Superman: Accomplice?! What're you—
Luthor: You could have crushed me any time you wanted. And it wasn't the law or the will of the people that stopped you; it was your ego. Being a hero was too important to you. You're as much responsible for this as I am. So go ahead. Fix it somehow, put me on trial, lock me up... But I'll beat it. And then we'll start the whole thing all over again.
Superman: ...I did love being a hero. But if this is where it leads... I'm done with it.
—Justice League, "A Better World", just before Superman kills Luthor
"You thought you could avoid the most difficult problem by presenting yourself as 'Mob', never, ever, ever facing me... The me who runs wild like this—this is the true me. You still don't want to acknowledge that?"
— ???%, a.k.a. Shigeo Kageyama, Mob Psycho 100
"This is not about my pedestal! This is about Mulan making the biggest mistake of my… I mean, her life!"
— Mushu, Mulan II
I think you saw a chance to be an emperor, and you took it. You wanted power, Taravangian—so you could give it up. You wanted to be the glorious king who sacrificed himself to protect everyone else. You have always seen yourself as the man who must bear the burden of leading. [...] Because you like it. [...] Because you want to be known as the one who saved us.
— Dalinar, Rhythm of War, fourth book of The Stormlight Archive.
Kanoko: Just when I was thinking I couldn't deal with Yano-san, you said I could come over. That was to help me out, right? Are you saying you did that to get me away from Hime-chan?
(Beat Panel as Sumika thinks about Kanoko with Hime)
Sumika: NO! I just did that because you were in trouble! I wasn't thinking about pulling you away from her...! I would... never... (thinks) Is that true? I wanted... to prove that I understood Kanoko-chan better than Hime-chan does. I wanted to show her that she's better off being with me. Then I could steal her away and feel like I'd won. (a guilt-stricken expression appears on her face)
(Beat Panel as Sumika thinks about Kanoko with Hime)
Sumika: NO! I just did that because you were in trouble! I wasn't thinking about pulling you away from her...! I would... never... (thinks) Is that true? I wanted... to prove that I understood Kanoko-chan better than Hime-chan does. I wanted to show her that she's better off being with me. Then I could steal her away and feel like I'd won. (a guilt-stricken expression appears on her face)
Eleanor Hume: I never imagined that Lord Artorius's quest to change the world was so steeped in tragedy. The villagers should've never sold them out to those bandits!
Rokurou Rangetsu: It was cruel, yes, but nothing remarkable. People are capable of anything when under pressure. Even more so when they can do it under the mantle of the "greater good." Velvet's family was probably the furthest outside the village circle that night.
Eleanor: That's pure selfishness!
Eizen: Humans are selfish creatures. You should be aware of that by now. That's why you said what you said just now, even if you didn't know it. [Eleanor looks at him confused] "Artorius's quest to change the world.," not "Artorius's quest to save humanity."
Eleanor: ...! I—I...
Eizen: I mean no disrespect. It's just an observation
Rokurou: A man with the power to change the world turned his back on the potential of humanity. That may be the biggest tragedy of that night.
[Eleanor cringes at that statement]
Laphicet: The savior of the world... lost all hope in its people...
Rokurou Rangetsu: It was cruel, yes, but nothing remarkable. People are capable of anything when under pressure. Even more so when they can do it under the mantle of the "greater good." Velvet's family was probably the furthest outside the village circle that night.
Eleanor: That's pure selfishness!
Eizen: Humans are selfish creatures. You should be aware of that by now. That's why you said what you said just now, even if you didn't know it. [Eleanor looks at him confused] "Artorius's quest to change the world.," not "Artorius's quest to save humanity."
Eleanor: ...! I—I...
Eizen: I mean no disrespect. It's just an observation
Rokurou: A man with the power to change the world turned his back on the potential of humanity. That may be the biggest tragedy of that night.
[Eleanor cringes at that statement]
Laphicet: The savior of the world... lost all hope in its people...
One question haunts and hurts
Too much, too much to mention
Was I really seeking good
Or just seeking attention?
Is that all good deeds are
When looked at with an ice-cold eye?
If that's all good deeds are
Maybe that's the reason why
No good deed goes unpunished!
Too much, too much to mention
Was I really seeking good
Or just seeking attention?
Is that all good deeds are
When looked at with an ice-cold eye?
If that's all good deeds are
Maybe that's the reason why
No good deed goes unpunished!
