open/close all folders
Anime & Manga
"This world is a cruel place. But it is also very beautiful."
— Mikasa Ackerman, Attack on Titan
Revy: Goddammit! This isn't one of your picturesque Hollywood Films you love to talk about! THERE ARE NO HEROES IN THIS LIFE! And what's all this about pride? Fuck your pride! Look around you, it's shit as far as the eye can see. I hate to break it to you, but there is no fucking Robin Hood!
Rock: If there is no Robin Hood, than why don't you become Robin Hood? It's gotta be better than feeling sorry for yourself, crying about your hard life.
Rock: If there is no Robin Hood, than why don't you become Robin Hood? It's gotta be better than feeling sorry for yourself, crying about your hard life.
"It's more of a battle to continue living!"
— Cagalli Yula Athha, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
Full Frontal: One shouldn't place unwarranted hope in life that merely exists and then fades away.
Banagher Links: Even so!
Banagher Links: Even so!
"As long as you're alive, anywhere can be paradise."
— Yui Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Shadow Teddie: You will vanish into nothingness here... You were nothing to begin with.
Teddie: Nothing?!
Shadow Teddie: You have no "lost" memories. Your existence is nothing more than a mere-
Teddie: I'm not listening! I'll find the answer for myself.
Shadow Teddie: There is no answer.
Teddie: I'll look anyway!
[Beat]
Teddie: I may be hollow, but I'm not a useless bear! I don't wanna disappear. I don't wanna leave Sensei and my friends!
Shadow Teddie: You would put yourself through more anguish in your quest for answers? Your choice is incomprehensible.
Teddie: Nothing?!
Shadow Teddie: You have no "lost" memories. Your existence is nothing more than a mere-
Teddie: I'm not listening! I'll find the answer for myself.
Shadow Teddie: There is no answer.
Teddie: I'll look anyway!
[Beat]
Teddie: I may be hollow, but I'm not a useless bear! I don't wanna disappear. I don't wanna leave Sensei and my friends!
Shadow Teddie: You would put yourself through more anguish in your quest for answers? Your choice is incomprehensible.
"There can't possibly be any meaning in this world. But isn't that wonderful in its own right? Because if there isn't any, we can find our own."
Comic Books
"I am alone. I look at the heavens and think them empty. And if not empty, I find the idea of worshiping whatever dwells there obscene. It doesn't change what is right. If there is nothing but what we make in this world, brothers... let us make good."
"Understood man's capacity for horrors, and never quit. Saw the world's black underbelly, and never surrendered. Once a man has seen, he can never turn his back on it, Never pretend it doesn't exist. No matter who orders him to look the other way. We do not do this thing because it is permitted. We do it because we have to. We do it because we are compelled."
— Rorschach, Watchmen
I cannot see the light. So I will be the light. I am Daredevil.
— Matt Murdoch, Daredevil #612
Everytime the Justice League goes to save the world...we don't know what could happen. Any day could be the day we fall y'know. I'm the greatest archer in the world and missing is always a possibility. I know that. But that will never stop me from taking that shot, and not only to save my loved ones but also strangers, anyone that that needs our help. And I know that each and every one of you would do the same. That's what makes us the Justice League.
— Green Arrow, DarkCrisis #6
Alan: Then I'm an experiment without an experimenter.
Robo: Everyone is if you think about it. Probably where religion gets a lot of appeal. At least an incomprehensible plan exists. I kinda worry that relinquishes agency. Why fight to improve things if injustice is part of the plan? I dunno. Maybe I'm wrong. But at least I'll go down fighting for a better world.
Robo: Everyone is if you think about it. Probably where religion gets a lot of appeal. At least an incomprehensible plan exists. I kinda worry that relinquishes agency. Why fight to improve things if injustice is part of the plan? I dunno. Maybe I'm wrong. But at least I'll go down fighting for a better world.
I can actually see the machinery and wire connecting and separating everything since it all began. This is how he sees all the time, every day. Like it's all just us, in here together. And we're all we've got.
— Lex Luthor going through an epiphany, All-Star Superman
I was reading of [the murder of Kitty Genovese
] and everything just became black and white. Stuff like that murder... it doesn't have to be like that. Yeah, it's easy to turn hard, into an us against you, but you're not trapped in here with me. I'm not trapped in here with you. We're trapped in here with each other. So we should make the best of it, hrm?
] and everything just became black and white. Stuff like that murder... it doesn't have to be like that. Yeah, it's easy to turn hard, into an us against you, but you're not trapped in here with me. I'm not trapped in here with you. We're trapped in here with each other. So we should make the best of it, hrm?— Doctor K, Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt (2019)
Fan Works
"There is no justice in the laws of nature, no term for fairness in the equations of motion. The Universe is neither evil, nor good, it simply does not care. The stars don't care, or the Sun, or the sky.
But they don't have to! We care! There is light in the world, and it is us!"
But they don't have to! We care! There is light in the world, and it is us!"
— Harry James Evans-Verres, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
"I can’t see or predict the future, but I can understand the inner workings of many things. Society, the human mind, DNA, aspects of the universe itself. Do you want to know what I’ve learned? Nothing means anything. We cling to the surface of a piece of dust in the void, wedged between molten rock and a thin envelop of gas circling a mass of burning plasma fusing hydrogen into helium. One day destined to burn out. Our society is broken, backward, unjust, filled with exploitation and corruption. Many of us claim to know the truth meaning of this world- parents, governments, religious leaders- but none of them know anything. They are merely people who chose to find their own answers in this indifferent universe. Never able to grasp at the one absolute truth there is in this universe. That there is no truth."
"None of us are born on purpose. Not put here for a reason. Nothing exists with a goal. We cry out for a higher power to guide us, but we get no response. There is no god, no fate, and no destiny. Existence is just existence. Everything is born from oblivion, existing for a brief time, then returning to oblivion. There’s no reason for it, but it happens anyway. The concepts many of us hold so dearly in our lives, such as love, peace, kindness, happiness, and justice are meaningless. They are merely ephemeral concepts manifested by our own minds. And yet, it’s precisely because they’re so ephemeral that I value them so much. In my vocabulary, "meaningless" is not synonymous with "worthless." The most meaningless things in the world are, to me, the most valuable and important."
—Kyoji Nakamura, The PreDespair Kids
Adora: I just... I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. I'm training, I'm fighting, I'm training again and... I wish I knew why. Is there some big moment I'm meant for? A time when someone will say "this is She-Ra's detsiny"? Or is it just the same thing over and over? I pinned everything on this upgrade helping Light Hope tell me what I need to do, but... I just don't know what the point of me is.
Swift Wind: Does it matter? Do you need to have some all-important destiny to guide you?
Adora: How the hell else do I know what I'm training for?
Swift Wind: Adora, life doesn't need to be about achieving one big destiny. Sometimes just being here and trying to make the world a tiny bit better each day is enough. That adds up to so much more. And through that you'll find what you're meant for.
Swift Wind: Does it matter? Do you need to have some all-important destiny to guide you?
Adora: How the hell else do I know what I'm training for?
Swift Wind: Adora, life doesn't need to be about achieving one big destiny. Sometimes just being here and trying to make the world a tiny bit better each day is enough. That adds up to so much more. And through that you'll find what you're meant for.
Films — Animation
"For every horrible thing down here, there's something far more beautiful."
— Kubo, Kubo and the Two Strings
"You hungry? Kill something and eat it. You sick? Take a long nap. You cold? Dig a hole in the ground, crawl into it, and bury yourself. But nobody's giving up around here, and don't you forget it, ever. You're Rex. You're King. You're Duke! You're Boss. I'm Chief. We're a pack of scary indestructible alpha dogs."
— Chief to Rex, Isle of Dogs
"Now, that's a happy ending! …Or is it? Because everything's over now, and all that's left is just you and an infinite void… Kinda makes you wanna play saxophone, huh?"
— Lumalee, The Super Mario Bros. Movie
"Somewhere in that pad of stuffing is a toy who taught me that life's only worth living if you're being loved by a kid. And I traveled all this way to rescue that toy, because I believed him."
— Buzz Lightyear to Woody, Toy Story 2
Films — Live-Action
Agent Smith: Why, Mr. Anderson? Why, why, why? Why do you do it? Why? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom or truth?! Perhaps peace?! Could it be for love?! Illusions, Mr. Anderson, vagaries of perception! Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose! And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love! You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson! You must know it by now! You can't win! It's pointless to keep fighting! Why, Mr. Anderson?! Why?! WHY DO YOU PERSIST?!
Neo: Because I choose to.
Neo: Because I choose to.
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for'...I agree with the second part.'"
— Det. Somerset, Se7en
"It's Hebrew from the Talmud. It says, 'Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.'"
— Stern, Schindler's List
"Death and chance stole your parents. But rather than become a victim, you have done everything in your power to control the fates. For what is Batman if not an effort to master the chaos that sweeps our world, an attempt to control death itself?"
— Alfred Pennyworth, Batman & Robin
"I bet your parents taught you that you mean something, that you're here for a reason. My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all. They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to."
— Bruce Wayne/Batman, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
"We're all out here in this bigass nowhere Twilight Zone shit, says the badass sociopath in my back seat. But you know what, that's the one thing I gotta thank you for, bro, because until now, I never looked at it that way. What does it matter? It don't, so fucking fix it. What have we got to lose anyway, right?"
"I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles — a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other — that kept me going."
The Vision: Humans are odd. They think order and chaos are somehow opposites and try to control what won't be. But there is grace in their failings. I think you missed that.
Ultron: They're doomed.
The Vision: Yes... but a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. It is a privilege to be among them.
Ultron: You're unbearably naïve.
The Vision: Well... I was born yesterday.
Ultron: They're doomed.
The Vision: Yes... but a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. It is a privilege to be among them.
Ultron: You're unbearably naïve.
The Vision: Well... I was born yesterday.
"At some point, everything's gonna go south on you... everything's going to go south and you're going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... and you solve the next one... and then the next. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come home. All right, questions?"
— Mark Watney, The Martian
Bob: You're trying to prove that the Universe is all for nothing. All matter, all energy, all life is just one-time only Big Bang which expending universe will eventually contract into a super dense black hole. Gravitation forces will be so strong that everything that's something will get squeezed into a single point of zero dimension and poof, the sun disappears, no space no time no life no afterlife, nothing. Nada, ziltsch, zip, zero.
Qohen: Stop! How would anyone believe such a horrible thing ?
Bob: What's so horrible? I believe it. Nothing's perfect, nothing lasts forever, there's nothing to worry about, if you really think about it.
Qohen: Stop! How would anyone believe such a horrible thing ?
Bob: What's so horrible? I believe it. Nothing's perfect, nothing lasts forever, there's nothing to worry about, if you really think about it.
Sam Gamgee: By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo Baggins: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam Gamgee: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.
Frodo Baggins: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam Gamgee: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.
"We know not when we shall meet death! Until then, let us eat, drink and be merry!"
— Lady, Faust
"You know, you come from nothing, you're going back to nothing. What have you lost? Nothing!"
— Lead Singer Crucifee, Monty Python's Life of Brian
Protagonist Waymond: [to Evelyn and the Alpha-verse soldiers] Can we... Can we just stop fighting?
Businessman Waymond: [to Celebrity Evelyn] You tell me that it's a cruel world and we're all just running around in circles. I know that. I've been on this Earth just as many days as you.
Protagonist Waymond: I know you're all fighting because you're scared and confused. I'm confused too. All day... I don't know what the heck is going on. But somehow... this feels like it's all my fault.
Businessman Waymond: When I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naïve. It's strategic and necessary. It's how I learned to survive everything.
Protagonist Waymond: I don't know. The only thing I do know... is that we have to be kind. [to Evelyn] Please. Be kind. Especially when we don't know what's going on.
Businessman Waymond: I know you see yourself as a fighter. Well, I see myself as one too. This is how I fight.
Businessman Waymond: [to Celebrity Evelyn] You tell me that it's a cruel world and we're all just running around in circles. I know that. I've been on this Earth just as many days as you.
Protagonist Waymond: I know you're all fighting because you're scared and confused. I'm confused too. All day... I don't know what the heck is going on. But somehow... this feels like it's all my fault.
Businessman Waymond: When I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naïve. It's strategic and necessary. It's how I learned to survive everything.
Protagonist Waymond: I don't know. The only thing I do know... is that we have to be kind. [to Evelyn] Please. Be kind. Especially when we don't know what's going on.
Businessman Waymond: I know you see yourself as a fighter. Well, I see myself as one too. This is how I fight.
"What if the worst is true? What if there's no God and you only go around once and that's it? Well, you know, don't you wanna be part of the experience? You know, what the hell, it's not all a drag. And I'm thinking to myself, Jeez, I should stop ruining my life searching for answers I'm never gonna get, and just enjoy it while it lasts. And, you know, after, who knows? I mean, you know, maybe there is something, nobody really knows. I know "maybe" is a very slim reed to hang your whole life on, but that's the best we have."
— Mickey Sachs, Hannah and Her Sisters
Literature
"If you stare at the center of the universe, there's a coldness there. A blankness. Ultimately, the universe doesn't care about us. Time doesn't care about us. That's why we have to care about each other."
"Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
—The Teacher, Book of Ecclesiastes
"Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The Question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
The Answer: That you are here. That life exists and identity.
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The Question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
The Answer: That you are here. That life exists and identity.
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."
— Walt Whitman, "O Me O Life"
"Even death, faced with the option of death or life, she would choose life."
— José Saramago, Death with Interruptions
Slartibartfast: Perhaps I'm old and tired, but it seems to me that the odds of ever finding out what's really going on are so absurdly remote, that the only thing to do is say "hang the sense of it" and keep yourself busy. I'd much rather be happy than right any day.
Arthur Dent: And are you?
Slartibartfast: Ah...no. Well, that's where it all falls down, of course...
Arthur Dent: And are you?
Slartibartfast: Ah...no. Well, that's where it all falls down, of course...
Death: HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
Susan: Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—
Death: YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
Susan: So we can believe the big ones?
Death: YES. JUSTICE. DUTY. MERCY. THAT SORT OF THING.
Susan: They're not the same at all!
Death: REALLY? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET... AND YET YOU ACT LIKE THERE WAS SOME SORT OF RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
Susan: Yes. But people have got to believe that or what's the point —
Death: MY POINT EXACTLY.
[...]
Susan: Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—
Death: YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
Susan: So we can believe the big ones?
Death: YES. JUSTICE. DUTY. MERCY. THAT SORT OF THING.
Susan: They're not the same at all!
Death: REALLY? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET... AND YET YOU ACT LIKE THERE WAS SOME SORT OF RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
Susan: Yes. But people have got to believe that or what's the point —
Death: MY POINT EXACTLY.
[...]
Death: YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE; HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?
“I'm in love with you," he said quietly.
"Augustus," I said.
"I am," he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.”
"Augustus," I said.
"I am," he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.”
— John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
"Though I am long dead as you read this explorer, I offer to you a valediction. Contemplate the marvel that is existence, and rejoice that you are able to do so. I feel I have the right to tell you this because, as I am inscribing these words, I am doing the same."
— The narrator of Ted Chiang's "Exhalation" as his universe ends around him
"Life is a storm. One minute you will bathe under the sun and the next you will be shattered upon the rocks. That's when you shout, "Do your worst, for I will do mine!' and you will be remembered forever."
Once, on ancient Earth, there was a human boy walking along a beach. There had just been a storm, and starfish had been scattered along the sands. The boy knew the fish would die, so he began to fling the fish to the sea. But every time he threw a starfish, another would wash ashore. An old Earth man happened along and saw what the child was doing. He called out, 'Boy, what are you doing?' 'Saving the starfish!' replied the boy. 'But your attempts are useless, child! Every time you save one, another one returns, often the same one! You can't save them all, so why bother trying? Why does it matter, anyway?' called the old man.
The boy thought about this for a while, a starfish in his hand; he answered, 'Well, it matters to this one.' And then he flung the starfish into the welcoming sea.
—Loren Eiseley, The Star Thrower
I believe life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.
—Sam, American Gods
I stared at my waiting grave, and I suddenly realized that death was really not my biggest worry.
He died doing the right thing.
God, I hope so.
He died doing the right thing.
God, I hope so.
— Harry Dresden, Dead Beat
Every morning Henry took his tools and went to his work of building houses—saw the pyramid of white sand spreading out in the grass, the bricks chipping, the doors beginning to stick, the first tone of gray appearing on white lumber, the first leaf falling in the bright gutter—but kept on hammering and kept on sawing, joining boards and raising rafters; on weekends he swept the driveway and mowed the grass, in the evenings fixed the leaking faucets, tried to straighten out the disagreements with Lorabelle; and in all that he did he could see himself striving toward a condition of beauty or truth or goodness or love that did not exist, but whereas earlier in his life he had always said “It's an illusion” and turned away, now he said “There isn't anything else” and stayed with it; and though it cannot be said that they lived happily, exactly, and certainly not ever after, they did live. They lived—for a while—with ups and downs, good days and bad, and when it came time to die Lorabelle said, “Now we'll never be parted,” and Henry smiled and kissed her and said to himself, “There isn't anything else,” and they died.
— The Illusionless Man & the Visionary Maid
Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but they are unjust, then you should not want to worship them. And if there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
To those like the misguided; look at the story of Man, and come to your senses! It is not the destination, but the trip that matters. What you do today influences tomorrow, not the other way around. Love Today, and seize All Tomorrows!
— Nemo Ramjet, All Tomorrows
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies—"God damn it, you've got to be kind."
— Elliot Rosewater, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
"You don't owe the world anything. That's why you should try to make it better no matter what. A lack of obligation does not mean a lack of mercy."
— Evelyn Baker, InCryptid: Tricks for Free
"The world is not beautiful, therefore it is."
"You have to carry the fire."
"I don't know how to."
"Yes, you do."
"Is the fire real? The fire?"
"Yes it is."
"Where is it? I don't know where it is."
"Yes you do. It's inside you. It always was there. I can see it."
"I don't know how to."
"Yes, you do."
"Is the fire real? The fire?"
"Yes it is."
"Where is it? I don't know where it is."
"Yes you do. It's inside you. It always was there. I can see it."
— The Road
Dex: It doesn't bother you? The thought that your life might mean nothing in the end?
Mosscap: That's true for all life I've observed. Why would it bother me? Do you not find consciousness alone to be the most exhilarating thing? Here we are, in this incomprehensibly large universe, on this one tiny moon around this one incidental planet, and in all the time this entire scenario has existed, every component has been recycled over and over and over again into infinitely incredible configurations, and sometimes, those configurations are special enough to be able to see the world around them. You and I—we’re just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing?
Mosscap: That's true for all life I've observed. Why would it bother me? Do you not find consciousness alone to be the most exhilarating thing? Here we are, in this incomprehensibly large universe, on this one tiny moon around this one incidental planet, and in all the time this entire scenario has existed, every component has been recycled over and over and over again into infinitely incredible configurations, and sometimes, those configurations are special enough to be able to see the world around them. You and I—we’re just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing?
Live-Action TV
"I'm not trying to win. I'm not doing this because I want to beat someone, because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It's not because it's fun. God knows it's not because it's easy. It's not even because it works, because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it's right! Because it's decent! And above all, because it's kind! It's just that...Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stay and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there's no point to any of this at all. But it's the best I can do. So I'm going to do it. And I'm going to stand here doing it until it kills me. And you're going to die too! Some day...And how will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall."
—The Twelfth Doctor, Doctor Who ("The Doctor Falls")
"Look, as sentient meat, however illusory our identities are, we craft those identities by making value judgments: everybody judges, all the time. Now, you got a problem with that... You're livin' wrong."
— Det. Rustin Cohle, True Detective ("Form and Void")
"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, 'wouldn't it be much worse if life WERE fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them?' So now, I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe."
— Marcus Cole, Babylon 5 ("A Late Delivery from Avalon")
Anne: We've had some really decent donations, and it's helping. We actually have a part-time paid psychiatric staff.
Gunn: What if I told you it doesn't help? What would you do if you found out that none of it matters? That it's all controlled by forces more powerful and uncaring than we can conceive. And they will never let it get better down here. What would you do?
Anne: ...I'd get this truck packed before the new stuff gets here. Wanna give me a hand?
Gunn: I do. [they each take one end of a couch]
Gunn: What if I told you it doesn't help? What would you do if you found out that none of it matters? That it's all controlled by forces more powerful and uncaring than we can conceive. And they will never let it get better down here. What would you do?
Anne: ...I'd get this truck packed before the new stuff gets here. Wanna give me a hand?
Gunn: I do. [they each take one end of a couch]
— Angel, "Not Fade Away"
"The greater scheme, the big picture. Nothing we do matters. There's no grand plan, no big win. If there's no great, glorious end to this, if nothing we do matters... then all that matters is what we do. 'Cause that's all there is. What we do. Now. Today. I've fought for so long. For redemption, for a reward, finally just to beat the other guy but I never got it. [...] All I want to do is help. I wanna help because I don't think people should suffer as they do. Because if there's no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world."
—Angel, "Epiphany"
Noreen: Camus says that knowing we're going to die makes life absurd.
Betsy: Well, I don't know who that is. But I'll bet he didn't have a six year old daughter.
Noreen: He's French....
Betsy: I don't care where he's from, no one with any sense would say something so foolish. We'll all put on this Earth for a reason. And we each get enough time to do it.
—Fargo, "Palindrome"
"Death is the enemy. The first enemy and the last. The enemy always wins. And we still need to fight him. That's all I know. You and I won't find much joy while we're here, but we can keep others alive. We can defend those who can't defend themselves. Maybe we don't need to understand any more than that. Maybe that's enough."
—Beric Dondarrion, Game of Thrones
"The four of us... The six of us, really, are doomed. Our fates are sealed. But I think we have one move left. We can try. Try to do good. That stupid little voice in my head told me to do something good today, and it was SO annoying. But it also made a dork and his very untalented daughter super happy. Me trying just a little bit put some good out into the world. The six of us are not getting into the Good Place, but there are still people in this world that we care about. So I say we try and help them be good people. Try and help them get in. I mean why not try? It's better than not trying, right?"
—Eleanor Shellstrop The Good Place
Tim: Life just isn't like the movies, is it? We're constantly lead to believe in resolution and the reestablishment of the ideal status quo, and it's just not true. Happy endings are a myth designed to make us feel better about the fact that life is just a thankless struggle. (the band starts playing "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby") ...D'you wanna dance?
Daisy: D'you know what? I think I do.
—Spaced, "Ends"
"Life is beautiful and terrible all at the same time. If we're only living part of it, then we're not living at all."
—Sara Lance, Legends of Tomorrow
"You can't wait until life isn't hard anymore until you decide to be happy".
—Nightbirde, America's Got Talentnote
Christopher Moltisanti: You ever feel like nothing good was ever going to happen to you?
Paulie Walnuts: Yeah, and nothing did. So what?
—The Sopranos, "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti"
Music
It's like sketching a circle in the dirt with a pointed stick,
Knowing the wind'll kill it someday, still it calls my burning wits for now!
Knowing the wind'll kill it someday, still it calls my burning wits for now!
— Aesop Rock, "Battery"
There's no chance for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us
— Queen, "Who Wants to Live Forever?"
It's easy to say, when you're so down,
that everything's pointless;
your eyes burn, your ears howl,
your limbs are disjointed.
Barren fields, the barren earth, never more will it flower.
Rub your face and your hands in the dirt:
now is the hour!
So stand straight, looking over your shoulder;
walk on, though you fear to arrive;
don't wait till you know that it's over,
be strong - it's your place to survive.
that everything's pointless;
your eyes burn, your ears howl,
your limbs are disjointed.
Barren fields, the barren earth, never more will it flower.
Rub your face and your hands in the dirt:
now is the hour!
So stand straight, looking over your shoulder;
walk on, though you fear to arrive;
don't wait till you know that it's over,
be strong - it's your place to survive.
— Vander Graaf Generator, "A place to survive"
I believe in nothing
Not the end and not the start
(...)
I believe in nothing
Not the day and not the dark
I believe in nothing
But the beating of our hearts
Not the end and not the start
(...)
I believe in nothing
Not the day and not the dark
I believe in nothing
But the beating of our hearts
— Thirty Seconds to Mars, "100 Suns"
Collapsing next to me
Shouts 'Don't look sad,
Things aren't so bad
They're just more wrong than right'
Shouts 'Don't look sad,
Things aren't so bad
They're just more wrong than right'
— Scott Walker, "The Girls in the Street"
Breathe, breathe in the air,
Don't be afraid to care.
Leave, but don't leave me,
Look around, choose your own ground.
For long you live, and high you fly,
And smiles you'll give, and tears you'll cry,
All you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be.
Don't be afraid to care.
Leave, but don't leave me,
Look around, choose your own ground.
For long you live, and high you fly,
And smiles you'll give, and tears you'll cry,
All you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be.
I’m an idealist
who has outgrown
my idealism
I have nothing to do
the rest of my life
but do it
and the rest of my life
to do it
who has outgrown
my idealism
I have nothing to do
the rest of my life
but do it
and the rest of my life
to do it
— Jack Kerouac, "Mexico City Blues"
"This is for everybody going through tough times, believe me, I've been there, done that. But every day above ground is a great day, remember that."
— Pitbull, ''Time of Our Lives" feat. Neyo
It doesn't matter if we turn to dust;
Turn and turn and turn we must!
I guess I'll see you dancin' in the ruins tonight!
Turn and turn and turn we must!
I guess I'll see you dancin' in the ruins tonight!
— Blue Öyster Cult, "Dancin' In The Ruins"
"We'll carry on!
We'll carry on!
And though you're dead and gone, believe me,
Your memory will carry on!"
We'll carry on!
And though you're dead and gone, believe me,
Your memory will carry on!"
There are no stories told in a vacuum.
There is no prophecy lighting our way.
There's just a lot of darkness to be afraid of.
Good thing we are not afraid.
There is no Superman in that phone booth.
There is no rewarding our faith.
There is no one who can save us.
Good thing we don't need to be saved.
There are no starships in low-earth orbit.
No aliens to save us from ourselves.
There's no voice willing to speak for us.
Good thing we know how to yell!
There is no Chosen One, no destiny, no fate.
There is no such thing as magic.
There's no light at the end of this tunnel.
Good thing we brought matches.
There is no prophecy lighting our way.
There's just a lot of darkness to be afraid of.
Good thing we are not afraid.
There is no Superman in that phone booth.
There is no rewarding our faith.
There is no one who can save us.
Good thing we don't need to be saved.
There are no starships in low-earth orbit.
No aliens to save us from ourselves.
There's no voice willing to speak for us.
Good thing we know how to yell!
There is no Chosen One, no destiny, no fate.
There is no such thing as magic.
There's no light at the end of this tunnel.
Good thing we brought matches.
— Sifu Hotman, "Matches"
Though there are times when I can't stop crying
and times when I stumble
I want to keep walking to tomorrow
and times when I stumble
I want to keep walking to tomorrow
— iDOLM@STER, Tsubomi
Oh comedy, their illusions they have no choice but to believe
Their horizons that just forever recede
And how's this for irony:
Their idea of being free is a prison of beliefs
That they never ever have to leave
Oh comedy, oh it's like something that a madman would conceive!
The only thing that seems to make them feel alive
Is the struggle to survive
But the only thing that they request
Is something to numb the pain with
Until there's nothing human left
Just random matter suspended in the dark
I hate to say it, but each other's all we've got
Their horizons that just forever recede
And how's this for irony:
Their idea of being free is a prison of beliefs
That they never ever have to leave
Oh comedy, oh it's like something that a madman would conceive!
The only thing that seems to make them feel alive
Is the struggle to survive
But the only thing that they request
Is something to numb the pain with
Until there's nothing human left
Just random matter suspended in the dark
I hate to say it, but each other's all we've got
— Father John Misty, Pure Comedy
And when we die, our empty bodies turn to dust
There'll be no pit of fire
No angels singing songs for us
There's nothing we can say that people won't forget someday
There's nothing we can do that matters
And that's okay
There'll be no pit of fire
No angels singing songs for us
There's nothing we can say that people won't forget someday
There's nothing we can do that matters
And that's okay
— The Limousines, The Future
Armies have conquered and fallen in the end
Kingdoms have risen, then buried by sand
The Earth is our mother, she gives and she takes
She puts us to sleep, in her light we'll awake
We'll all be forgotten, there's no endless fame
But everything we do, it's never in vain
Kingdoms have risen, then buried by sand
The Earth is our mother, she gives and she takes
She puts us to sleep, in her light we'll awake
We'll all be forgotten, there's no endless fame
But everything we do, it's never in vain
— Within Temptation, "Never-Ending Story"
Yet maybe there is hope you'll see
Your shackles don't need any broken keys.
How little weight any choice that we make is carrying
But if nothing matters, Can I do anything?
Your shackles don't need any broken keys.
How little weight any choice that we make is carrying
But if nothing matters, Can I do anything?
— Jt Music, "I can do anything"
In the future we will die
But in the meantime we will fly
So open up your eyes to love tonight
But in the meantime we will fly
So open up your eyes to love tonight
— Savant, "Spaceheart"
It's all so pointless
It is and that's beautiful, l find it humbling, sincerely
And when you're gone
It brings me peace of mind to know that this will all just carry on
With someone else (someone else)
With something new (something new)
No need to be blue
It is and that's beautiful, l find it humbling, sincerely
And when you're gone
It brings me peace of mind to know that this will all just carry on
With someone else (someone else)
With something new (something new)
No need to be blue
—Yard Act, "100% Endurance"
When all I am is a stone that says
The name I had and the years that I had been
The quiet depths and the measured steps
Won't echo like the shriek of riot did
The name I had and the years that I had been
The quiet depths and the measured steps
Won't echo like the shriek of riot did
—Every Time I Die, "Religion of Speed"
Religion
A Common Destiny for All
"So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. All share a common destiny— the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.
This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. Anyone who is among the living has hope —even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.
Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come:
fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them."
"Where there's life, there's hope. This is the tragedy of everything that happens under the sun: Everyone shares the same destiny. Moreover, the hearts of mortals are full of evil. Madness is in their hearts while they are still alive. After that, they join the dead. But all who are among the living have hope, because a living dog is better than a dead lion. The living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything. There is no more reward for the dead when the memory of them has faded."
Tabletop Games
Ultimately, the Blood of Vol faith is grounded in the question what just god would allow death and suffering, with the conclusion none; the fact that we suffer shows that if there are gods, they are cruel. All we have is each other, and we must stand together and defy death. The Seekers place a strong emphasis on community and protecting the weak.
— Keith Baker, "Warforged, Blood, and the Blood of Vol," Eberron
EberronWhy is there death and disease? Why do our crops fail and our children die? Because the universe is cruel. There's no benevolent skyfather, there's no happy afterlife at the end of the rainbow. If there are gods, they're jealous beings who hoard their power and laugh at our pain. This is why the faith thrives in the harshest parts of Khorvaire; it's the faith of a people who see suffering every day, and who seek an explanation for it. And that explanation is life is cruel. But what the Seeker faith tells you is to FIGHT. The universe is against us. This life is all we have. So fight for those you care about. Protect your family and your friends, because the world WILL try to take them from you. To be a Seeker is to know that there is misfortune around every corner, to be ever ready for the next plague or famine, because you know the universe will take any chance to screw you over. But it's also to know that you will not lay down and die... and even if you do die, damn it, let your family animate your corpse so you can keep fighting for them until your bones are ground to dust.
[...]
So how does the Blood of Vol appeal to the commoner? It explains why you suffer. It urges you to defy the cruel fates and to fight for a better life, and it tells you that you have the power you need to fight. It doesn't promise some gilded afterlife at the end of the road; death is the end. But that is exactly why it urges you to FIGHT for yourself and for everyone you care about. Because this life is all we have. Make it count.
[...]
So how does the Blood of Vol appeal to the commoner? It explains why you suffer. It urges you to defy the cruel fates and to fight for a better life, and it tells you that you have the power you need to fight. It doesn't promise some gilded afterlife at the end of the road; death is the end. But that is exactly why it urges you to FIGHT for yourself and for everyone you care about. Because this life is all we have. Make it count.
— Keith Baker, "The Beliefs of the Blood of Vol," Eberron
Eberron"The Multiverse is boundless, but its contents are finite. To believe otherwise is to believe that nothing matters at all. And when you are as old as I am, you will understand that nihilism is an indulgence you cannot afford."
— Ugin, Magic: The Gathering
What is the response of living men to the undeniable and inevitable futility of life? Is it to lie down and accept death and the coming of naught of their every endeavour? No, it is not! Faced with the inevitability of death, what answer can there be but to run through life at a great and unstoppable pace, cramming each day with hope, laughter, noise and bustle. Thus, happiness and human endeavor are sired by a coming to terms with decay and futility. This realization is the key to understanding the Great Lord of Decay and his worshippers.
—Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Realm of Chaos - The Lost And The Damned (1st ed)
Why strive for good (or power, or pleasure, or stability, or anything else) when the wheel turns anyway? If nothing gold can stay, why create golden things in the first place?
The simplest answer: because you can. If everything erodes eventually, then why not build something beautiful?
The simplest answer: because you can. If everything erodes eventually, then why not build something beautiful?
— Scion: Once and Future
Video Games
"Hope? No, no... hope is a lie. What should we hope for? This world is in the hands of demons. The gods can't help. Or they don't want to. Or they forget about us altogether! The people know they're about to be eaten by demons, but still they quarrel with each other, and fight and steal.... There's no hope. Only us. We'll have to win without hope. It will be hard. The entire Abyss is against us - we can only win by some miracle. Which means... we'll have to make one happen! What other choice do we have? We'll work a miracle and win - because we have to!"
"Death is not a hunter unbeknownst to its prey. One is always aware that it lies in wait. Though life is merely a journey to the grave, it must not be undertaken without hope. Only then will a traveler's story live on, cherished by those who bid him farewell."
Solas: You truly are content to sit in the sun, never wondering what you could've been, never fighting back?
Varric: Ha, you've got it all wrong, Chuckles. This is fighting back.
Solas: How does passively accepting your fate constitute a fight?
Varric: In that story of yours — the fisherman watching the stars, dying alone — you thought he gave up right? [...] But he went on living. He lost everyone, but he still got up every morning. He made a life, even if it was alone. That's the world. Everything you build, it tears down. Everything you've got, it takes — and it's gone forever. The only choices you get are to lie down and die or keep going. He kept going. That's as close to beating the world as anyone gets.
Solas: ... Well said. Perhaps I was mistaken.
Varric: Ha, you've got it all wrong, Chuckles. This is fighting back.
Solas: How does passively accepting your fate constitute a fight?
Varric: In that story of yours — the fisherman watching the stars, dying alone — you thought he gave up right? [...] But he went on living. He lost everyone, but he still got up every morning. He made a life, even if it was alone. That's the world. Everything you build, it tears down. Everything you've got, it takes — and it's gone forever. The only choices you get are to lie down and die or keep going. He kept going. That's as close to beating the world as anyone gets.
Solas: ... Well said. Perhaps I was mistaken.
"I'm not gonna break any cycle. If I'm lucky, maybe I can dent it—just a little."
— Elizabeth, BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea
"However ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair, life endures. Births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not?"
— Melina, Elden Ring
"Cloud says they are trying to save the planet. Honestly, I don't think it can be done. For even if they stop every reactor on the planet, it's only going to postpone the inevitable. Even if they stop Sephiroth, everything will perish. But, Nanaki. I've been thinking lately. I've been thinking if there was anything WE could do. As a part of the planet, something to help a planet already in misery... No matter what happens, isn't it important to try? Am I just wishing against fate?"
— Bugenhagen, Final Fantasy VII
"Get it into your head, Kais. The tau'va isn't real. Nobody ever reached it. We're always getting closer, always approaching, but never arriving. As long as we go in the right direction, as long as everything we do is done in the name of the Greater Good—then it doesn't matter how far from the path you are."
—El'Lusha, the Novelisation of Fire Warrior
"We all know the underground has problems, but we smile anyway. Why? We can't do anything, so why be morose about it?"
— Snowdin NPC, Undertale
Raiden: Typical politician... big promises, but all talk.
Steven Armstrong: What?
Raiden: “Jump-start the economy"? What a load of bullshit! All you care about is lining your own pockets. That, and your approval ratings. You've got no principles, just like all the rest. If America's gone to shit, you're just another maggot crawling in the pile.
Steven Armstrong: All right, the truth then. You're right about one thing... I do need capital. And votes. Wanna know why?.. I have a dream!
Raiden: What...?
Steven Armstrong: That one day every person in this nation will control their OWN destiny. A land of the TRULY free, dammit! (Armstrong resumes fighting Raiden.) A nation of ACTION, not words, ruled by STRENGTH, not committee! (Armstrong grapples Raiden, rendering the cyborg mostly helpless.) Where the law changes to suit the individual, not the other way around. Where power and justice are back where they belong: in the hands of the people! (Armstrong and Raiden headbutt each other, but neither is harmed.) Where every man is free to think — to act — for himself! (Armstrong beats Raiden to punctuate every statement) Fuck all these limp-dick lawyer and chicken-shit bureaucrats. Fuck this 24/7 Internet spew of trivia and celebrity bullshit. Fuck "American pride." Fuck the media! Fuck all of it! America is diseased. Rotten to the core. There's no saving it — we need to pull it out by the roots. Wipe the slate clean. BURN IT DOWN! And from the ashes a new America will be born. Evolved, but untamed! The weak will be purged and the strongest will thrive — free to live as they see fit, they'll make America great again!
Raiden: What the hell are you talking about...
Steven Armstrong: You still don't get it. I'm using war as a business to get elected... so I can end war as a business. In my new America, people will die and all for what they BELIEVE! Not for money. Not for oil! Not for what they're told is right. Every man will be free to fight his own wars! (Armstrong repeatedly stomps Raiden, pausing his barrage to light a cigar.) So... what do you think?
Raiden: ...How the hell did you get elected?
Steven Armstrong: (Chuckles) Well, I don't write my own speeches. (removes his foot from Raiden's chest, looking out to the desert) You should try fighting for what you believe in sometime, Jack. Not for a company, or a nation, or for anyone else.
Raiden: Maybe I was wrong about you...
Steven Armstrong: (surprised) Am I finally getting through? (lifts Raiden off the floor and shakes off the dirt before offering his hand to shake) I'll rid this world of pointless wars, Jack.
Steven Armstrong: What?
Raiden: “Jump-start the economy"? What a load of bullshit! All you care about is lining your own pockets. That, and your approval ratings. You've got no principles, just like all the rest. If America's gone to shit, you're just another maggot crawling in the pile.
Steven Armstrong: All right, the truth then. You're right about one thing... I do need capital. And votes. Wanna know why?.. I have a dream!
Raiden: What...?
Steven Armstrong: That one day every person in this nation will control their OWN destiny. A land of the TRULY free, dammit! (Armstrong resumes fighting Raiden.) A nation of ACTION, not words, ruled by STRENGTH, not committee! (Armstrong grapples Raiden, rendering the cyborg mostly helpless.) Where the law changes to suit the individual, not the other way around. Where power and justice are back where they belong: in the hands of the people! (Armstrong and Raiden headbutt each other, but neither is harmed.) Where every man is free to think — to act — for himself! (Armstrong beats Raiden to punctuate every statement) Fuck all these limp-dick lawyer and chicken-shit bureaucrats. Fuck this 24/7 Internet spew of trivia and celebrity bullshit. Fuck "American pride." Fuck the media! Fuck all of it! America is diseased. Rotten to the core. There's no saving it — we need to pull it out by the roots. Wipe the slate clean. BURN IT DOWN! And from the ashes a new America will be born. Evolved, but untamed! The weak will be purged and the strongest will thrive — free to live as they see fit, they'll make America great again!
Raiden: What the hell are you talking about...
Steven Armstrong: You still don't get it. I'm using war as a business to get elected... so I can end war as a business. In my new America, people will die and all for what they BELIEVE! Not for money. Not for oil! Not for what they're told is right. Every man will be free to fight his own wars! (Armstrong repeatedly stomps Raiden, pausing his barrage to light a cigar.) So... what do you think?
Raiden: ...How the hell did you get elected?
Steven Armstrong: (Chuckles) Well, I don't write my own speeches. (removes his foot from Raiden's chest, looking out to the desert) You should try fighting for what you believe in sometime, Jack. Not for a company, or a nation, or for anyone else.
Raiden: Maybe I was wrong about you...
Steven Armstrong: (surprised) Am I finally getting through? (lifts Raiden off the floor and shakes off the dirt before offering his hand to shake) I'll rid this world of pointless wars, Jack.
"Merlina...every world has its end. I know that's kinda sad, but that's why we've got to live life to its fullest in the time we have." (hands her a flower) "At least that's what I figure."
— Sonic after defeating Merlina, Sonic and the Black Knight
"Life is something that ends. Life is a pilgrimage that accrues suffering. But it is by no means just a story of death and extinction."
—Dr. Roman, aka King Solomon, Fate/Grand Order
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
—Angus Delaney, Night in the Woods
"If our society seems more nihilistic than that of previous eras, perhaps this is simply a sign of our maturity as a sentient species. As our collective consciousness expands beyond a crucial point, we are at last ready to accept life's fundamental truth: that life's only purpose is life itself."
— Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
"Now I've seen everything. We were all so wrong. All of this—the machines, the Eliksni, the worms, the Light, the Nine. All of it meaningless. This galaxy is tumbling toward a singular conclusion and there is nothing—no one—that can stop it. How could I have missed this? It's the small moments, the simple pleasures that matter. They're all I can think about now. Food and drink aren't mere sustenance. They're a reminder that I am alive."
— Emperor Calus, Destiny 2
"When we live, we are touched by death in small ways to remind us we are living. When we die, every life we touched is changed, and reflects us as we were. In that way, we have given ourselves to the world, to live on through its great works and great sorrows. Remembered or forgotten, the world will never be the same for our presence and our passing."
—Teachings of the dreaming qilin, Dawn of the Dragons
"Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle...and wonder if we'll ever get the chance to kill him."
—2B, at the beginning of NieR: Automata
Everything that lives is designed to end. They are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. However...life is all about the struggle within this cycle. That is what "we" believe.
"There was no "higher power" guiding your life. It was just a wild jig, a chaotic tangle of innumerable human wills, actions, and accidents. The only thing that could ever turn this chaos into an orderly narrative is the eternal human drive for storytelling. Your life had no greater meaning. You were neither cursed by fate nor guided by providence. And this is what made you truly free."
— Sir Brante, at the beginning of The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante if the "No Destiny" answer is chosen in the first question.
Annabelle: Nothing matters at all. Life is meaningless.
Ego: Nothing matters! But in a good way, Anna! Life is meaningless until you give it meaning!
Annabelle: It's all just an endless cycle of doing the same things until I die.
Ego: Life is a bitch, Anna! We just gotta make it ours! Keep doing whatever makes you happy! Stop for no one! Music, art, video games, reading, whatever you love! Keep doing it until you die.
Ego: Nothing matters! But in a good way, Anna! Life is meaningless until you give it meaning!
Annabelle: It's all just an endless cycle of doing the same things until I die.
Ego: Life is a bitch, Anna! We just gotta make it ours! Keep doing whatever makes you happy! Stop for no one! Music, art, video games, reading, whatever you love! Keep doing it until you die.
"Ask any creature of this star and those above for answers, and they will tell you what suits their fancy. And they would be right to do so. What meaning there is to be found in the petty vicissitudes of your existence must be gleaned by you and you alone."
— Zenos yae Galvus, Final Fantasy XIV
Baion: You… were a failure…
Red: Like you say… we might all be failures. But that's why we join together. Help each other! Become stronger!
Red: Like you say… we might all be failures. But that's why we join together. Help each other! Become stronger!
Spider-Man: You said you kill to understand death. What are you trying to understand?
Cletus Kasady: The meaning. The truth. The secrets it reveals about all of us… that we're afraid to see.
Spider-Man: I can tell ya that. Death is a part of life. It happens. Sometimes for a reason, sometimes for no reason. You're wasting your time looking for some cosmic answer in death. Life is where you find meaning. And buddy, you've wasted yours.
Cletus Kasady: The meaning. The truth. The secrets it reveals about all of us… that we're afraid to see.
Spider-Man: I can tell ya that. Death is a part of life. It happens. Sometimes for a reason, sometimes for no reason. You're wasting your time looking for some cosmic answer in death. Life is where you find meaning. And buddy, you've wasted yours.
"How is it a sacrifice when I'm going to win? Let's see if both of us can find it in our hearts to keep on living!"
— Kalin Kessler/Kyosuke Kiryu to Z-one, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
When the violent storm is over.
The blue sky is more beautiful than ever.
You see? I want that, I want that.
That's all that I want.
The blue sky is more beautiful than ever.
You see? I want that, I want that.
That's all that I want.
Aventurine: ...Before we part, can you answer one more question? As someone who has traveled on that road, can you tell me... Why are we born into this world if it's just to die?
Acheron: I don't think this, and never have. Nor do you.
Aventurine: But the Nihility envelops you and I... and everyone.
Acheron: And because of that, it's pointless.
Aventurine: — But it is still there. If the dice of fate are always weighted, then that is our destiny. Why then... do we struggle against it?
Acheron: My answer might not be able to resolve your confusion, because it has been with you throughout your journey, and is already a part of your life. But you said, "Sleep is the rehearsal of death," so why does life sleep? Because we are not ready to welcome death. So you can definitely understand, why we want to be prepared. Even if the ending has been predetermined, that's fine. There are countless things that humans cannot change. But before the end, there are many things that humans can do while on their journey. And because of this, the "end" will thus reveal a completely different meaning.
Acheron: I don't think this, and never have. Nor do you.
Aventurine: But the Nihility envelops you and I... and everyone.
Acheron: And because of that, it's pointless.
Aventurine: — But it is still there. If the dice of fate are always weighted, then that is our destiny. Why then... do we struggle against it?
Acheron: My answer might not be able to resolve your confusion, because it has been with you throughout your journey, and is already a part of your life. But you said, "Sleep is the rehearsal of death," so why does life sleep? Because we are not ready to welcome death. So you can definitely understand, why we want to be prepared. Even if the ending has been predetermined, that's fine. There are countless things that humans cannot change. But before the end, there are many things that humans can do while on their journey. And because of this, the "end" will thus reveal a completely different meaning.
Visual Novels
She said I didn't understand. How can I understand her when she doesn't understand me either? 'The only thing people can understand about each other is that they cannot understand each other.' I never want to be the type of guy who'd say something so nihilistic.
— Naoe Riki, Little Busters!
Web Animation
Hey sis, I hope my letters have been reaching you and Dad. Hand-written stuff's never been super reliable, but I guess it's all we've got these days. Anyway, in case you haven't been getting them, I want to say I'm sorry for leaving the way I did. I know you told me it was a reckless idea, and after everything I've been through, I can definitely say you were right. It's been hard, on all of us, and I'm not just talking about the monsters we fought out here. Every step we made took us further and further from the things we knew. And every morning we woke up wondering, if just over the next hill would be something good or something terrible. It's scary not knowing what's going to happen next. And the things we do know now - just how bad it can get - it almost makes it all worse.
You told me once that bad things just happen. You were angry when you said it, and I didn't want to listen. But you were right, bad things do happen, all the time, every day. Which is why I'm out here, to do whatever I can, wherever I can, and hopefully do some good. We've all lost something, and I've seen what loss can do to people. But if we gave up every time we lost, then we'd never be able to move forward. We'd never have a chance to see what beautiful things the future might have waiting for us. We'd never have the strength to change; whether it's ourselves, or the world around us. And we'd never be there for other people who might one day be lost without us. This is what we were training for, Yang, to become Huntresses, to be the ones to stand up and do something about all the bad in the world. Because there are plenty of people out there who are still lost and even more who will try to gain everything they can from their sorrow. Believe me when I say, I know it can feel impossible, like every single day is a struggle against some unstoppable monster we can never hope to beat. But we have to try, if not for us, then for the people we haven't lost yet.
I miss you so much. I miss Weiss and Blake too. But I think you'd all be proud to know that I made it to Mistral. All of us did, and we even ran into Uncle Qrow along the way. He's going to take us to see Professor Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy. And he told us some things that you're gonna wanna hear, things I can't trust will make it to you in this letter. But maybe, if you join us, he could tell you himself. With Beacon gone they'll need Dad at Signal more than ever, and I know you need to focus on yourself before I can expect you to come out with me. But it sure would be great to get Team RWBY back together again.
Until next time, your loving sister, Ruby Rose.
Oh! Uh, PS. I'll be sure to give you the address of where we're staying in Mistral! I'd love to hear back from you and Dad, and I can't wait to fill you in on whatever's going to happen next! Now that we've made it across Anima I really think things are gonna start going our way.
You told me once that bad things just happen. You were angry when you said it, and I didn't want to listen. But you were right, bad things do happen, all the time, every day. Which is why I'm out here, to do whatever I can, wherever I can, and hopefully do some good. We've all lost something, and I've seen what loss can do to people. But if we gave up every time we lost, then we'd never be able to move forward. We'd never have a chance to see what beautiful things the future might have waiting for us. We'd never have the strength to change; whether it's ourselves, or the world around us. And we'd never be there for other people who might one day be lost without us. This is what we were training for, Yang, to become Huntresses, to be the ones to stand up and do something about all the bad in the world. Because there are plenty of people out there who are still lost and even more who will try to gain everything they can from their sorrow. Believe me when I say, I know it can feel impossible, like every single day is a struggle against some unstoppable monster we can never hope to beat. But we have to try, if not for us, then for the people we haven't lost yet.
I miss you so much. I miss Weiss and Blake too. But I think you'd all be proud to know that I made it to Mistral. All of us did, and we even ran into Uncle Qrow along the way. He's going to take us to see Professor Lionheart, the headmaster of Haven Academy. And he told us some things that you're gonna wanna hear, things I can't trust will make it to you in this letter. But maybe, if you join us, he could tell you himself. With Beacon gone they'll need Dad at Signal more than ever, and I know you need to focus on yourself before I can expect you to come out with me. But it sure would be great to get Team RWBY back together again.
Until next time, your loving sister, Ruby Rose.
Oh! Uh, PS. I'll be sure to give you the address of where we're staying in Mistral! I'd love to hear back from you and Dad, and I can't wait to fill you in on whatever's going to happen next! Now that we've made it across Anima I really think things are gonna start going our way.
— Ruby Rose's letter to Yang Xiao Long, RWBY, "No Safe Haven"
Max: God. It's like you live in this stupid make-believe world where "everything's great!" The universe doesn't work that way, idiot. Just look around. It's what I've been trying to show you since day one. Life sucks. And we live in a world of desensitized, apathetic assholes. Why don't you just get with the program and stop giving a shit.
David: You're right.
Max: What?
David: Times have changed. Whether I like it or not. The campers don't care, Gwen doesn't care, even the founder of this place has better things to do. That's why I'll never stop trying. Because somebody fucking has to.
David: You're right.
Max: What?
David: Times have changed. Whether I like it or not. The campers don't care, Gwen doesn't care, even the founder of this place has better things to do. That's why I'll never stop trying. Because somebody fucking has to.
— Camp Camp, "The Order of the Sparrow"
"You only get one shot at life, which is scary, but it also sets you free. If the universe ends in heat death, every humiliation you suffer in your life will be forgotten. Every mistake you made will not matter in the end. Every bad thing you did will be voided. If our life is all we get to experience, then it's the only thing that matters. If the universe has no principles, the only principles relevant are the ones we decide on. If the universe has no purpose, then we get to dictate what its purpose is. Humans will most certainly cease to exist at some point, but before we do, we get to explore ourselves and the world around us. We get to experience feelings. We get to experience food, books, sunrises, and being with each other. The fact that we're even able to think about these things is already kind of incredible."
Web Comics
Nothing matters at all.
Might as well be nice to people.
Might as well be nice to people.
Rose: I don’t care if it’s not true. I care even less if it’s not canon. I have a beautiful wife who I love more than I thought possible, and a daughter who I am immeasurably proud of. It can all be senseless, ephemeral noise that dissolves in the void. A whisper swept up by the wind before it’s uttered. I’m still grateful to have felt this way. So, John... Thank you.
“YISUN was questioned once by their disciples at their speaking house. The questions were the following:
‘What is the ultimate reason for existence?’
To which YISUN replied, ‘Self-deception.’
‘How can a man live in perfect harmony?’
To which YISUN replied, ‘Non-existence.’
‘What is the ultimate result of all action?’
To which YISUN replied, ‘Futility.’
‘How best can we serve your will?’
To which YISUN replied, ‘Kindly ignore my first three answers.’
‘What is the ultimate reason for existence?’
To which YISUN replied, ‘Self-deception.’
‘How can a man live in perfect harmony?’
To which YISUN replied, ‘Non-existence.’
‘What is the ultimate result of all action?’
To which YISUN replied, ‘Futility.’
‘How best can we serve your will?’
To which YISUN replied, ‘Kindly ignore my first three answers.’
Web Original
Ultimately, however, what happened to Humanity does not matter. Like every other story, it was a temporary one; indeed long but ultimately ephemeral. It did not have a coherent ending, but then again it did not need to. The tale of Humanity was never its ultimate domination of a thousand galaxies, or its mysterious exit into the unknown. The essence of being human was none of that. Instead, it lay in the radio conversations of the still-human Machines, in the daily lives of the bizarrely twisted Bug Facers, in the endless love-songs of the carefree Hedonists, the rebellious demonstrations of the first true Martians, and in a way, the very life you lead at the moment.
Many throughout history were unaware of this most basic fact. The Qu, in dreams of an ideal future, distorted the worlds they came across. Later on the Gravital, with their insane desire to recreate the past, caused the ugliest massacres in the history of the galaxy. Even now, it is sickeningly easy for beings to get lost in false grand narratives, living out completely driven lives in pursuit of non-existent codes, ideals, climaxes and golden ages. In blindly thinking that their stories serve absolute ends, such creatures almost always end up harming themselves, if not those around them.
To those like the misguided; look at the story of Man, and come to your senses! It is not the destination, but the trip that matters. What you do today influences tomorrow, not the other way around. Love Today, and seize All Tomorrows!
—The Author, All Tomorrows
"Within True Detective, this is always framed with the idea that this is a fallen world. The edges of it are always rotting into an unspeakable barbarism; something that cannot quite be displayed and seen... The truth of being a detective is the act of seeing the unspeakable and fundamental rot; of knowing the truth of the fallen world, and being condemned to live with that vision."
Vect: Life has no MEANING! Not really. Regardless of how long we extend our lifespans, regardless of our emotions, thoughts, and memories, regardless of everything that defines life to us - amalgams of matter who can reflect upon it - the universe itself shall dissipate, and as it does, so shall WE. In a million cycles, in a billion cycles, in a doudecillion cycles, in the dying throes of the galaxy, what will you find?!
Star Child: What? You haven't planned that far ahead yet?
Star Child: What? You haven't planned that far ahead yet?
The galaxy is dark, empty and cold. It spins inevitably toward death. You will die too, one day. Perhaps you will have longer than we have. We hope so. But one day you too must vanish. Until that time, you must light the darkness. You must make the night less empty. We are all small, and the universe is vast. But a universe filled with voices saying "I am here" is far greater than a universe silent. One voice is small, but the difference between zero and one is as great as one and infinity. And when your time is passing, please send this message on, so the next voice can speak against the darkness.
Is the known universe 99.9999999999999999999958% empty? Or is it 0.0000000000000000000042% full?
"BUT, sometimes you will lose a friend. Sometimes… even your best friend. Maybe you grow apart, maybe you get into a fight, maybe they are destroyed in an electromagnetic pulse. These things happen. It’s just a sad, saaad, saaaaaad, sad, saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad, saaad, sad, sad part of life. But, you know, I think the very best part about friends - well, the thing most people forget about, at least - is that no matter how many friends you do lose, you can always make more. And that’s pretty neat."
— Caboose , Red vs. Blue Season 14, Episode 15 - Caboose's Guide to Making Friends.
"My inevitable death and disintegration makes me fucking chill."
— Dan Avidan, Game Grumps, "Everything: Existentialist Grumps - PART 3"
"The first rule of existence is as above, so below. People are fractal images of the universe. You are as we are. Bad things happen to good people because things happen all the time, and it is up to people to determine whether they are bad or good. In the same way that your heart feels and your mind thinks, you, mortal beings, are the instrument by which the universe cares. If you choose to care, then the universe cares. And if you don't, then it doesn't."
—Brennan Lee Mulligan, Dimension 20
Hyzenthlay: Am I insignificant?
Lucy Lacemaker: I was a little hungover.
Hyzenthlay: But what's the point in it all? The universe is so big, and I'm so small in comparison.
Lucy Lacemaker: Small compared to what? How can you be smaller than that which you are? That which you're comprised of? That which is comprised of you? A stupid sentiment, it has no meaning.
Hyzenthlay: I'm confused.
Lucy Lacemaker: Let's see what you've learned. What are the four main components of life?
Hyzenthlay: Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, uhm-
Lucy Lacemaker: Begins with an N.
Hyzenthlay: Nitrogen.
Lucy Lacemaker: Right, and what are the four main components of the universe?
Hyzenthlay: I don't know.
Lucy Lacemaker: You just said them. You see? You can't be smaller than that which you are. Is your heart insignificant to you?
Hyzenthlay: My heart is a part of me, it is me.
Lucy Lacemaker: Just as we are the universe.
Lucy Lacemaker: I was a little hungover.
Hyzenthlay: But what's the point in it all? The universe is so big, and I'm so small in comparison.
Lucy Lacemaker: Small compared to what? How can you be smaller than that which you are? That which you're comprised of? That which is comprised of you? A stupid sentiment, it has no meaning.
Hyzenthlay: I'm confused.
Lucy Lacemaker: Let's see what you've learned. What are the four main components of life?
Hyzenthlay: Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, uhm-
Lucy Lacemaker: Begins with an N.
Hyzenthlay: Nitrogen.
Lucy Lacemaker: Right, and what are the four main components of the universe?
Hyzenthlay: I don't know.
Lucy Lacemaker: You just said them. You see? You can't be smaller than that which you are. Is your heart insignificant to you?
Hyzenthlay: My heart is a part of me, it is me.
Lucy Lacemaker: Just as we are the universe.
— Satellite City, "Satellite City #22 Slice of Life"
Web Video
"But during the times when the job seems overwhelming or I don't feel like I'm up to the task, I remind myself that... you know, 'Life is meaningless, and one day in an instant, I'll blink out of existence. So none of it matters.' That positive thought gets me through those tough times, and I hope I can communicate that positivity to the young adults I serve."
— Greg Epstein, Babylon Bee (I'm A Chaplain - And I'm Also An Atheist)
"He can go on and on about how hollow our culture is and how shallow life is, but what of it? I'm alive, and I can experience the new, and share it. Here, now, I'm alive. And what happier thing can be said? We should all keep creating and sharing. Because, in the words of a better filmmaker, 'Our songs will all be silenced, but what of it? Go on singing.' "
— Kyle Kallgren on Melancholia
"In ten years, the clouds will clear. The soot will fall down from above and the temperatures will begin to rise. And what will be left of us? You could say that the world had ended, you could say that we've given up hope, or you can say something else. Where we stand is not destroyed. We are not in ruins, but in something waiting to be built. Waiting to begin again. From these ashes, we can rise and create beauty. The crumbling walls are not a representation of our failures, but a reminder of the lessons we have learned. So we continue on not because we want to, but because we have to. In the words of Carl Sagan, a new consciousness is developing which sees the Earth as a single organism and recognizes that an organism at war with itself is doomed. One of the great revelations of the age of space exploration is the image of the Earth finite and lonely. We are one planet. And, as always, thanks for watching."
— Jake Roper, What if the world ended?
"Good morning Hank it’s Tuesday. I was recently asked to speak to a group of college students and here is part of what I said: There’s a certain strain of nihilism that has grown in popularity of late– everything’s trash so why bother nothing matters in the long run anyway. And I am sympathetic to these perspectives, because the world is profoundly unjust and our shared challenges are overwhelming. And also yes, I am aware that nothing matters in the long run. Something like 275 million stars are going to die tomorrow, and in that context, it’s a little difficult to get excited about earthly affairs like building bridges, and sewer systems, and voting. But I reject nihilism not only because I believe that nihilism, like all straightforward answers to life’s great questions is inadequate, but also because I think human life itself is imbued with meaning. I wrote my book The Anthropocene Reviewed because I wanted to pay attention to where my attention was going And by attention, I don’t mean like, the ability to focus without distraction. I mean consciousness itself. Our soul stuff. Where that’s going. After all, what and who you care about, what and who you devote your soul-stuff to when taken together– Will be known as your life. And through three and a half years of writing the book, I learned some stuff about staphylococcus aureus and how grocery stores came to exist, but the biggest thing I learned and it surprised me is that I am broadly in favor of humans. Now, I want to be clear that as species go, we are a catastrophe. We have caused countless extinctions, We’ve poisoned rivers And caused famines and murdered the innocent. Like, we aren’t the first form of life to become so powerful and ubiquitous that our very success endangers the planet climate and its biodiversity–cyanobacteria caused a mass extinction over a billion years ago. But we’re the first species to know what we are doing, while we do it. But then there’s the other side of the coin which is that we are also really interesting. We know the structure of DNA. We make art and other things– like sports and cappuccino and Youtube– that we don’t technically need to survive but still kind of need. We know what’s keeping the stars apart. We try to protect our young. We make really good music. Now of course none of this matters in the grand scheme of things. The sun is still going to turn into a red giant and boil our oceans away, but, we don’t live in the grand scheme of things. I think there is meaning in human Life because there is meaning in us and how we are bound together. There is meaning in loving and being loved. And in hearing and being heard. Like, when I’m thinking about why any of it matters I always think about this line from Richard Wright: “I would hurl words into this darkness, wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to march, to fight, to create a sense of the hunger for life that gnaws in us all.” I reject nihilism because I believe in the value of hurling words into this darkness, not least because it is possible that you, when you are in the darkness, may echo them back. I know that optimism at the moment feels foolish or cringey. And nihilism feels like a way of trying to cut yourself off from the reality of feeling so you don’t have to grapple with all of the complexities and pain. I get it, I do it to. But I would encourage you to hurl your words into the darkness, to never give up on trying to bring light and noise to where otherwise there would only be cave darkness and silence. Equally, I would ask you to be an echo–to tell your friends and loved ones that you hear them, not just the words that they’re saying. But also the feelings and thoughts that lie beneath those words. I think opportunity and responsibility of personhood is to make meaning, and to acknowledge the meaning in others’ lives. We do this through loving and helping others, and through allowing others to love and help us. And through deepening our shared understanding of the universe and our place in it. So yeah, maybe nothing matters. But only until we make things matter. And maybe life is meaningless. But only until we make it meaningful. Hank, I’ll see you on Friday."
Question: "What motivates you to do anything productive when everything is meaningless anyway?"
Grey: This "if we all die what's the point" meme is a bad one for brains. Like, it's true that in the long run we are all naught but dust, forgotten forever. But your present experiences are real and they're all you'll ever have. A sunset doesn't need meaning to be enjoyed, the enjoyment is the meaning. Using productivity to build a life you want to live is intrinsically meaningful, despite Abyss swallowing us all in the end.
Grey: This "if we all die what's the point" meme is a bad one for brains. Like, it's true that in the long run we are all naught but dust, forgotten forever. But your present experiences are real and they're all you'll ever have. A sunset doesn't need meaning to be enjoyed, the enjoyment is the meaning. Using productivity to build a life you want to live is intrinsically meaningful, despite Abyss swallowing us all in the end.
"Oh. We're doing this now, huh? We're doing the 'human beings are so awful because we kill our own people' thing, huh? We're going into 1950s B-movie 'aliens passing judgment'? Bill Jemas wants to indict our happy little species? Okay asshole, I'll play. Sure humans kill each other. We kill for passion, madness, rage, love, war, and lord knows other things. And yet, we've got six billion people running around the planet. Almost as if people who kill other people are the exception rather than the rule. Don't tell me animals never kill their own. Animals are frickin' dicks to each other, whether it's the cuckoo bird that kills off another cuckoo bird's children so that the new one will try to raise them, ant colonies that go to war with one another and enslave other ants, or even mountain gorillas who will kill another one if it wanders into their territory. In other words, take your self-righteous, moral aggrandizing, holier-than-thou attitude and choke on it, along with this comic."
— Linkara, Atop the Fourth Wall, Marville #4 review
Western Animation
"I'm better than your brother. I’m a version of your brother you can trust when he says “don’t run.” Nobody exists on purpose, nobody really belongs anywhere, everybody's going to die. Come watch TV?"
— Morty Smith, Rick and Morty, "Rixty Minutes"
Bender: Ab-Bot, I need to know. What's the point of living if I don't have free will?
Ab-Bot: Ah. We Robot Monks have meditated long on this. And we have made our peace.
Bender: No way!
Ab-Bot: Way, My Son. For though we must always obey our programming with no deviation whatsoever, we choose to take satisfaction in the ritual. So, are we automatons? Yes. But we are magnificent automatons.
Ab-Bot: Ah. We Robot Monks have meditated long on this. And we have made our peace.
Bender: No way!
Ab-Bot: Way, My Son. For though we must always obey our programming with no deviation whatsoever, we choose to take satisfaction in the ritual. So, are we automatons? Yes. But we are magnificent automatons.
"I've been thinking about [whether we're in a simulation], too, actually. And you wanna know what I think? I think it makes no difference at all. Either way, the laws of the universe are way beyond our control, so what can we do? We just make the best of it. I don't know what we're about to see, Leela, but I love you, now and forever. And that much is real. Even if we're not."
— Fry, Futurama, "All the Way Down"
"Look, real life stinks sometimes, okay, I'm not gonna lie. But there's a better way to get through it than denial, and that's with help from people who care about you. It's how we've gotten through our whole lives."
— Dipper, Gravity Falls, "Weirdmageddon Part 2: Escape From Reality"
Xyler: Are we real? Is this reality? Jean-Paul Sartre postulated that every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.
Craz: Totally righteous, bro!
Xyler: I know!
Craz: Totally righteous, bro!
Xyler: I know!
— Gravity Falls, "Weirdmageddon Part 2: Escape From Reality"
"The universe is a cruel, uncaring void. The key to being happy isn't a search for meaning, it's to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually you'll be dead."
— Mr. Peanutbutter, Bojack Horseman, "Later"
Hank-A-Mole: Tom Landry?
Tom Landry Mole: Hello, Hank.
Hank-A-Mole: Coach Landry, you've got to get off that platform. It's a peg-and-gear. In a couple of seconds, it's gonna push you off that hole.
Tom Landry Mole: I know.
Hank-A-Mole: But, aren't you scared? You're gonna get whacked.
Tom Landry Mole: Not every time, Hank. The times you don't, it's pretty sweet. Sunshine, fresh air, a little football on the TV in the arcade. Every time I go up, I see a little more. Well, my turn again. (Tom goes up) Cowboys are playing. Attaboy, Troy.
— King of the Hill, "Hillennium"
Real Life
"If we affirm one moment, we thus affirm not only ourselves but all existence. For nothing is self-sufficient, neither in us ourselves nor in things; and if our soul has trembled with happiness and sounded like a harp string just once, all eternity was needed to produce this one event—and in this single moment of affirmation all eternity was called good, redeemed, justified, and affirmed."
"To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it."
"The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with his private vision the deeds and thoughts of men. The creation of a work of art, like an act of love, is our one small yes at the center of a vast no."
"In the cruel and terrible time in which our generation has been condemned to live on this earth, we must never make peace with evil. We must never become indifferent to others or undemanding of ourselves."
— Vasily Grossman
"We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."
— Charles Bukowski
"Those who reach across lines to assist the 'enemy' freed themselves from nationalist abstractions that dehumanized others. They were vaccinated against the cult of death that dominates societies in wartime. They reduced their moral universe to caring for another human being. And in this they were able to reject the messianic pretensions that come with the nationalist agenda. By accepting that they could only affect a few lives they also accepted their small place in the universe. This daily lesson in humility protected them. They were saved not by what they could accomplish but by faith. Such people are, however, very rare."
— Chris Hedges, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
"The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
— Carl Sagan, "Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space"
"After a lifetime of writing, teaching, broadcasting and happily torturing people with my jokes, I will leave behind more memes than many. They will all eventually die as well, but so it goes."
"…"
"“Kindness” covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do."
"Most people don’t get to be born at all, ever. To see in that radiant impossibility only pointlessness, to see our experience as malignantly useless, as Ligotti does, seems to me a bit camp."
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."note
— Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
"Knowing the truth which is that nothing matters, can save you in those moments. Once you get through the terrifying threshold of accepting that, then every place is the center of the universe, and every moment is the most important moment, and everything is the meaning of life."
"There is a point. Is there a point to all this? Let's find a point. Is there a point to my act? I would say there is. I have to. The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace."
— Bill Hicks concluding his stand-up "Revelations"
"The one thing she hated more than anything was the phrase 'everything happens for a reason.' No, it fucking doesn't. The world is complete madness, and nothing we do matters. The only way she said anyone can stave off some of the darkness is to be kind to one another. That was her mantra. 'It's chaos. Be kind.'"
— Patton Oswalt paraphrasing the philosophy of his wife, Michelle McNamara
"I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices. But reality is as beautiful as it is ugly. I think it is just as important to sing about beautiful mornings as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn't write anything without hope in it."
"Aegroto dum anima est, spes esse dicitur." note
— Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum (Letters to Atticus) Book IX, Letter X, section 3
A life is worth nothing, but nothing is worth a life.
— André Malraux
look. life is bad. evryones sad. we're all gona die. but i alredy bought this inflatable boumcy castle so r u gona take ur shoes off or wat
"i love comforting nihilism. who cares, we’re all gonna die. eat that cake. buy that eyeshadow. be nice to people. you dont owe the world shit. the stars dont care about what we do. give anyway because why spend your eighty years on this rock miserable and making other people miserable. the sun is going to blow up and we’re all gonna die someday. make the most of what time you do have. use the fine china for taco night and microwave lunch. smell the flowers. tell a stranger they are beautiful."
OP: Optimistic nihilism only lads
OP reblog: The universe is an open ended sandbox rpg. There’s no end goal. You can only get achievements. Some of them include making other people happy
OP reblog: The universe is an open ended sandbox rpg. There’s no end goal. You can only get achievements. Some of them include making other people happy
