Quotes / The Final Temptation

Comic Books

Glorian: You can be happy here - outside the cruelty of reality. Don't you deserve it?
America Chavez: (Am I tempted? Wouldn't you be? A perfect world. A benevolent god. And all I have to do is say...) No. I'll stick with what I've got.

—Defenders: Beyond

Films - Animated

"Now, isn't this whole life better than hoppin' around a bayou for the rest of your life? Gotta hand it to you, Tiana. When you dream, you dream big. Just look at this place! Gonna be the crown jewel of the Crescent City! And all you got to do to make this a reality... is hand over that little ol' talisman of mine."

—Dr Facilier, The Princess and the Frog

Films - Live Action

Ego the Living Planet: No! We have to stop it-stop, listen to me! You are a god, Peter. If you kill me...you'll be just like everybody else.
Peter Quill: What's wrong with that?

— Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Literature

There is a way out. Say the word and it never was, Jake. Say the word, Jake, and you never walked through the construction site. Say the word and you know nothing. No weight on your shoulders. Say the word.

How long 'til your cousin Rachel loses her grip? You know the darkness is growing inside her. How long 'til Tobias dies, a bird, a bird! How can he ever be happy? How long 'til Marco is forced to destroy his own Controller mother? Will he survive that, do you think? How long, Jake, 'til you kill Tom? Then what dreams will come, Jake the Yeerk Killer? It will happen, Jake. You know that. The cave. The day will come. You know what the cave is, Jake. You know what it means, that dark cave. You know that death is within. When she dies, when Cassie dies, it will be at your word, Jake.

My master Crayak offers you an escape. In his compassion, Great Crayak has struck a deal with that meddling nitwit Ellimist. Crayak would free you, Jake. Crayak would free you all. All will be as it would have been if you had simply taken a different path home. Just one word, Jake. No... no, two, I think. One must not sacrifice good manners. Two words and it never was. Two words and you know nothing, have no power, no responsibility.

One is Crayak. The other is please.

—The Drode, Animorphs - Megamorphs #4

The life you left behind is no life at all. Here, you can be king, and I will allow you to age with dignity and without pain, and when the time comes for you to die, I will send you gently to sleep and you will awaken in the paradise of your choosing, for each man dreams his own heaven. All I ask in return is that you name the child in your house to me, that you may have company in this place. Name him! Name him now, before it's too late!

—The Crooked Man, The Book of Lost Things

So, I thought, a life in Canberra. Could I do it? In short, of course I could. After all, the high moral ground was not my native habitat. The pursuit of pleasure had always been far more important to me than worrying about who runs the world and how it's done. Staying alive was always more crucial. And there was no reason I couldn't be comfortable in Canberra. Bernard was right - I did have some skills, and one of them was always keeping myself supplied with little luxuries. There would be booze somewhere in the city. There would be good food. There would be women around who were prepared to fuck my tired old body, if I asked nicely. What would it matter if they worked for the CIA or ASIO or some other secret police force? What would it matter if their heads were full of laws and rules and self-righteousness? As long as their cunts were tight and juicy.

Bernard was watching me, half-smiling.

Ah, but I'd seen so many people die. Some of them crazy and violent, like Aisha and her boys. Some of them pathetic, like the refugees in the desert. Some of them doggedly doing their best, like the people in the ghetto. And some of them simply striving for a fairer world, like poor old Harry. But all of them caught in the same web that Bernard and his friends had spun. And that wasn't supposed to matter? Was I just supposed to forget it all?

— Underground 2006, by Andrew McGahan

Live Action TV

Aziraphale: [at the Crucifixion] Did you, uh ever meet him?
Crowley: Yes. Seemed a very bright young man. I showed him all the kingdoms of the world.
Aziraphale: ...why?
Crowley: [shrugs] He's a carpenter from Galilee. His travel opportunities are limited.

— Good Omens (2019)

Video Games

"Ask yourself, Mr Meltzer, is it better to be summarily executed as an outsider caught within these grounds, or to be united - not just with your daughter Cindy - but with the Rapture Family as well? The choice is yours: I urge you to accept the Protector program. You will live by her side, and remember nothing beyond your love for her."

— Sofia Lamb, Bioshock 2

Western Animation

"Let him go. Let him die, and you will stop all that I will do."

— Darth Sidious to Yoda about Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, "Sacrifice"

The Conductor: What if you could create a car, Tulip? One where your parents are still together.
Tulip: But... then they wouldn't be my real parents. It wouldn't be my real life. They weren't... happy together.
The Conductor: I could make you a car where they are. I can make a car that's exactly how you want it to be. Just one big, happy family.
Tulip: You can't even make a car WITHOUT ANY TURTLES IN IT!

— Infinity Train

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