Top 5 written words moments that speak to you, from books, novellas, visual novels, goold ol' vidyagames, anything.
the words that hits like a brick
“Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel.” - I beg your pardon for opening with some edge, but for angsty teenager Drimo, who was positively going through it, and yet who thought himself above simply lashing out at the world around him, the words of Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's Dictionary" were practically an oasis. This is but one of many such quotes from Bierce's work, most of which are not intending to be edgy or cutting, and more than anything, humorous. Humor has been my strongest tool in dealing with pretty much everything, and I think it's due to The Devil's Dictionary influence on me.
“Ponemos barreras para protegernos de quienes creemos que somos. Luego un día quedamos atrapados tras las barreras y ya no podemos salir. Solo las lágrimas de auténticos sentimientos te liberaran de tu armadura”. -> "We put up barrier to protect ourselves from who we believe we truly are. Then, one day, we find ourselves captive behind these selfsame barrier and we can't leave. Only tears charged with authentic feelings could free you from your armor." - Robert Fisher's "Le Chevalier à l'armure rouillée" (The Knight in Rusty Armor) is one of my favorite books ever, the one, in fact, that taught me how much I could love reading. I'm glad it was the one. The context of these lines is that the Knight, the main character, is trapped in his rusted set of armor, which is a metaphor for his conscious lack of personality beyond what he ever wanted to project. When he couldn't get out of it, it took a long journey for him to realize just how much he hated being "the Knight" exclusively; he is the only unnamed character in the book! He is only ever, The Knight. It is ultimately, after many trials, that he manages to shatter his helmet when he cries about it, because the tears shatter the rusty armor around him. The way I'm speedrunning the description may make it seem on the nose, but throughout the narrative, this is perfectly well done and it led me to a lot of... Personal realizations about myself.
“Los animales aceptan y los humanos esperan. Nunca oirás a un conejo decir: espero que el sol salga esta mañana para poder ir al lago a jugar. Si el sol sale o no sale, no estropeara el día al conejo. Es feliz siendo un conejo. El caballero pensó en esto. No recordaba a ninguna persona que fuera feliz simplemente por ser una persona” -> "Animals accept, whereas humans expect. You'll never hear a rabbit say: I hope it's a sunny morning today so I can go play at the lake. Whether it's sunny or not, the rabbit's day won't be ruined, it'll be happy just being a rabbit. The knight pondered about this. He did not remember a single person that was happy simply for being a person" - Another one from Le Chevalier à l'armure rouillée. Every day of my life, I want to go to bed thinking "that was great" or "I learned something new" or something like that. And accomplishing that starts at the beginning of each day. No matter what, I don't want to let me make excuses, I don't want to let me ruin my own day before it even begins. Unstirred by circumstances, unmoved by temperaments, I firmly believe that your happiness is your responsibility first and foremost, and other things getting in the way of it are things you simply must rise up and surpass. I used to complain about things and blame others for my circumstances. I stopped doing that. I've been happier ever since.
"Seek adversity. Seek strength. The rest will follow." - You can say whatever you want about Dark Souls 2, but it had very clear and congruent themes. Of the lines and messages of this game, it's this line of dialogue, spoken by King Vendrick, that stays with me more so than any other. Because, yes, indeed... Life isn't easy, but it isn't necessary complex, either, and a lot of things are tied to one another... Sometimes, it's as simple as walking down a road, you know? And if you seek self-improvement, you will invariably face off with your inadequacy, and if you beat your inadequacy, if you rise up and acknowledge it and don't hide from it and fight it and win it... Well, the rest will follow.
"¿Cuántos, en la vida, huyen de otros porque no se ven a sí mismos?" -> "Just how many people, in this life, flee from others because they don't see themselves in them?" - From "La Vida de Lazarillo de Tormes" comes this moment that I always think about a lot, particularly in the present day: Even supposedly open-minded people tend to like echo chambers. People with the same opinions and same tastes, and, yes, it's important to be able to relate to those you are closest with, or to people in general... But not for the life of me could I stand an echo chamber. It's comfortable, but it ultimately leads to stagnancy, and a reinforcement of a status quo in which one must always Think The Right Thing. No. I detest that. I refuse to partake of that. If having different opinions or not being mirror images of each other is a deal breaker, I hope there's no deal to break in the first place between us. And after realizing this for the first time, thanks to this book, yeah, I made much better decisions regarding who to fraternize with.
