Franc > Franc's Quotes

“Learning is another name for vanity. It is the effort of human beings not to be human beings.”
― Osamu Dazai, The Setting Sun

“This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it.”
― R.F. Kuang, Babel

“She’s the only divine thing he’s ever believed in. The only creature in this vast, cruel land who could kill him. And sometimes, in his loveliest dreams, he imagines she does.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Drowning Faith

“I am the force of creation, I am
the end and the beginning. The world is a painting and I hold the brush. I
am a god.”
― R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

“Zhao Yunlan came to the annoying realization that his Special Investigations Department was basically a summer camp for nepotism babies.”
― Priest, Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 1

“His own expressions and mannerisms were akin to a sad, worried little wife who had accidentally set the kitchen on fire.”
― Priest, Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 1

“Ants, which perished almost as soon as they were born, were permitted to pair off under the sunlight and rain; birds, which lived out in the open, were allowed to find safe harbor surrounded by branches. Among all things that existed between the earth and sky, he had been born peerless and lonely, but there wasn't even the tiniest fragment of space meant for him. Everyone feared him, offered him deference, plotted against him, or even schemed incessantly to bring about his death.

Having been born from brutality, mercilessness, and Chaos itself, it was inevitable that he was sometimes unable to rein in the violence within his heart.”
― Priest, Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 2

“Having lived this long, I feel like there are four things in life you can't be too persistent about figuring out: the idea of eternity, right or wrong, good and evil, and life and death...

First, persistence can be a virtue, but if you're inflexible and insist that something must last forever, you'll fear loss even while you hold that thing in your hands. You won't be able to see your path clearly. Second, of course you should have a sense of justice, but if you're consumed by the idea that something must be right or wrong, it's easy to develop tunnel vision. There aren't many absolute rights or absolute wrongs in this world.

Third, while it's important to repent of your mistakes and strive for goodness, being locked into a dichotomy of good and evil will make you rigid and unforgiving. You'll become arrogant and expect the world to conform to your perspective, and you'll always be disappointed. And finally, while life and death are tremendously important, if you live your entire life in terror of death, you'll never really live at all.”
― Priest, Guardian: Zhen Hun (Novel) Vol. 2

“And those who only know the non-platonic love have no need to talk of tragedy. In such love there can be no sort of tragedy.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

“We are all created to be miserable, and that we all know it, and all invent means of deceiving each other. And when one sees the truth, what is one to do?”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

“If you're in pitch blackness, all you can do is sit tight until your eyes get used to the dark”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

“Some men know the exact amount of money in their bank accounts,” she continued. “Other men know how many miles are on their car and how many more miles it’ll handle. Other men know the batting average of their favorite baseball player and more other men know the exact sum Uncle Sam has screwed ’em. Your father knows no such figures. The only numbers Landon Carpenter has in his head are the numbers of stars in the sky on the days his children were born. I don’t know about you, but I would say that a man who has skies in his head full of the stars of his children, is a man who deserves his child’s love. Especially from the child with the most stars.”
― Tiffany McDaniel, Betty

“Aquello está sobre las brasas de la tierra, en la mera boca del infierno. Con decirte que allí mueren, al llegar al infierno regresan por su cobija.”
― Juan Rulfo, Pedro Paramo (in Spanish)