Origin Story Quotes

“And I think that's what a father is
-- a blade that never stops cutting.”
― Desireé Dallagiacomo

“...the land is moody, waiting.

Den turns around and looks at his father who leans into the bike, leans into a long drag on his cigarette, leans into a thought not ready for words. The man is so familiar. They should be at home by now. They should be sitting at the dinner table. This familiarity is deeper than the desert, longer than the miles they’ve traveled. It confuses Dennis.

What is the source of this sadness?

It’s time to go home. Den holds the camera steady.”
― Laurie Perez, Virga in Death Valley

“There were too many theories, and none of them seemed to be based in any kind of reality. Most seemed to be struck on the idea that Extraordinaries were born and not made. If that were the case, Nick was screwed even before he got started. And since that wouldn't do, he chose not to believe it. Besides, it smacked of pure-blood bullshit, and Nick wasn't here for that at all.”
― T.J. Klune, The Extraordinaries

“Origin stories are like birthday parties: very exciting and colorful and noisy; but in the end, they’re all the same. Anticipation sizzles around for weeks before the Big Day, but when it comes, your shindig looks pretty much like the little one Peter had last month. That’s an order of operations: take off your coats, pin the tail on the donkey, infection, singing, cake, mutation, balloon, gifts, branding, maybe a magician or a clown, exhaustion, and a bag of toys to take home. You’re the same person today as yesterday. You just got a really big present and a shiny new hat to wear.”
― Catherynne M. Valente, The Refrigerator Monologues

“Thus Adelaide Lee was born of poor luck and poverty and raised by ignorance and solitude. Let this ignoble origin story stand as an invaluable lesson to you that a person’s beginnings do not often herald their endings, for Adelaide Lee did not grow into another pale Larson woman. She became something else entirely, something so radiant and wild and fierce that a single world could not contain her, and she was obliged to find others.”
― Alix E. Harrow, The Ten Thousand Doors of January

“The Accidental American
(Naskaristana 2753)

Five whole years I went from
door to door, looking for support,
I wanted to build my own tech startup,
but all I received was ridicule and advise -

finally I withdrew myself
from the nation I was born in,
and placed all my attention on America -

I had zero money, my only assets were
my heart and brain, which was all I needed
to reshape America, then the whole world.

The Naskar you know is a direct outcome
of the entrepreneur that never came to life -
naskar the youngster failed in his innovation dreams,
so Naskar the Civilization emerged as the earth way of life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace