A.S. Ember

“Sheer experience had already taught her that, in some circumstances, there was one thing better than to lead a good life, and that was to be saved from leading any life whatever. Like all who have been previsioned by suffering, she could, in the words of M. Sully-Prudhomme, hear a penal sentence in the flat, ‘You shall be born,’ particularly if addressed to potential issue of hers.”
― Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles

“Change one more synapse and I might turn into someone else." - "That's ridiculous and you know it. Or every experience you had would turn you into a different person." - I thought about that. "Maybe it does.”
― Peter Watts, Blindsight

“For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and the darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Some people are so busy seeing all sides of every issue that they neutralize concern and prevent necessary action. There's no strength in seeing all sides unless you can act where real measurable injustice exists. A lot of academic talk just immobilizes the oppressed and maintains oppressors in their positions of power.”
― Joy Kogawa, Obasan