Basalt

“In all honesty, I don’t envy you the possession of this power over memory, nor do I admire you. Because humans are usually completely unconcerned with the memories of other creatures. Human existence involves the willful destruction of the existential memories of other creatures and of your own memories as well. No life can survive without other lives, with the ecological memories of other living creatures have, memories of the environments in which the live. People don’t realize they need to rely on the memories of other organisms to survive. You think that flowers bloom in colorful profusion just to please your eyes. That a wild boar exists just to provide meat for your table. That a fish takes the bait just for you sake. That only you can mourn. That a stone falling into a gorge is of no significance. That a sambar deer, its head bent low to sip at a creek is not a revelation . . . When in fact the finest movement of any organism represents a change in an ecosystem.” The man with the compound eyes takes a deep sign and says: “But if you were any different you wouldn’t be human.”
― Wu Ming-Yi, The Man with the Compound Eyes

“「…我問你，法律在哪兒？以前的王法再不是東西，還容得下我們，還尊稱我們是俠義道，可是現在，法律取代了正義，第一個給淘汰的就是我們。幹我們這一行的，如今連口飯都沒得混了。今天，會兩下子的，只能成為法外之徒，只能去幹壞事，只能投靠黑道……你等著瞧吧！」李天然深深呼吸著，久久平靜不下來。”
― 張北海, 俠隱