#val

But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. No, I do not wish for such triumphs, Frodo son of Drogo. ↗

— J.R.R. Tolkien

#faramir #temptation #the-one-ring #temptation

Successfully functioning in a society with diverse values, traditions and lifestyles requires us to have a relationship to our own reactions rather than be captive of them. To resist our tendencies to make right or true, that which is nearly familiar, and wrong or false, that which is only strange. ↗

— Robert Kegan

#lifestyles #reactions #society #tendencies #traditions

I absolutely refuse to associate myself with anyone who cannot discern the essential night-and-day difference between theocratic fascism and liberal secular democracy, even less do I want to engage with those who are incapable of recognizing the basic moral distinction between premeditated mass murder and unintentional killing. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#collateral-damage #false-equivalence #moral-equivalence #war-on-terror #iraq

If diversity is a source of wonder, its opposite - the ubiquitous condensation to some blandly amorphous and singulary generic modern culture that takes for granted an impoverished environment - is a source of dismay. There is, indeed, a fire burning over the earth, taking with it plants and animals, cultures, languages, ancient skills and visionary wisdom. Quelling this flame, and re-inventing the poetry of diversity is perhaps the most importent challenge of our times. ↗

— Wade Davis

#culture #diversity #survival #environment

Aphros nodded, a glint of pride in his eyes. “We have trained all the famous mer-heroes! Name a famous mer-hero, and we have trained him or her!” “Oh, sure,” Leo said. “Like…um, the Little Mermaid?” Aphros frowned. “Who? No! Like Triton, Glaucus, Weissmuller, and Bill!” “Oh. ”Leo had no idea who any of those people were. “You trained Bill? Impressive. ↗

— Rick Riordan

#hero-training #heroes #heroes-of-olympus #leo-valdez #mermaids

You treat me as if I was a feeble Human who couldn't survive without your help, but I am a MASTER bloody VAMPIRE. (Bones to Cat - Ch 16, pg. 174) ↗

— Jeaniene Frost

#cat #survival

Other times, I look at my scars and see something else: a girl who was trying to cope with something horrible that she should never have had to live through at all. My scars show pain and suffering, but they also show my will to survive. They're part of my history that'll always be there. ↗

— Cheryl Rainfield

#scars #self-harm #survival

And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You'll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others. And once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about. ↗

— Haruki Murakami

#survival

You're not half the male you could be because of what was done to you. You're twice what anyone else is because you survived. ↗

— J.R. Ward

#survival

After Homer and Dante, is a whole century of creating worth one Shakespeare? ↗

— Dejan Stojanovic

#books #century #creating #dante #dejan-stojanovic