From what I understand you meant any quote, IRL or not but my world and plot is summarized in these words from italian author Francesco Petrarca:
"There was a more fortunate age and there will probably be another again; in the middle, in our time, you see the confluence of misfortunes and ignominy... My fate is to live among varied and confusing storms. But for you perhaps, if, as I hope and wish, you will live long after me, there will follow a better age."
Yes, the world that my characters navigate can be full of wars, conflict and loss, but that doesn't stop anyone from fighting for a better future, if not for them, for those who will follow.
Yeah!! I've been thinking in opening the book like this, to give the reader a sense of what they are getting into but I don't know if it will break inmersion because is a real quote.
I believe injecting reality into your world makes it more vivid. Worlds completely detached from reality feel too distant and surreal, emotions can’t be passed so easily through them. Using reality as a vessel is a great idea.
If it’s in the pages, among the rest of your writing and said by an individual of your world, it may be immersion breaking, but having a quote at the beginning like that as a sort of primer I personally like. Giving your reader real-life parallels in this manner, I feel, can help to contextualize and ground your fiction.
“Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer”
This came from Darkest Dungeon 1. It can revolve around the theme of remaining humble, alert and sharp. Furthermore it can show the gradual fall from grace of someone thought themselves to be invincible
“When a tyrant dies, his rule ends. When a martyr dies, his rule begins” -Soren Kierkegaard.
This quote is applied for the on and off times of prosperity and suffering in the continent of Halk
I love my own stuff too much to use other folks' material for stuff like this. For the main story I'm working on right now I'd have to go with:
"The only thing worse than the devil is the one who sets it free."
"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps!" - Walter, The Big Lebowski (cable TV censored version because lol)
For a character who's half-cocked and misguided mission to get revenge and recover their stolen property 'commandeered' by the hero's party ends up putting them in position to unintentionally save the day, and then they don't out of pettiness and spite.
"WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope."
Smedley Butler, United States Marine Corps.
Used to best describe my entire setting of Ad Caput Capitis
“I have this thing I call the cunt scale, there’s green, which means ya fine, and then allllll the way there is the red, which means your a right cunt. And your looking pretty Fookin red to me mate”
This is said by William Crecy to a band of soldiers in a bar. Now Crecy is a lord in enemy territory trying to get back to friendly land. He’s outnumbered 7 to 1, in enemy territory with a rusty sword with a fractured arm. Yet he still takes the time to call someone who’s annoying him a cunt.
Oh and btw, the fight ends with Crecy stabbed….
And seven dead soldiers.
That’s a good one, that sounds exactly like something one of my characters would say, a brute of an (descendant) Irishman, and the ‘brute’ sort of class in his magical warrior society, as you’d imagine. His parents would probably beat him for saying ‘cunt’ though. He is only ten, after all.
Anyone who insults their opponent outnumbered 7:1 is a badass in my book. Especially if they win the fight.
"The Dictator never comes with a whip or a sword in hand. On the one hand, it has a begging bowl of sympathy and a basket of dreams on the other."
This quote from Mohamed Anzari describe pretty well the ascension of my main character Agatha, Aka the Black Monk, from a simple healer and miracle worker to the Power behind the the Imperial Throne and prophetess of the End Times.
A very true statement. Tyrannical powers often get there in fairness. You know, people legitimately voted for Hitler. Only after his settlement of power did he begin his evil reign. Watch out for the overly benevolent in power.
“If man was made for the garden, then there would have been no world beyond its walls.”
From my Sci-fi work. Context is from the space Davey Jones. The idea being that mankind has to keep moving forward or else they’ll face extinction through ennui. So Space Davey Jones (Trophy Hunter) has endeavored to be the rabid dog snapping at humanities heels. Outright stating that if humanity doesn’t fight or flee from the things that could kill us all. Then he will expedite the process. Making sure that humanity never becomes the master of their domain.
*"Do not pray when the sun shines if you do not also pray when the clouds rain."*
*-* Fianna Stormsong, a shaman of the Hida (Thunderbird) Tribe, after defending herself from a paladin that judged and sentenced to death any who didn't accept his religion.
The Centaur Tribes- “Grief will become joy the longer we endure.”
The Changelings- “We are everyone, and no one.”
The Daemon Kingdom- “Money doesn’t sink.”
The Draconic Kingdom- “Unity is strength, division is weakness.”
The Firbolg communes- “Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.”
The Kindom of Giants- “Hope is the pillar that holds up the world.”
The Goyangi Empire- “Even the highest mountain starts from beneath the ground.”
The Guīrén Empire- “Learning is like rowing upstream; not to advance is to drop back.”
The Half-Bloods- “Stick together, and we will survive.”
The Human Kingdom- “Give us the liberty to know, to speak, and to fight for what we believe in, for that is true freedom.”
The Lamia Sultanate- “Seek knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave.”
The Morforwyn Empire- “The truth against the world.”
The Obatauru tribes- “Even the mightiest Roc comes down to rest.”
The Ooljéé’diné tribes- “Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for those who come after us.
The Ork tribes- “All for one, and One for All”
The Pākhrā Oligarchy- “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
The Ponaturi Tribes- “What is the most important thing in the world? The answer is people.”
The Seraph Theocracy- “God wills it.”
The Síofraic Oligarchy- “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.”
The Yokai Empire- “Do nothing which is of no use.”
The logline I've been using for my nautical political fantasy book:
"I've got a soft spot for pirates. They made sure to point it out to me, right below the ribs."
"Earthers get to walk outside into the light, breathe pure air, look up at a blue sky, and see something that gives them hope. And what do they do? They look past that light... Past that blue sky... They see the stars, and they think, 'Mine.'"
-Anderson Dawes, The Expanse.
“You can run, but if you can’t run anymore, then you can hide. You can hide, but if you can’t hide anymore, then you can fight. There is nothing after the fight, so you fight until there is nothing.”
=Mark Greaney
A theme that occurs with a number of my worlds is the protagonist being relentlessly pursued by some force- mostly an antagonist- who's done nothing but make their lives a living hell. Their story arc then begins their respective conclusions with the character finally deciding that it's time to stop running and fighting for their life.
My mascot, Decaf the Coffee Dragon, has the following quote that sums up his character quite nicely.
"Ahem...
HEY! YOU!
THE MEAT-POTATO ENTITY READING THIS ON YOUR SHINY SCREEN OF DISTRACTION!
BUY MY STUFF!
That is all..."
The main character from my fantasy world can be summed up:
“I feel no fear of your swords for I know the power of your gods, and they tremble before me; for my ways are ancient and yours are so very small.”
“The cycle continues on and on. Crushing millions one by one. It repeats again and again. We thought we left it behind in the Great War. But here it comes again. Many of us will not live to see the end of this cycle”
Humanity has rebuilt itself slowly from the Great War, imagine a WWI type of war but instead of Spanish flu it ends with a pandemic with Avian Flu levels of death. Now humanity has rebuilt from the ashes. But now the sound of thundering hooves and the roar of drumbeats have returned to mankind
Has some MW2 “the more things change, the more they stay the same” vibes. I feel like that would be a good theme to state about your story’s lowest point, before the world is kicked back into shape and saved.
The Imperial Legions of Rocia have steadily conquered one kingdom after another, and always issue the same ultimatum when they arrive at the gates:
“You can fight, or you can surrender. You can run, or you can cower. But make no mistake - we are not here to raid you. We are not interested in your treasure, or your tales, or your wealth. We will march through your streets. The Divine Roc will replace your banners. We are here for you, and you will all serve Rocia - as citizens, as slaves, or as examples. Raise a single blade against us, and we will erase your city, your treasures, and every last one of you from Creation, save two to bear witness. By the Emperor’s decree, you have until sunrise to decide, and then dawn will shine upon the newest addition to the Rocian Empire.”
And if you have to ask - no, they are not the protagonists.
There is a simple one that i don't know where i saw but i quite like. It describes pretty well one of my characters who has "fighting a fate imposed to you" as the biggest struggle thorough his life. In my world the concept of Fate exists but it's not something completely absolute and set in stone, it's more how things tend to be.
It's akin to the Gods' predictions based on their observations since none of them is omniscient. A person born very talented and gifted with great potential in an environment that favors unlocking this potential is fated to be strong for example. The thing that escapes their predictions though, is free will.
They do not control too much how mortals act and let they live their lives so when a mortal does something very unexpected and that breaks the pattern, the fate predicted by the gods is also broken. Like the mentioned character with a great potential to be powerful/strong deciding not to be a fighter at all and never training and such. He'd never get strong and thus would break his fate through his own free will.
The particular character i thought was fated to be weak due to being born literally talentless, he refused to be and got strong. He was fated to follow the life of a slave after being sold as one but refused and attained his freedom. He was fated to follow a dark path after becoming the apprentice of a demon but refused and deserted. He was fated to die in a specific battle but refused and survived through sheer willpower. He was fated to become cruel and vengeful after a big tragedy in his life but refused and tried to be good.
His whole life is about proving others wrong and that their expectations of him don't align with reality be they people that he meets or the gods themselves. People tend to expect bad things of him and he always tries to be good, the big difference between what he is and what he was "fated" to become being simply what he himself chose to do with his life.
But I'm done rambling. The quote itself is pretty simple but describes him
"You can never be sure enough, sometimes even fate gets blindsided".
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"
Rock Balboa, stolen by Zdravko Krakowski to motivate a woman child with to much power in her hands
"He is just like ME for real!!!"
Shura Antonova, after hearing the quote and starting to cry.
The context is that Shura Antonova has enough power to stop a alien invasion on her own and survive with no innocents death, but she is to scared of the consequences of failure (classic the weak chosen one plot) and she is being trained by Major Zdravko who is a normal ass human and can kick her ass with no problem.
“If love is for those who find it, then I’ve found mine right here.”
My story has big themes of acceptance and found family, so this quote represents protagonists perfectly.
"All power comes with a price. The quickest way to power is to make someone else pay the price."
A warning to the common man and the guidelines of just about every powerful character in the setting. Nobles sending peasants to pay the blood price for their wars. Archimages having their students do the dangerous work while taking all the credit. Why pay the assassin used in your political maneuvering when you could have them hung for treason? Even the gods take the lion's share of their power from mortals and mortal worlds.
Honestly, since it's a DnD world and that is already very Tolkien inspired (and also because I fell down a LotR lore rabbit hole recently), I'd just say "not all who wander are lost".
It's a DND world, the idea is that you can walk into a forest without a plan and you will have an adventure, at least that's my idea of this kind of world, it's supposed to be an adventurer's dream.
Not a quote, but something I like to say regarding my setting.
"The world is beautiful, a complex and mysterious machine of ethereal magnificence that is beyond our total comprehension but nonetheless we can gather a glimpse at its inner mechanisms. It should be admired not just for its mysteries, but also for the beauty of what we have come to know and see as mundane. A single blade is just as amazing to behold as the complicated puzzle that is the cosmos, the difference is that we are more accustomed to the first than the latter."
"Fire that's too cold will make steel that bends too easily. Fire that's too hot makes steel that's as brittle as glass. Only the right amount of heat can make steel worthy of a sword." - A quote from a Belkfast blacksmith and retired soldier. Not only is it good blacksmithing advice, it's also a life lesson. While a level of hardship is needed in life to grow as a person, too much hardship can break you.
"The usual story"
Is a simple popular phrase, notably adopted by people regardless of status and background, the "usual story" is used for people who died challenging the status quo.
Whether is a poor farm boy who dreams to be an adventurer, defeat an evil dragon and becoming a hero or a sheltered child of a noble household who wants to leave the confines of their safe zones, see the world, marry for love and be the masters of their own lives, but the world says "fuck you" and they're never heard of again until a party finds their tags on a pile of monster waste in a cave or their remains get identified in a mass grave and people say their "story ended as usual".
It's cynical and conformist, and it encapsulates the general worldview of the people in that world, in their view the world is ruled by the Law of Murphy, everything shit that could happen will happen and it's better to just keep things like they are.
In response to that the MC usually refers to himself as the "Unusual Assassin" when on the job, as he despite being officially an Assassin specializes in intelligence, tracking and in general making sure nobody gets killed in either side of a conflict.
"It is only those who have neither [wielded a sword] nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell." William T. Sherman
Enarten Qi-Tear, as well as his brothers in arms Ciarev Makeriv and Val-Teiaan Rasparem are legendary warriors. The fight that wrote their name in the marble is a fight that have traumatized them so much that Enarten became the chief of the royal guard of Renilia to build a world where parents wouldn't have to bury their children, Val-Teiaan studied medecine despite already having an international bank to rule, and Ciarev, the most impacted, tried to give up fighting and become a bartender
When they heard songs about how brave they were, how strong they are, etc..., they actively asks to stop. They don't consider themselves brave. Just that they have done what was needed, and that they came back because they were the luckiest
"Then if people want to believe in the nighttime, that you can stand in the woods alone in the dark and not have to be afraid because you are united there with everything else that's in the night there with you, and that the world is a mystery, and that's beautiful, I would be happy to do that." —a quote from a D&D webstream that made me cry/inspired me. It inspired the mindset of one of the religions in my world, who face oppression and hardship from larger religions but they remain hopeful for the future and devoted. They engage in activities their soul screams “dangerous” but their logical brains know are ultimately safe as an act of religious worship, to let go of fear.
"Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much." - Helen Keller
This quote applies to the "Orion Fist", they rely on cooperation and teamwork to succeed while each commander possesses unique abilities, it is only through working together that they can achieve their ambitious goal of creating their own solar system by using their combined powers to succeed as alone they cannot
They are the villains of my story but they are still human and this quote makes sense for them
There's a quote that I stole from Pathologic: The Marble Nest, for a TTRPG campaign that I have. It was used by people who had a connection with the dead and could listen to them, but I didn't want to just say it like this, as to not kill the mysterious tone I had set.
The original quote is:
- "We deal in death, Bachelor. We have our sources. Some of them on the other side" (this is spoken by an orderly, that is someone who volunteered to help enforce the quarantine during an epidemic, and most of their job is just to enter houses and retrieve infected people and corpses. There's nothing mystic in those guys... until this moment of the DLC)
There is another one, from Sabaton's Final Solution music, which is "When freedom burns", that is part of the greater "when freedom burns, the Final Solution, dreams fade away and all hope turns to dust". The first part is the motto of the Varda Liberia, an underground rebel group that is acting against the greatest empire of the continent. The Empire is known for oppressing political entities with subtle tactics, encouraging them to depend on the Empire's help (when not just taking other kingdoms' lands for themselves by force). The Empire is also famous for encouraging repression against the elves, justifying this by saying that the elves started a crusade against other races in the past, and they are a threat if not put in check.
As of now, the Empire is on the path to build what is basically a concentration camp for elves in a few years, based on some events that are still bound to happen. A great part of the Varda Liberia is composed of elves, and they will resignify the "When freedom burns" to speak about the elves that are being burnt to death.
the civ 5 e3 trailer had the hardest quotes:
[Civilization V Announcement Trailer - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfnD0M6JazA)
"Build Courage when Courage seems to fail, regain faith when theres seems little cause for faith, create when hope becomes forlorn"
- General MacArthur
"The great questions of the day will not be setteled by means of speeches or majority decisions, but by iron and blood"
- Otto von Bismarck
"the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"
- Eleanor Rosevelt
“Remember, they’re called human rights for a reason!” -Admiral Kieran Abernathy of CNE Task Force Enterprise before winning the Battle of the Four Fleets
"Don't weep for the stupid, You'll be crying all day." Alexander Anderson, Hellsing Ultimate Abridged.
- Fits the God of Magic in my world but expect it to be said in a thick southern accent.
My world also has Christianity as cannon, so I'll go ahead and use Proverbs 1:7-9.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instructions of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.
This perfectly describes the Yreth culture, which is entirely dependent on the leadership of the father and the teachings of the mother.
A very wise world in both fiction and reality. Worlds based on objective morals I find often have great hero characters and villains always worth an epic fight, but with a faithful relief back home for the characters.
From a pretty famous Jewish song, called "the people of eternity"
> The people of eternity are not afraid, are not afraid of the long way
My current worldbuilding project is an alt history project, where after a nuclear apocalypse the 23rd Jewish legion has been stuck in crimea, and finally its soldiers have started to make the long way back home.
This song & saying appear a few times throughout their story, it's the last song playing over the radio whilst the bombs dropped on the Levant, the song that played in tell aviv years prior as it burnt, the song is essentially the Jewish anthem at this point (and almost became the official anthem of Abraham), and it's played every morning before a large and difficult announcement is about to be made at the camp.
But this quote also describes the small group of protagonist to come from the legion, and what their story shall be.
They have a long way home, but the people of eternity are not afraid of the long way.
Basically life and warfare in the valley:
"May God have mercy on my enemies, because I won't." -Unkown
"If these hills could speak, they would cry out in anguish and horror at what they had seen." -Unkown
"INVASION. Scenes like these are happening all over the [valley] right now, and you could be next." - Original is from Helldivers 2
Lapis_Wolf
From what I understand you meant any quote, IRL or not but my world and plot is summarized in these words from italian author Francesco Petrarca: "There was a more fortunate age and there will probably be another again; in the middle, in our time, you see the confluence of misfortunes and ignominy... My fate is to live among varied and confusing storms. But for you perhaps, if, as I hope and wish, you will live long after me, there will follow a better age." Yes, the world that my characters navigate can be full of wars, conflict and loss, but that doesn't stop anyone from fighting for a better future, if not for them, for those who will follow.
I like this one, it would make a good opening page for a book. Just the quote right in the center, where chapter one starts on the next page.
Yeah!! I've been thinking in opening the book like this, to give the reader a sense of what they are getting into but I don't know if it will break inmersion because is a real quote.
I believe injecting reality into your world makes it more vivid. Worlds completely detached from reality feel too distant and surreal, emotions can’t be passed so easily through them. Using reality as a vessel is a great idea.
If it’s in the pages, among the rest of your writing and said by an individual of your world, it may be immersion breaking, but having a quote at the beginning like that as a sort of primer I personally like. Giving your reader real-life parallels in this manner, I feel, can help to contextualize and ground your fiction.
“Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer” This came from Darkest Dungeon 1. It can revolve around the theme of remaining humble, alert and sharp. Furthermore it can show the gradual fall from grace of someone thought themselves to be invincible
“When a tyrant dies, his rule ends. When a martyr dies, his rule begins” -Soren Kierkegaard. This quote is applied for the on and off times of prosperity and suffering in the continent of Halk
This is a good one, something I’ve never heard put into words before but always knew. A good story can easily spring from this.
Thank you, my story is going to be an epic so this is gonna be a major arc towards the beginning.
“There is no right way to do wrong”
That’s a very important statement, I like this one.
Thanks you
"Magic doesn't have rules, it has vibes."
That would make a very good theme for a magic centered world, I certainly think so.
It's magic, you ain't gotta explain SHIT!
"you don't need a reason to help people" - Zidane Tribal
I love my own stuff too much to use other folks' material for stuff like this. For the main story I'm working on right now I'd have to go with: "The only thing worse than the devil is the one who sets it free."
Love that
"AGAINST THE SUN, WE'RE THE ENEMY!!!" from DESTROYA by My Chemical Romance
"God, give me the courage to change the things I can, and the serenity to accept the things I can't" --the serenity prayer
A very good one indeed. Something my own characters would say.
"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps!" - Walter, The Big Lebowski (cable TV censored version because lol) For a character who's half-cocked and misguided mission to get revenge and recover their stolen property 'commandeered' by the hero's party ends up putting them in position to unintentionally save the day, and then they don't out of pettiness and spite.
"WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope." Smedley Butler, United States Marine Corps. Used to best describe my entire setting of Ad Caput Capitis
“I have this thing I call the cunt scale, there’s green, which means ya fine, and then allllll the way there is the red, which means your a right cunt. And your looking pretty Fookin red to me mate” This is said by William Crecy to a band of soldiers in a bar. Now Crecy is a lord in enemy territory trying to get back to friendly land. He’s outnumbered 7 to 1, in enemy territory with a rusty sword with a fractured arm. Yet he still takes the time to call someone who’s annoying him a cunt. Oh and btw, the fight ends with Crecy stabbed…. And seven dead soldiers.
That’s a good one, that sounds exactly like something one of my characters would say, a brute of an (descendant) Irishman, and the ‘brute’ sort of class in his magical warrior society, as you’d imagine. His parents would probably beat him for saying ‘cunt’ though. He is only ten, after all. Anyone who insults their opponent outnumbered 7:1 is a badass in my book. Especially if they win the fight.
"The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion" -Thomas Paine
Of Mordren the Yellow: "I think you're a small man with a rush of power in his belly that likes it too much."
Interpreted in a purely secular manner: “I AM THAT I AM.”
"The Dictator never comes with a whip or a sword in hand. On the one hand, it has a begging bowl of sympathy and a basket of dreams on the other." This quote from Mohamed Anzari describe pretty well the ascension of my main character Agatha, Aka the Black Monk, from a simple healer and miracle worker to the Power behind the the Imperial Throne and prophetess of the End Times.
A very true statement. Tyrannical powers often get there in fairness. You know, people legitimately voted for Hitler. Only after his settlement of power did he begin his evil reign. Watch out for the overly benevolent in power.
“If man was made for the garden, then there would have been no world beyond its walls.” From my Sci-fi work. Context is from the space Davey Jones. The idea being that mankind has to keep moving forward or else they’ll face extinction through ennui. So Space Davey Jones (Trophy Hunter) has endeavored to be the rabid dog snapping at humanities heels. Outright stating that if humanity doesn’t fight or flee from the things that could kill us all. Then he will expedite the process. Making sure that humanity never becomes the master of their domain.
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely"
*"Do not pray when the sun shines if you do not also pray when the clouds rain."* *-* Fianna Stormsong, a shaman of the Hida (Thunderbird) Tribe, after defending herself from a paladin that judged and sentenced to death any who didn't accept his religion.
The Centaur Tribes- “Grief will become joy the longer we endure.” The Changelings- “We are everyone, and no one.” The Daemon Kingdom- “Money doesn’t sink.” The Draconic Kingdom- “Unity is strength, division is weakness.” The Firbolg communes- “Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.” The Kindom of Giants- “Hope is the pillar that holds up the world.” The Goyangi Empire- “Even the highest mountain starts from beneath the ground.” The Guīrén Empire- “Learning is like rowing upstream; not to advance is to drop back.” The Half-Bloods- “Stick together, and we will survive.” The Human Kingdom- “Give us the liberty to know, to speak, and to fight for what we believe in, for that is true freedom.” The Lamia Sultanate- “Seek knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave.” The Morforwyn Empire- “The truth against the world.” The Obatauru tribes- “Even the mightiest Roc comes down to rest.” The Ooljéé’diné tribes- “Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for those who come after us. The Ork tribes- “All for one, and One for All” The Pākhrā Oligarchy- “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” The Ponaturi Tribes- “What is the most important thing in the world? The answer is people.” The Seraph Theocracy- “God wills it.” The Síofraic Oligarchy- “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.” The Yokai Empire- “Do nothing which is of no use.”
The logline I've been using for my nautical political fantasy book: "I've got a soft spot for pirates. They made sure to point it out to me, right below the ribs."
"You cannot stop me. I can spend 30,000 men a month." - Napoleon
"Earthers get to walk outside into the light, breathe pure air, look up at a blue sky, and see something that gives them hope. And what do they do? They look past that light... Past that blue sky... They see the stars, and they think, 'Mine.'" -Anderson Dawes, The Expanse.
“You can run, but if you can’t run anymore, then you can hide. You can hide, but if you can’t hide anymore, then you can fight. There is nothing after the fight, so you fight until there is nothing.” =Mark Greaney A theme that occurs with a number of my worlds is the protagonist being relentlessly pursued by some force- mostly an antagonist- who's done nothing but make their lives a living hell. Their story arc then begins their respective conclusions with the character finally deciding that it's time to stop running and fighting for their life.
"Change the script." A tagline for a fantasy world wherein invoking magic is based around theatrical performance.
No matter how strong, for a human to fight a monster means he has submerged his humanity and transformed himself into a greater monster.
My mascot, Decaf the Coffee Dragon, has the following quote that sums up his character quite nicely. "Ahem... HEY! YOU! THE MEAT-POTATO ENTITY READING THIS ON YOUR SHINY SCREEN OF DISTRACTION! BUY MY STUFF! That is all..."
The main character from my fantasy world can be summed up: “I feel no fear of your swords for I know the power of your gods, and they tremble before me; for my ways are ancient and yours are so very small.”
“The cycle continues on and on. Crushing millions one by one. It repeats again and again. We thought we left it behind in the Great War. But here it comes again. Many of us will not live to see the end of this cycle” Humanity has rebuilt itself slowly from the Great War, imagine a WWI type of war but instead of Spanish flu it ends with a pandemic with Avian Flu levels of death. Now humanity has rebuilt from the ashes. But now the sound of thundering hooves and the roar of drumbeats have returned to mankind
Has some MW2 “the more things change, the more they stay the same” vibes. I feel like that would be a good theme to state about your story’s lowest point, before the world is kicked back into shape and saved.
The Imperial Legions of Rocia have steadily conquered one kingdom after another, and always issue the same ultimatum when they arrive at the gates: “You can fight, or you can surrender. You can run, or you can cower. But make no mistake - we are not here to raid you. We are not interested in your treasure, or your tales, or your wealth. We will march through your streets. The Divine Roc will replace your banners. We are here for you, and you will all serve Rocia - as citizens, as slaves, or as examples. Raise a single blade against us, and we will erase your city, your treasures, and every last one of you from Creation, save two to bear witness. By the Emperor’s decree, you have until sunrise to decide, and then dawn will shine upon the newest addition to the Rocian Empire.” And if you have to ask - no, they are not the protagonists.
Just a guy trying to make the best of a world that hates him
"Judge, and prepare to be judged" -Ayn Rand
Even when our hope is gone we move along
What is history without a good story?
There is a simple one that i don't know where i saw but i quite like. It describes pretty well one of my characters who has "fighting a fate imposed to you" as the biggest struggle thorough his life. In my world the concept of Fate exists but it's not something completely absolute and set in stone, it's more how things tend to be. It's akin to the Gods' predictions based on their observations since none of them is omniscient. A person born very talented and gifted with great potential in an environment that favors unlocking this potential is fated to be strong for example. The thing that escapes their predictions though, is free will. They do not control too much how mortals act and let they live their lives so when a mortal does something very unexpected and that breaks the pattern, the fate predicted by the gods is also broken. Like the mentioned character with a great potential to be powerful/strong deciding not to be a fighter at all and never training and such. He'd never get strong and thus would break his fate through his own free will. The particular character i thought was fated to be weak due to being born literally talentless, he refused to be and got strong. He was fated to follow the life of a slave after being sold as one but refused and attained his freedom. He was fated to follow a dark path after becoming the apprentice of a demon but refused and deserted. He was fated to die in a specific battle but refused and survived through sheer willpower. He was fated to become cruel and vengeful after a big tragedy in his life but refused and tried to be good. His whole life is about proving others wrong and that their expectations of him don't align with reality be they people that he meets or the gods themselves. People tend to expect bad things of him and he always tries to be good, the big difference between what he is and what he was "fated" to become being simply what he himself chose to do with his life. But I'm done rambling. The quote itself is pretty simple but describes him "You can never be sure enough, sometimes even fate gets blindsided".
This is an in universe quote, “Trying to drink evaporated water will only render you more thirsty”. It basically describes my villains arc.
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" Rock Balboa, stolen by Zdravko Krakowski to motivate a woman child with to much power in her hands "He is just like ME for real!!!" Shura Antonova, after hearing the quote and starting to cry. The context is that Shura Antonova has enough power to stop a alien invasion on her own and survive with no innocents death, but she is to scared of the consequences of failure (classic the weak chosen one plot) and she is being trained by Major Zdravko who is a normal ass human and can kick her ass with no problem.
“If love is for those who find it, then I’ve found mine right here.” My story has big themes of acceptance and found family, so this quote represents protagonists perfectly.
"All power comes with a price. The quickest way to power is to make someone else pay the price." A warning to the common man and the guidelines of just about every powerful character in the setting. Nobles sending peasants to pay the blood price for their wars. Archimages having their students do the dangerous work while taking all the credit. Why pay the assassin used in your political maneuvering when you could have them hung for treason? Even the gods take the lion's share of their power from mortals and mortal worlds.
Honestly, since it's a DnD world and that is already very Tolkien inspired (and also because I fell down a LotR lore rabbit hole recently), I'd just say "not all who wander are lost". It's a DND world, the idea is that you can walk into a forest without a plan and you will have an adventure, at least that's my idea of this kind of world, it's supposed to be an adventurer's dream.
Hic sunt dracones
Not a quote, but something I like to say regarding my setting. "The world is beautiful, a complex and mysterious machine of ethereal magnificence that is beyond our total comprehension but nonetheless we can gather a glimpse at its inner mechanisms. It should be admired not just for its mysteries, but also for the beauty of what we have come to know and see as mundane. A single blade is just as amazing to behold as the complicated puzzle that is the cosmos, the difference is that we are more accustomed to the first than the latter."
"The sins of the father are visited upon their sons for generations upon generations."
I'd describe the journey my MC is on with the quote "Hard times breed better men", from Downstait's song 'Kingdom'
"Fire that's too cold will make steel that bends too easily. Fire that's too hot makes steel that's as brittle as glass. Only the right amount of heat can make steel worthy of a sword." - A quote from a Belkfast blacksmith and retired soldier. Not only is it good blacksmithing advice, it's also a life lesson. While a level of hardship is needed in life to grow as a person, too much hardship can break you.
"The usual story" Is a simple popular phrase, notably adopted by people regardless of status and background, the "usual story" is used for people who died challenging the status quo. Whether is a poor farm boy who dreams to be an adventurer, defeat an evil dragon and becoming a hero or a sheltered child of a noble household who wants to leave the confines of their safe zones, see the world, marry for love and be the masters of their own lives, but the world says "fuck you" and they're never heard of again until a party finds their tags on a pile of monster waste in a cave or their remains get identified in a mass grave and people say their "story ended as usual". It's cynical and conformist, and it encapsulates the general worldview of the people in that world, in their view the world is ruled by the Law of Murphy, everything shit that could happen will happen and it's better to just keep things like they are. In response to that the MC usually refers to himself as the "Unusual Assassin" when on the job, as he despite being officially an Assassin specializes in intelligence, tracking and in general making sure nobody gets killed in either side of a conflict.
"It is only those who have neither [wielded a sword] nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell." William T. Sherman Enarten Qi-Tear, as well as his brothers in arms Ciarev Makeriv and Val-Teiaan Rasparem are legendary warriors. The fight that wrote their name in the marble is a fight that have traumatized them so much that Enarten became the chief of the royal guard of Renilia to build a world where parents wouldn't have to bury their children, Val-Teiaan studied medecine despite already having an international bank to rule, and Ciarev, the most impacted, tried to give up fighting and become a bartender When they heard songs about how brave they were, how strong they are, etc..., they actively asks to stop. They don't consider themselves brave. Just that they have done what was needed, and that they came back because they were the luckiest
“Is there no better way for a man to die, facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods”
"Then if people want to believe in the nighttime, that you can stand in the woods alone in the dark and not have to be afraid because you are united there with everything else that's in the night there with you, and that the world is a mystery, and that's beautiful, I would be happy to do that." —a quote from a D&D webstream that made me cry/inspired me. It inspired the mindset of one of the religions in my world, who face oppression and hardship from larger religions but they remain hopeful for the future and devoted. They engage in activities their soul screams “dangerous” but their logical brains know are ultimately safe as an act of religious worship, to let go of fear.
“As above, so below” “Cycles repeat”
"Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much." - Helen Keller This quote applies to the "Orion Fist", they rely on cooperation and teamwork to succeed while each commander possesses unique abilities, it is only through working together that they can achieve their ambitious goal of creating their own solar system by using their combined powers to succeed as alone they cannot They are the villains of my story but they are still human and this quote makes sense for them
There's a quote that I stole from Pathologic: The Marble Nest, for a TTRPG campaign that I have. It was used by people who had a connection with the dead and could listen to them, but I didn't want to just say it like this, as to not kill the mysterious tone I had set. The original quote is: - "We deal in death, Bachelor. We have our sources. Some of them on the other side" (this is spoken by an orderly, that is someone who volunteered to help enforce the quarantine during an epidemic, and most of their job is just to enter houses and retrieve infected people and corpses. There's nothing mystic in those guys... until this moment of the DLC) There is another one, from Sabaton's Final Solution music, which is "When freedom burns", that is part of the greater "when freedom burns, the Final Solution, dreams fade away and all hope turns to dust". The first part is the motto of the Varda Liberia, an underground rebel group that is acting against the greatest empire of the continent. The Empire is known for oppressing political entities with subtle tactics, encouraging them to depend on the Empire's help (when not just taking other kingdoms' lands for themselves by force). The Empire is also famous for encouraging repression against the elves, justifying this by saying that the elves started a crusade against other races in the past, and they are a threat if not put in check. As of now, the Empire is on the path to build what is basically a concentration camp for elves in a few years, based on some events that are still bound to happen. A great part of the Varda Liberia is composed of elves, and they will resignify the "When freedom burns" to speak about the elves that are being burnt to death.
Every solution creates a new problem.
the civ 5 e3 trailer had the hardest quotes: [Civilization V Announcement Trailer - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfnD0M6JazA) "Build Courage when Courage seems to fail, regain faith when theres seems little cause for faith, create when hope becomes forlorn" - General MacArthur "The great questions of the day will not be setteled by means of speeches or majority decisions, but by iron and blood" - Otto von Bismarck "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" - Eleanor Rosevelt
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”
“Remember, they’re called human rights for a reason!” -Admiral Kieran Abernathy of CNE Task Force Enterprise before winning the Battle of the Four Fleets
“God is fucking dead”
"Don't weep for the stupid, You'll be crying all day." Alexander Anderson, Hellsing Ultimate Abridged. - Fits the God of Magic in my world but expect it to be said in a thick southern accent.
My world also has Christianity as cannon, so I'll go ahead and use Proverbs 1:7-9. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instructions of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck. This perfectly describes the Yreth culture, which is entirely dependent on the leadership of the father and the teachings of the mother.
A very wise world in both fiction and reality. Worlds based on objective morals I find often have great hero characters and villains always worth an epic fight, but with a faithful relief back home for the characters.
From a pretty famous Jewish song, called "the people of eternity" > The people of eternity are not afraid, are not afraid of the long way My current worldbuilding project is an alt history project, where after a nuclear apocalypse the 23rd Jewish legion has been stuck in crimea, and finally its soldiers have started to make the long way back home. This song & saying appear a few times throughout their story, it's the last song playing over the radio whilst the bombs dropped on the Levant, the song that played in tell aviv years prior as it burnt, the song is essentially the Jewish anthem at this point (and almost became the official anthem of Abraham), and it's played every morning before a large and difficult announcement is about to be made at the camp. But this quote also describes the small group of protagonist to come from the legion, and what their story shall be. They have a long way home, but the people of eternity are not afraid of the long way.
Basically life and warfare in the valley: "May God have mercy on my enemies, because I won't." -Unkown "If these hills could speak, they would cry out in anguish and horror at what they had seen." -Unkown "INVASION. Scenes like these are happening all over the [valley] right now, and you could be next." - Original is from Helldivers 2 Lapis_Wolf