After having been standing by the gate of the garden for a long time, Siddhartha realized that his desire was foolish, which had made him go up to this place, that he could not help his son, that he was not allowed to cling him. Deeply, he felt the love for the run-away in his heart, like a wound, and he felt at the same time that this wound had not been given to him in order to turn the knife in it, that it had to become a blossom and had to shine.

— Hermann Hesse

Almost two hundred sixty-six years ago on my home world, Earth, my forefathers did the same thing. They declared their independence and free agency from an enemy that oppressed them. No one at that time expected this rebellion force to win the war. They were severely outnumbered, and they were extremely inexperienced compared to their enemy. Despite those odds, they succeeded in winning the war, giving them their independence and freewill to choose. (Adrian Palmer, Worlds Without End: The Mission)

— Shaun Messick

As her feet beat the concrete ground beneath them, her chest began to ache. It had been a long time since she had run at a full sprint. She was, quite literally, running for her life, and leaving everything she had known before behind. Regardless of her experiences, here she was, blindly following a girl, who was virtually a stranger, because she had promised to lead Eleanor to safety.

— Ross Caligiuri

Be good. See good. Choose good. It's a no-brainer.

— Richelle E. Goodrich

Be happy. Be happy for no reason at all. Believe it or not, you have the ability and free agency to make that choice.

— Richelle E. Goodrich

But if everything's already decided, then what's the point of living? - Tom, pg 437

— Joseph Delaney

Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker; but the living flesh it converts into dead labor is ours, and the zombies it makes are us.

— Mark Fisher

Cherish your existence, for memories become legacies and life can change in an instant.

— Ross Caligiuri

Corrupt governments are run by corrupt politicians that run corrupt law enforcement agencies.

— Steven Magee

Cosmopolitanism seeks a _we_ that does not rely on the exclusion of _others_ but, instead, recognizes and confirms each other as part of the planetary _we_. The cosmopolitan _we_ is not grounded in a monolithic sameness but in a constant altering and _ethical singularity_ of each individual human person regardless of one's national origin and belonging, religious affiliation, gender, race and ethnicity, class ability, or sexuality.

— Namsoon Kang