"The one who is afraid of losing has already lost." - George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones

“Do you know the parable about the frog in the cream? Two frogs landed in a pail of cream. One, thinking rationally, understood straight away that there was no point in resistance and that you can’t deceive destiny. But then what if there’s an afterlife – why bother jumping around, entertaining false hopes in vain? He crossed his legs and sank to the bottom. The second, the fool, was probably an atheist. And she started to flop around. It would seem that she had no reason to flail about if everything was predestined. But she flopped around and flopped around anyway . . . Meanwhile, the cream turned to butter. And she crawled out. We honour the memory of this second frog’s friend, eternally damned for the sake of progress and rational thought.” ― Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro 2033

"After all, the soul is not black from birth. At first it is transparent, and then it gradually darkens, speck by speck, every time you forgive yourself for the wrongdoing, you find an excuse for it, you tell yourself that it's all just a game. But at some point there is more and more black. Few people can sense this moment, it cannot be seen from the inside." ― Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro 2034

"Those are just stories, Codringher.' 'You're right: stories. But do you know when stories stop being stories? The moment someone begins to believe in them." - Andrzej Sapkowski, The Time of Contempt

"The most persistent principles of the universe were accident and error." - Frank Herbert, Diuna

"Wealth is a tool of freedom, but the pursuit of it is a path to slavery." - Frank Herbert, Diuna

"There comes a time when you either have to take a shi-t or vacate the toilet." - Andrzej Sapkowski, The Lady of the Lake

"Every dream, the magical and beautiful one, if dreamed for too long turns into a nightmare. And from this we wake up screaming" - Andrzej Sapkowski, The Lady of the Lake

"Bran thought about it. "Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?" - "That is the only time a man can be brave" his father told him" - George R. R. Martin, Game of thrones

"A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is." - George R. R. Martin, Game of thrones