Is there a favorite anime quote that inspires you? In a medium rife with passionate, idealistic heroes and larger-than-life conflicts, it’s no surprise that there’s also an abundance of inspiring quotes and slogans from defiant statements of intent (“I’m gonna become the king of the pirates!”) to invigorating pledges of support (“Believe in the me that believes in you!”). Personally, while I also love these anthemic calls to action — I think my favorite has to be Symphogear’s “who says my love isn’t stronger than a thousand years of curses!?” — my very favorite anime quotes trend toward the earnest and sentimental, quotes that are more like a warm fireplace than a raging inferno. Today I’d like to share with you just a few of the quotes that have most inspired me.

 

“The world is not beautiful, therefore it is.” – Kino’s Journey -the Beautiful World- the Animated Series

 

 

This quote essentially sums up Kino’s Journey, emphasizing how the world is not beautiful in spite of its flaws and injustices, but that imperfection is itself essential to true beauty. The beauty of a still porcelain doll cannot compare to the beauty of the world in motion, to the struggle and flow of human desire, to the sorrow of loss and inevitability of change. There is poignancy in impermanence and dignity in death; remove all of the “ugly” things from the world and you also remove the potential for struggle and catharsis, for the full scope of the human experience. Through this quote, Kino’s Journey reminds me to be thankful for our messy, imperfect world.

 

“If anyone says there’s no reason to hope, I’ll prove them wrong every single time.” – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

 

 

I know I said I’d avoid the traditional, anthemic calls to victory, but I had to save a space for my very favorite one. Crucially, Madoka Magica’s quote is not a pledge of victory — it is a call to hope, to believe that things might one day be better than they are today. After a series spent pressing against a system that ensures perpetual stasis, an organ grinder of human emotions, the show’s final statement is one of irrepressible hope — a pledge that, even against these odds, humanity’s kinship and faith in the future will never waver. It’s a line that could mean nothing if spoken idly, but coming as it does at the end of such a harrowing, dispiriting path, it feels like a light at the end of the tunnel. Words I try to live by.

 

“You were just a tiny bit afraid of failure. But you know, that’s nothing out of the ordinary. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Everybody’s like that.” – Flip Flappers

 

Image via HIDIVE

 

By the end of Flip Flappers, heroine Cocona has flipped through a dozen different alternate realities, waged war with her inner demons and ultimately retreated to a cage inside her own mind. But rather than speak to any of that larger-than-life conflict, the words she needs to hear are simple and universal: She stalled out because she was afraid of failure and basically everyone’s like that. Sometimes we don’t need to be told we are special or extraordinary; sometimes we simply need to know that our feelings and our failings aren’t unusual and that no one will condemn us for simply being human.

 

“Happiness isn’t a race. If she passes me, I just need to learn from her in return. That’s how we learn, teach, and take each other to a higher place. Even though our foolishness is endless, we can become wise together. We should become happy properly.” – OWARIMONOGATARI

 

 

Monogatari’s tale of anxious, self-hating miscreants attempting to find any scrap of happiness has always resonated with me deeply. I consider an understanding of the self to be one of the most important faculties any human can develop; after all, as Monogatari consistently emphasizes, it is only through forgiving ourselves that we can come to aid others on their own path. And in this, one of the most forgiving and optimistic of Monogatari’s reflections, we see the charity and confidence such a pursuit can instill: an acceptance that we are all on our own paths and that we need not begrudge others their progress in achieving self-love and happiness. We are here to help each other; our foolishness may be endless, but so is our capacity for growth.

 

“Fun things are fun!” – K-On!

 

Image via HIDIVE

 

As you might have guessed by my prior quote choices, I am very much the sort of person who can get lost in his own head and obsess over things like my future or purpose rather than engage with whatever’s in front of me. That’s why I like Yui’s iconic quote, which completely encapsulates her mental process in choosing her pursuits and invites the rest of us to simply experience and enjoy while we are able. Fun things aren’t eternal; there will always be new challenges in this life and nothing stays the same forever. That is why it is best to embrace joy when it is apparent and commit to the brighter things in life with all the enthusiasm we can muster. This world is complicated, but some things are simple: Happiness is worth savoring, and fun things are fun.

 

 

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Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time or follow him on Twitter.