World Building Quotes

“This tremendous world I have inside of me. How to free myself, and this world, without tearing myself to pieces. And rather tear myself to a thousand pieces than be buried with this world within me.”
― Kafka Franz, Diaries, 1910-1923

“To build a world for someone seems a romantic thing from where I stand." Dov shook his head. "Sam Masur, that fucked-up, romantic kid.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“What follows is the first in a collection of tales, primarily of one tixie family, who recorded their exploits more than two thousand years ago. Originally written in their own language, these stories have been translated into modern English for the first time.”
― Jack Borden, The Vultures of Doom

“Her body faded away so far, she almost lost her connection to it. Utter
blackness enveloped her, shutting off all warmth. All light. All love. All
support. All hope. She was pinned, alone, naked, and freezing before a
beast so terrifying she struggled to avert her gaze but could not.
Horns arose from the top of what had to be a head. Fangs protruded
obscenely from a frowning hole that must have been a mouth.
Unsheathed claws threatened instant evisceration. Horrifying eyes.
Two cesspits of black fury in which red flames churned like burning
blood. They bore down on Helen, intensifying the pressure on her to
the point of agony.
Inside her head a message played over and over. You are helpless.
Helen’s fragmented thoughts spun wildly. What to do? How to stop
this nightmare?
The wretched voice roared again, like nails clashing against slate.
“Give me the stone! Now!”
― Candace L. Talmadge, Stoneslayer: Book One Scandal

“Conner howled in pain, causing Shayna to quickly dismiss her own. Shayna dismissed her own discomfort. 
"Sorry about that. I guess I've smelled worse-like fur-lined boots that have been worn without socks. Now, that is pretty foul and—"
"Get them off! Take them off now! It burns!" shrieked Conner. He
attempted to jerk away, but Shayna held firm.
"I can't, Conner. You heard what Rileau said. I just can't!"
"It hurts really bad, like so unbelievably bad," he whined.
"I's going to be okay," she whispered repeatedly.

Shayna began humming and cooing as if he were a small child. She tried hard to block out his moans and focused on rocking him.  She held the wad of leaves firmly on the oozing blisters. She knew her friend was in pain, but she would not risk losing him, especially when she realized she could no longer hear Seneca screaming. The only sounds she heard came from Conner as he whimpered quietly next to her. Warm stinging tears cascaded down her cheeks, but she didn't dare wipe them, as she refused to lessen the pressure on the leaf compress.”
― C. Toni Graham, Crossroads and the Dominion of Four

“...we could think or feel as we wished toward the characters, or as the poet, discounting history, invited us to; we were the poet's guest, his world was his own kingdom, reached, as one of the poems told us, through the 'Ring of Words'...”
― Janet Frame

“Second star to the right-"

"-and straight on till morning? Yeah, I've heard that one before. Lit of the Ancient Homeworlds 101....”
― Linnea Sinclair, Gabriel's Ghost

“Even so, it was difficult to quantify what he was feeling. Or maybe hearing. Touching? Raziel finally settled on sensing, but none of the words he could put to the sensation felt right. It was a presence, that much he was sure of. He’d felt that type of thing from his grandfather when they practiced magic together and faintly from people further away. But this was different. Slower. His grandfather had, at the time, seemed to be something solid and unmovable as a cliff face, but compared with this, he was just a leaf in late fall, holding its shape but crumbling at the lightest touch.

It was, of course, the tree at his back that Raziel was sensing. Being struck by its awesome and awful enormity, the realization came to Raziel slowly. And, as he put a name to the presence in his mind, something changed. The smallest of ants, marching across unfamiliar terrain, looking up and seeing the great eye of the human whose arm was the continent on which it walked, might have felt something similar to what Raziel felt as the tree took notice of him.”
― Rick Fox, Fate's Pawn

“They were all sweating from the exertion, and that concerned Hoeru. It was certainly possible that they’d be found by something that could track them by their scent. But then they were humans, and humans smelled so much more than they ever realized.

“So Hoeru. What’s next?” Keira asked between breaths.

“Thinking maybe a bath.”

She gave him a sidelong look.

“I know you were stuck in that room for a while, but I don’t think we have time for that.”

The wind shifted and Hoeru was treated to a noseful of human. Still. She wasn’t wrong.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
― Rick Fox, Fate's Pawn

“Sadie had reached a part in Metal Gear Solid where the player character was spying on a female non-player character exercising in her underwear. The NPC's name was Meryl Silverburgh, which also struck Sadie as ridiculous.
"Come on," Sadie said. "Meryl fricking Silverburgh in her underwear."
"Maybe Kojima's into Jewesses."
Sadie wondered if most gamers would be turned on by this. She often had to put herself into a male point of view to even understand the game at all. As Dov was fond of saying to her, "You aren't just a gamer when you play anymore. You're a builder of worlds, and if you're a builder of worlds, your feelings are not as important as what your gamers are feeling. You must imagine them at all times. There is no artist more empathetic than the game designer." Sadie the gamer found this scene sexist and strange. At the same time, Sadie the world builder accepted that the game was made by one of the most creative minds in gaming.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Most of the time, he’s controlling, with the temperament of a troll. Come to think of it, he has the manners of one too. And I do not like that he tried to kill me. Twice.”
― Demi Winters, The Road of Bones

“As you will, so will be.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Ingan Impossible: Handbook of Hatebusting

“Contrary to popular belief, government buildings and educational institutes are not the nerve centers of society - the true nerve centers of society are the streets - streets that bear witness to the struggles of life - streets that bear witness to the labor of liberty - streets that bear witness to the struggles of being treated as an equal member of the human family.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Ingan Impossible: Handbook of Hatebusting

“Clean mind makes the world clean.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amor Apocalypse: Canım Sana İhtiyacım

“Today's seed is tomorrow's shade.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mücadele Muhabbet: Gospel of An Unarmed Soldier

“Policy is to be guided by peace not purse, World is to be run by love not wallet.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amor Apocalypse: Canım Sana İhtiyacım

“Deadlier than terrorist, kindlier than Teresa - that's how we'll reform the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Mucize Misafir Merhaba: The Peace Testament

“My Mission (The Sonnet)

I am not here to inspire butcher doctors,
I am here to build humanitarian doctors.
I am not here to entertain reckless coders,
I am here to invigorate humanitarian coders.
I am not here to arouse mindless engineers,
I am here to torque up humanitarian engineers.
I am not here to pamper crooked politicians,
I am here to wake up the brave world builders.
I am not here to applaud counterfeit philanthropy,
I am here to energize humanitarian entrepreneurs.
I am not here to peddle the glory of logic over life,
I'm here to raise humanitarian scientists 'n philosophers.
There is no rest till humanity courses through human veins.
My mission is to flood the world with humanitarians by the thousands.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“The world can never heal unless a handful of bravehearts are ready to bleed.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Centurion Sermon: Mental Por El Mundo

“Good engineer designs gadgets, great engineer designs society.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“Conscience is the cement
that settles character in place.
Character is the cement
that settles civilization in place.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“There are three kinds of people in the world - Those who make the world, those who mock the makers, and those who sleep through all the making and mocking. Or better yet, there are humans then there are animals - Humans who make the world, humans who help the makers, and animals are those who keep mocking and sleeping.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“Part certificate of birth, part medical records, part court-evaluated mental health status, and almost entirely badge of shame, other-born papers stated the nature of their powers and their known relatives. Other-born always came in a packageL in two or three or more siblings descended from sibling gods. Myths talked of the existence of other gods, too, but only twin, sister, or brother divinities bestowed their progenies with power. Some believed the power was too much for a single person to inherit, but Thais disagreed. Multitude is power, she used to say, We are stronger together.”
― Kika Hatzopoulou, Threads That Bind

“It's a new world we gotta build - founded on love, tempered by reason.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat

“Rise My Lions,
Be Heroes of Earth!
(Sonnet 1289)

You gotta surpass your intellect and belief,
If you want to stand as healer and peacemaker.
If that's not what you want, do as you please;
My works are not for the self-absorbed taker.

We don't need to build a world of faith,
We don't need to build a world of logic.
We just need to build a world human enough,
To place without prejudice, all faith and logic.

We don't need to build a world with one superpower,
We gotta build a world where the world is superpower.
We don't need a world rotting in diplomatic gutter,
Let's build a world that has no geopolitical clutter.

It's not enough to be a national hero of one nation,
You gotta be a national hero of all nations.
That day I shall call you a human of earth,
When you are the gateway to world illumination.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iman Insaniyat, Mazhab Muhabbat: Pani, Agua, Water, It's All One

“It's not enough to be a national hero of one nation,
You gotta be a national hero of all nations.
That day I shall call you a human of earth,
When you are the gateway to world illumination.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iman Insaniyat, Mazhab Muhabbat: Pani, Agua, Water, It's All One

“Pro Government or Pro Human Rights
(Earth Administrative Service, Sonnet 1304)

Either pro government or pro human rights,
A civilized human cannot be both.
Doesn't mean you're always anti government,
It means you pledge no one blanket support.

Gaza has made it more evident than ever,
No politician got the guts to rock the boat.
When the chips are down and balloon goes up,
Politicians hide behind the diplomacy door.

World leeches masquerading as world leaders,
Would sell their mothers if the price is right.
Sheeply civilians don't do much to change things,
So they seek comfort in snobbish arguments on AI.

Dump all autocratic nonsense of law-abidance,
Tell the right from wrong by conscience rule.
If you want human rights to reign supreme,
Wake up and be the world leader of your hood.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“Martyr's Dilemma
(An Existential Sonnet, 1349)

Abhijit Naskar are two, not one.
Abhijit the person, Naskar the mission.
Abhijit has dreams like an ordinary man,
While Naskar is the dream of world union.

Abhijit put his hopes and dreams away,
So that Naskar could engulf the world.
Abhijit even got dumped by the girl,
Because Naskar couldn't dump the world.

The question is, do I regret all this!
With all honesty - yes, I do on occasion.
All the vastness of Naskar isn't enough,
to make up for the things I missed out on.

The point is, it's okay to have regrets,
You ain't alive till you have regrets.
Yet I never abandoned my duty to the world,
For my mission is bigger than my regrets.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“A ghost may only tread once more where, Living, he has trod before.”
― Angie Sage, Magyk

“My mind is the machine." -Anonymous”
― Bibiana Krall