The Plotters QUOTES

1 " He believed that people should emulate whales. He said that people had grown as small and crafty as rats , and that the days of taking slow, huge, beautiful strides had vanished, The age of giants was over. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

2 " Black tea is steeped in imperialism. That's what gives it its flavor. Anything this flavorful has to be hiding an incredible amount of carnage. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

3 " But just as a vaccine company facing bankruptcy will ultimately survive not by making the world's greatest vaccine but, rather, the world's worst virus, so, too, did bodyguard and security firms need the world's most evil terrorists in order to prosper, not the greatest security experts. That was capitalism, Hanja understood how the world could curl around and bite its own tail like the uroboros serpent. And he knew how to translate that into business and extract the maximum revenue. There was no better business model than owning both the virus and the vaccine. With one hand you parceled out fear and instability, and with the other you guaranteed safety and peace. A business like that would never go under. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

4 " The most dangerous adversary was a pazzo, a madman. A person who thought they had nothing to lose, who wanted nothing from others and asked nothing of him- or herself, who behaved in ways that defied common sense, who quietly followed her or his own strange principles and stubborn convictions, which were both inconceivable and unbelievable. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

5 " Reseng was shocked at how treacherous life was. It didn't matter how high you rose, how invincible your body was, or how firmly you clung to greatness, because all of it could vanish with a tiny, split-second mistake. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

6 " The oldest human skull in existence has a hole in it from a spear. Prostitution is a much older profession than farming. The first son in the Bible was also a murderer. For thousands of years, human achievements were only possible through war—including civilization, art, religion, and even peace. Do you know what that means? About the human race? It means that from the very beginning human beings have been plotting to kill one another in order to live. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

7 " While she studied, he lay down and read Demons by Dostoyevsky. It was a big book, and a boring one. ’Is that fun to read?” she asked. “The characters have really long names. For instance, the main character’s mother is Varvara Petrovna Stavrogina, and his tutor is Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky. Each time a new person appears, it takes well over a line just to say their name. So, no, it’s not that fun. Not with this many names to remember. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

8 " Any life not spent asking yourself what you truly loved was a cowardly one. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

9 " In my opinion, a man ought to be able to choose a death that gives his life a dignified ending. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

10 " They say the older you get, the more you're supposed to keep your purse strings open and your mouth shut. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

11 " Reading books will doom you to a life of fear and shame. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

12 " Whoever we are, we all have to fight our own battles for happiness. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

13 " You might not think of beer as a breakfast drink, but in fact it’s perfect. If knocking back a can of beer after a hard day’s work makes you feel refreshed, rewarded, and relaxed, then a can of beer in the morning is about feeling melancholic, fuzzy-headed, improper, and refusing to act like a responsible adult just because the sun’s come up. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

14 " Everything people say about whales is a lie. Because everything they say comes from a book. But whales don't live in books, they live in the ocean. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

15 " In the end, none of us can leave the place we know best, no matter how dirty and disgusting it is. We go back to our own filthy origins because it’s a filth we know. Putting up with that filth is easier than facing the fear of being tossed into the wider world, and the loneliness that is as deep and wide as that fear. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

16 " People think villains like me are going to hell. But that’s not true. Villains are already in hell. Living every moment in darkness without so much as a single ray of light in your heart, that’s hell. Shivering in terror, wondering when you’ll become a target when the assassins will appear. True hell is living in a constant state of fear without even knowing that you’re in hell. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

17 " That's life. Not much to it. Just one big stinking, filthy squalid mess. But once you get a taste of it - ah! Then it's not so bad. Sometimes it's even delicious. "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters

18 " ثمة ثقب من صُنع رمح في أقدم جمجمة بشرية في الوجود. الدعارة مِهنَةٌ أقدم بكثير من الزراعة. الابن الاول في الكتاب المقدَّس كان قاتلًا أيضًا. لآلاف السنين، كانت الإنجازات البشرية مُمكِنَة فقط من خلال الحروب- بما في ذلك الحضارة، والفن، والدين، وحتى السلام. هل تعرف ماذا يعني هذا بشأن الجنس البشري؟ هذا يعني أنه منذ بدء الخليقة، كان البشر يُخطِّطون لِقَتل بعضهم البعض من أجل البقاء. إمَّا بقتل خصومهم، أو بالاستعانة بقاتلٍ ليقوم بذلك عِوَضًا عنهم. هذه هي الطريقة التي يعيش بها البشر. تحمَّلَت البشرية دائمًا هذه الاستماتة الذاتية؛ هذا الموت الخلوي المبرمج. إنها الحقيقة الأصدق لعالمنا. هكذا بدأنا، وهذه هي الطريقة التي عشنا بها كل هذا الوقت. من المحتمل أن تكون هذه هي الطريقة التي سنعيش بها دائمًا حتى النهاية. لأنه لا أحد يعرف كيف يُوقف تلك الحلقة بعدُ. وهكذا، لا بد أن ينتهي الأمر بأحدهم بأن يلعب دور القَوَّاد أو المومس أو القاتل المأجور. ومن المضحك أن هذا ما يجب أن يحدث للإبقاء على عجلة الحياة دائرة". "

― Kim Un-su , The Plotters