Devlin Tay > Devlin's Quotes

“I tried to tell them if I could just keep going a little longer I’d be sure to find something incredible. But the short-sighted fools in charge of the coffers decided to fund a study to see if rats can understand the Japanese language when spoken backwards.”
― Frank Forte, Beyond Lovecraft: An Anthology of fiction inspired by H.P.Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos

“Poseidon spent almost all his time pursuing a perfectly exhausting quantity of beautiful girls and boys and fathering by the girls an even greater number of monsters, demigods and human heroes – Percy Jackson and Theseus to name but two.”
― Stephen Fry, Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

“Sigmund Freud notably saw in the Oedipus myth a playing out of his theory that infant sons long for a close and exclusive relationship with their mothers, including an (unconscious) sexual one, and hate their fathers for coming between this perfect mother–son union. It is an oft-noted irony that, of all men in history, Oedipus was the one with the least claim to an Oedipus Complex. He left Corinth because the idea of sex with his mother Merope (as he thought) was so repugnant. Not only was his attraction to Jocasta adult (and the incestuous element wholly unwitting), but it came after the killing of his father Laius, which itself was accidental and entirely unconnected to any infant sexual jealousy. None of which put Freud off his stride.”
― Stephen Fry, Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures

“Having a unique culture in a closed off village such as that is terrifying,” my grandfather told me. “In places like that, common sense isn’t common sense. The children grow up brainwashed and become just like their parents. That’s why you should make lots of friends, hear their different opinions, and always question whether what you are doing is right or wrong.”
― Tara A. Devlin, Kowabana: 'True' Japanese scary stories from around the internet: Volume Nine

“May those who feed me win the joy of tranquillity and peace, with those who protect me, honor me, respect me, and revere me. And those who revile me, afflict me, beat me, cut me in pieces with their swords, or take my life—may they all obtain the joy of complete enlightenment, may they be awakened to perfect and sublime enlightenment.” With such thoughts and actions and resolves he cultivates … and develops the consciousness of joy in his relations with all beings, and so he acquires a contemplative spirit filled with joy in all things … and becomes imperturbable—not to be shaken by all the deeds of Māra.”
― William Theodore de Bary, The Buddhist Tradition: In India, China and Japan

“So, as with everything, from the practice of medicine and scholarship to political service, the genuine and the fraudulent coexist and blur into each other. What should one do then? Simply this: be skeptical of what you hear. Yet also have enough humility to accept the world contains more than what you can see or imagine.”
― Yun Ji, The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales, Horror Stories, and Occult Knowledge

“What kinds of creatures are we? Just because we want a piece of meat, we take a life. Just because we want a bowl of soup, we kill the child of another being. In exchange for a good taste in our mouth that will last seconds, we take endless years from another animal, causing them to suffer fear, pain, and sadness. These questions are not odd to ask. Centuries ago, the famous poet Su Shi asked them too—as have others. We all must eat of course. But we should find a way to do this compassionately. And our efforts should be more thoughtful than a short fast here and there. Such half measures foster evil while making people feel like they’re accomplishing great good.”
― Yun Ji, The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales, Horror Stories, and Occult Knowledge

“if one tosses a stone too forcefully, it will bounce back to wound you.”
― Yun Ji, The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales, Horror Stories, and Occult Knowledge

“fully three-quarters of life’s great & bounteous cornucopia consists of parasites, battening furtively on the flesh of the few productive species that grace creation.”
― Paula Guran, New Cthulhu 2: More Recent Weird

“The feeling of being always off balance, never knowing the right thing to say because any misconstrued word could be a trap.”
― Kenneth W. Cain, Midnight From Beyond the Stars

“the extraordinary growth of the influence of the religion of Osiris, which had spread all over Egypt by the end of the period of the sixth dynasty. This religion promised to all who followed it, high or low, rich or poor, a life in the world beyond the grave, after a resurrection that was made certain to them through the sufferings, death and resurrection of Osiris, who was the incarnation of the great primeval god who created the heavens and the earth.”
― Jake Jackson, Egyptian Myths

“By now you should realise that if anybody asks if you would like something in a Japanese toilet, it won’t end well.”
― Tara A. Devlin, Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends: Volume Two

“Good is always inherently stronger than evil. If, for instance, health were not, broadly speaking, stronger than disease, the poisonous germs floating about the world would kill off the human race inside twelve months.”
― H. Hesketh-Prichard, Ghosts: Being the Experiences of Flaxman Low

“There was nothing to be gathered from her letter, more than that he was low and nervous. In those words, of which healthy people think so lightly, what a world of suffering is sometimes hidden!”
― Mike Ashley, Fighters of Fear: Occult Detective Stories

“Both of these give the mountain’s name as Okiyama, and say that on the top of it from time immemorial there has been a shrine dedicated to Fudo-myo-o (Achala, in Sanskrit, which means ‘immovable’, and is the god always represented as surrounded by fire and sitting uncomplainingly on as an example to others; he carries a sword in one hand, and a rope in the other, as a warning that punishment awaits those who are unable to overcome with honour the painful struggles of life).”
― Hiroko Yoda, Japanese Ghost Stories

“wells in old Japan used to be popular locations for people to end their own lives. But the ground at the bottom of a well is soft, so you don’t die instantly. Instead, you die slowly and in great pain. That’s why it’s so easy for grudges to accumulate in them.”
― Tara A. Devlin, Kowabana: 'True' Japanese scary stories from around the internet: Volume Thirteen

“In effect, Japanese horror is less about a character reaching a certain goal and growing as a person and more about a regular person reacting to what happens around them. Scary things happen, they react, more scary things happen, usually there’s a twist to make things even scarier and then everyone dies.”
― Tara A. Devlin, Kowabana: 'True' Japanese scary stories from around the internet: Volume Three

“You cannot truly believe that people can talk to the dead?” I challenged him. “Why not?” my companion replied. “People do it all the time. The question that intrigues us is: can the dead talk back?”
― Derrick Belanger, Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.P. Lovecraft: Volume Two

“It is a different fight. We don’t wage war upon human society, for it must destroy itself. Our true enemies are the domesticated crops that rule their lives. Before nature can be saved from man, humanity must be delivered from the Cavendish banana, the Red Delicious apple, the Russet Burbank potato, from patented Monsanto corn.”
― Ross E. Lockhart, Cthulhu Fhtagn!

“Think of it. Mankind has domesticated plants for ten thousand years, changing them to suit his desires. But plants emerged on land millions of years before the first walking fish, and they have had two hundred million years to learn to make animals serve them. “All of humankind is enslaved by grains, fruit and livestock. All these species drove men to reshape the world to spread their genes. At the behest of corn and bananas and coffee and cocaine, man has cut down nearly all of the forests. They have cut out their lungs to fill their bellies.”
― Ross E. Lockhart, Cthulhu Fhtagn!

“They were the kind of Christians who drove Moxley to lone-wolf spirituality–the well-fed, spoiled yuppie mystics who thanked God for everything, but asked for even more, as if God were a whipped parent with nothing better to do than stage-manage their super-biblically comfortable lives. If God did hear all their prayers, it logically followed that they were hogging His attention, and thus partly to blame for all the unchecked famine, disaster, plague and genocide in the world.”
― David Conyers, Cthulhu Mythos Writers Sampler 2013