Heavenly Tyrant Quotes

“After all, a society that takes care of its own does not produce children who grow up dreaming of burning it down”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“In the name of stability and security, they condemn only the violence that challenges the status quo, never the violence that perpetuates it.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Every oppressor, through their denial of humanity, sows the seed of their own destruction.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“I am always prepared to be disappointed by a man.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Those like us were not meant to be kind. We were born to rage and burn and destroy all that must be destroyed, so that maybe, one day, much better people than us can live in a world where they’re rewarded for their kindness instead of having it twisted to bind them.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“The way to free women isn't by demanding they adapt to the traits men are praised for.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“After all, a society that takes care of its own does not produce children who grow up dreaming of burning it down.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“if being on our knees was natural to us, why would they have to put so much effort into holding us down?”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Violence is not the answer, they say! But what do they count as violence, pray tell? Do they count it when landlords buy up all housing with their existing wealth and then grow even wealthier off of tenants they would not hesitate to throw into the cold? Is it not violence when a hospital turns away a patient for being unable to pay for treatment? Is it not violence when a laborer breaks his body in a factory, only to receive a mere fraction of the profits from his work?”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“If to exploit is human nature, than this, to resist exploitation, is also human nature. No exploiter has ever lived in peace without their weapons, their soldiers, and their propaganda and lies. And I have enough faith in human self-interest to believe that those who do the true labor of society will rise for their own sake until there are no more exploiters to combat, however many eons it will take. Every oppresser, through their denial of humanity, sows the seeds of their own destruction.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“The way to free women isn’t by demanding they adapt to the traits men are praised for. Please remember that, Tian-Tian.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“A revolution is always a tragedy, a destructive force unleashed by those stripped of every last option for peace. There's not a revolutionary in history who doesn't wish they could've gotten what they wanted within the world order they knew, but you cannot reform a system designed to keep power out of your hands.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Let it be known that there once lived two mortals who dared to challenge the gods.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Craving someone I can't trust has no good ending. When our roots sink into each other, there's no way of coming apart without ripping a thousand bleeding holes in us both.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“We could list each other's atrocities all day and not produce any change of mind, because this was never really about the morality of who deserves to live or die. This is a showdown between two classes of people with opposing interests. Whoever wins gets to tell the story.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Him wanting to fuck me doesn’t mean he respects me. In fact, it probably makes him respect me less. Men like him are strange like that, seeing what should be intimacy as conquest instead.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“It is always ethical to rob the wealthy.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“This rage is what has kept me alive and rising, rising, rising, rising. There is a spark in the human heart that can not be extinguished; that yearns for freedom no matter the price, no matter the odds, no matter the weight that smothers it down.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“People aren’t interested in facts; they’ll believe the spin on a story that best reinforces their existing opinions.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Oh, wow. Talking shit about rich people really does work.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“every ruler is, in actuality, beholden to the bankers and industrialists, who will not hesitate to arrange for your disposal if you challenge their interests. Bide your time. Read this and understand the necessity of revolution. It is not state borders that divide us, but class. Owners and workers. Exploiters and the exploited. With you on our side, we can win.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“But beneath those kind, righteous exteriors, these boys possessed one common core: they were more enamored with the idea of being a savior than with the women they sought to save. Thus, here we are. He gets to feel like he made the ultimate sacrifice for your sake, while you must deal with the raw, open wound of betrayal.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Because it is not human nature to accept subjugation.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“We ought to focus more on rehabilitation and prevention than punishment. Studies have shown that harsher sentencing does not reduce crime; improving people’s material conditions does.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Qin Zheng clasps my hand harder. "Fear has never ruled me," he says, like a mantra, a red blaze igniting in his irises.

A matching heat rises through my meridians. "Neither will gods.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“There will always be cruel people, no matter what kind of system we're living under. I'm not letting them stop me from wanting better for the rest of us.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Wow, I wonder why I don't want to be touched by a man who threatens my life on a daily basis!"

He pulls an offended face. "I do not do that on a 'daily basis.' Monthly at most. And only when you're thinking about divulging information that could destabilize Huaxia and/or attempting to kill me. The very fact that you remain alive is a testament to my patience.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“What reality do you live in that mothers get to sit around and do nothing? They only get empty praise for how hard they suffer! Watch how quickly people turn on them when they're anything less than perfect and selfless. And what happens after I give birth? If it's a girl instead of a boy? Will you all drown her with your whining and then force me to try again?”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“Since when did we as a species abide by good sense? Why do cowardly men strike their wives after a reprimand at work? Why do mothers scream at their children after a beating by their husbands? Those unable to conquer their misfortunes take their fury out on more convenient targets. It does not surprise me that women were forced into stricter subservience after Huaxia suffered a major defeat.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“So stand together! Your enemy is not the Rongdi willing to accept lower pay out of greater desperation. It is not the colleague campaigning for higher pay for a job you consider less worthy than yours. There is no sense in fighting each other for scraps while the true hoarders of wealth laugh at your in-fighting from their gilded storehouses!”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant