From: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Genre: Video Games
Who said it?: Dracula
The story behind the quote: The quote actually comes at the start of the game. Symphony of the Night opens with a dramatized version of the ending of an older Castlevania game: Rondo of Blood. Richter Belmont has practically completed his quest and all that remains is to defeat Dracula. He finally reaches Dracula’s throne room at the top of the castle and confronts him, proclaiming he will kill the vampire.
Dracula states that he’s alive because he was summoned by man and his followers liken him to be the savior of humankind. Richter rebuffs him by telling him that people do not need a demon such as himself. The vampire expresses him disgust with the human race because they are not honest with themselves, delivering the quote, before doing battle with the vampire hunter.
Geek wisdom: What Dracula says is kind of true if you think about it. We just can’t help being dishonest for various reasons; to build themselves up, to avoid getting into trouble, or to please others. We also want to withhold knowledge from others so that we’ll know more than them. What’s worse, there are even people who lie to themselves since they don’t want to realize the sometimes ugly truth about their lives.
In this manner, mankind is just a “pile of secrets.” While we can’t be honest with others all the time (due to social conventions), we should at least be honest to ourselves and admit our failings.