Guild Wars 2, one of my most played MMORPGs, contains my favourite dialogue in gaming.

It comes near the end of an expansion at the final confrontation with Balthazar, the God of War and Fire. You, the commander, have spent hundreds of hours hunting him down, trying to stop his plan of mass destruction. The last time you faced him, he killed you and sent you to the underworld, where you roamed restlessly trying to find your soul back. You came back, stronger but traumatised, and found him once again. In this final encounter, he is moments away from consuming power so large that failing would mean the end of the world.

In the fight, you and your dragon Aurene fight Balthazar and his two hounds. It is difficult, but thanks to your combined efforts, he begins to falter. Right when it seems as though you might win and end his plan of tyranny, he taunts,

“I am fire! I am war! What are you?” To which you respond,

“Still standing.”

As the battle ends, having fought off a God, you remain standing, ready to fight whatever more battles come your way.

“Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you’ve been through the tough times and you discover they aren’t so tough after all.” – Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath

“Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.” – Charles Bukowski