There Are Some Forces Before Which We Should Not Bend

The Ancient One:

The true power is yours—to allow in, or keep out. What happens to any of us is either invited into our lives or sent away.

True power…is the power to choose wisely. And that you already possess.

You are like the man who sits on the side of the road, begging for pennies, without realizing that he’s sitting on a box of gold. Everything you need is already around you and within you.

Stephen Strange:

If that’s so, then why is everything that comes so naturally to people like Baron Mordo so difficult for me?

The Ancient One:

You come from the world of Western thought. Mordo from the world of Eastern thought. Your soul is rigid, made up of straight lines. His soul is flexible; it has no straight lines.

Stephen Strange:

Then why not make him the inheritor of your work?

The Ancient One:

Because sometimes there is a time and place for straight lines. Because there are some forces before which we should not bend.

And when the night-wind comes, Mordo, I fear…will bend.

— “Strange” #5 (2005)

Used without permission.