Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, also known as The Lonely Shining God - Goblin or Goblin, is a South Korea-produced K-drama which was released on the 2nd of December, 2016. Written by Kim Eun-Sook, an acclaimed drama writer, this legendary and bewitching k-drama has a total of 16 episodes and one season, and it was broadcasted on tvN till the 21st of January, 2017.
The cynosure of the plot of this k-drama are the lives of a Goblin or Kim Shin played by Gong Yoo, Ji Eun-tak or the Goblin's bride played by Kim Go-eun, a Grim Reaper or Wang Yeo played by Lee Dong-wook, Sunny or Kim Sun played by Yoo In-na and Yoo Deok-hwa played by Yook Sung-jae.
Kim Shin is a military general belonging to the Goryeo Dynasty who is given the tag of a traitor even after serving his young king faithfully and is killed by him who was under the manipulation of a deceitful eunuch. Even after his death, the Almighty punished Kim Shin with immortality for taking the lives of numerous soldiers, though to defend his land, thus making him an immortal Goblin. His demise lies in the hands of his prognosticate human bride, the Goblin's bride. Only she can pull out the sword that is stuck in his chest and which is the key to cease his woeful eternal life. Despite his lamentable past and punishment, he used his powers to help those in need.
After living for an agonizing 900 years where he had to face the death of his loved ones, one rainy day, he crosses paths with a high school girl named Ji Eun-tak who comes with her share of tragic past and life but who tries to remain positively chirpy and optimistic amid tragedy. They both meet each other properly when one another fine day Eun-tak happens to summon the Goblin. From then on, their fate starts to wreathe together.
Later, as the story unfurls, the Goblin and a Grim Reaper inadvertently share the same roof when the Goblin's nephew, Yoo Deok-hwa lets his tenant uncle live in their house, Eun-tak works as a part-timer at a chicken store handled by a young woman named Sunny, and slowly their destiny starts to merge which eventually lays bare that their encounters are not a coincidence but a choice of the Almighty, and they are connected from their past lives.
This k-drama is one of the most popular k-dramas in the world, making it a hot topic among the old as well as the new audience. It has one of the most beautiful OSTs that were ever made. They propound the quiddity of this phenomenal k-drama.
Among all the k-dramas that I have watched to this day, Goblin holds a very special place in my heart, and to not talk about it would be a crime. Though it has been hard to wring a couple of lines from the k-drama that will edify people as every line in this miraculous k-drama should be treasured in the chasmic memories, I have brought today a list of Goblin quotes that apprise about love and life, which might change your stance.
Read till the end for a heart-warming bonus.
1. "Every moment I spent with you shined. Because the weather was good, because the weather was bad, and because the weather was good enough. I love every moment of it." - Kim Shin/Goblin
Starting our list of Goblin quotes with one of the most intricated Goblin quotes, Kim Shin or the Goblin expresses his immortal love for his bride, Ji Eun-tak through these words. Even after living in solitary and desolation for 900 years, he shared the most beautiful and beaming moments with Eun-tak. With her by his side, the shining memories they shared eclipsed his lonely times.
When we find the right person to be with, even in the thick of grief, we will ignite sparks of felicity and every moment spent together will outshine the negativity.
2. "If you catch a falling maple leaf, you'll fall in love with the person you're walking with." - Eun-tak
There are many beliefs in the world and one of those beliefs is this Goblin quote which Eun-tak believed, and which came true for her, as the Goblin fell in love with her and she also realized that her heart belongs to this great and lonely God.
Kim Shin and Eun-tak went on a short trip to Quebec, Canada, where he catches a falling maple leaf while both were strolling through a park.
3. "But what does Buckwheat flower mean?" - Eu-tak
"Lover." - Kim Shin/Goblin
This Goblin quote from our Goblin quotes list probably won't be a significant quote for the usual viewers, but if you are a k-drama addict, especially addicted to this one, then you will inevitably hop around with joy if you get a bouquet of Buckwheat flowers from someone you love.
Kim Shin gave this flower to Eun-tak when they first met, thus it held a significant meaning as they were destined to be together.
4. "Have you heard this? Humans have four lives: a life of planting seeds, a life of watering the seeds, a life of harvesting and a life of cherishing the harvests." - Eun-tak
This k-drama has illustrated excellently that there is something like past lives and reincarnations. If you are a believer in these, remember that you have got four lives to live, and if you are feeling like you are struggling too much in this life, remember that there is a life waiting for you where your hard work from your previous lives will pay off and you will be able to cherish the fruit.
5. "If you believe in the invisible deity, why can't you believe in the desperation of humans? That is what humans call a will - the power to change their own fates. A man's desperation can open any door. Maybe one door that opens in such a way could become a variable in the deity's plan." - Kim Shin/Goblin
This Goblin quote from our list of Goblin quotes is self-explanatory. The wise words of the great God Kim Shin should be inculcated in our minds.
6. "One day after 100 years, when the weather is good enough, I hope I will be able to tell her she was my first love. I ask above for permission." - Kim Shin/Goblin
Kim Shin asks for permission from the Almighty to allow him to confess to Eun-tak. The permission is a part of the fate of the Goblin which is already written. Similarly, the things that we are meant to do, we will eventually be able to do because it is written in our fate and they are a part of our destiny.
7. "I once considered my endless life a reward. In the end, it's a punishment." - Kim Shin/Goblin
We humans often wonder what it would be like if we were born immortal or if life would have been much better with the boon of immortality. But immortality is a curse rather than a boon, and we can realize that from this Goblin quote and also by watching the harrowing 900 years that Kim Shin had to spend.
We might think of immortality as a reward in the beginning, but when our loved ones will leave us and all that will be left behind are the pain and sorrow that will slowly choke us from the inside, we will long for an end of our life and consider immortality as a punishment as the Goblin did.
8. "You made a mistake when you hypnotized me. You said to remember only my happy moments, but you said to forget you. That's a contradiction. Every moment that you were in, even all the sadness and the hardship, all of it made me happy." - Kim Sun
This Goblin quote needs no explanation. Each moment that you spend with your loved ones will thrive like a floret of happiness even when the clouds of sorrow are floating above you.
9. "What are you going to choose? Sadness or Love?" - Kim Shin/Goblin
"A sad love." - Eun-tak
Nothing lasts forever, whether it is sadness or love, and Kim Shin also believed that. Time scours the traces of everything mortal. But Eun-tak voted to disagree, and when given a choice, she chose neither sadness nor love, but a thing between both-a sad love, which became her life story. Unlike other things, a sad love in this mortal world is immortal.
10. "The ones left behind should live even harder. We might cry from time to time but we should smile a lot and cheer up. You are obligated to do that in return for the love you received." - Eun-tak
This Goblin quote from our Goblin quotes list speaks for itself. Humans are meant to die. People are meant to leave us behind and embark on a journey to a faraway place, but they don't mean to leave us in grief. We must shed tears for those leaving us, but we must also live happily for their sake and by remembering the love that we got from them.
11. "I will come as the rain. I will come as the first snowfall. I will beg the divinity to let me do just that. Meeting you was the reward of my life." - Kim Shin/Goblin
Before turning into nothingness, these were Kim Shin's last words to Eun-tak. He promised to return to his beloved as the first rain and snow after begging and taking permission from the Almighty. The first rain or the first snow that touches the earth is of great significance.
12. "You become a grim reaper if you commit a sin in your past life. The big sin we committed was that we took our own lives." - Wang Yeo/Grim Reaper
Goblin quotes have so much to say about the priceless life we are given, and this Goblin quote is one of those quotes which tell the worth of life. We should not end our lives just because of minor inconveniences that happen to us.
Everything is meant to pass away with time. We are meant to grow and learn through hardships. No sin is bigger than putting an end to the life that we are given because we are the chosen ones who get to live and flourish.
13. "The resentment and the desire for revenge are making you miserable." - Wang Yeo/Grim Reaper
We often get off track and stuck in an incessant maze of negativity which in the end rips off our happiness and makes our life more miserable. The key to a pleasant life is not having regrets, resentments and the desire for revenge. Forgive and forget is what should we follow and live a peaceful life.
14. "Every human die at some point, that's why life is even more beautiful. The first thought I had once I got my memory back was to live each day as if it were my last. If today is my last day, this will be my final memory of the person I love so I’d better live hard and love." - Eun Tak
This Goblin quote from our list of Goblin quotes is self-explanatory and needs no justification. Just live your life to the fullest without any regrets.
15. "Don't look for death. Death will find you." - Wang Yeo/The Grim Reaper
Death is inevitable. We cannot stop it from taking us away when it is time, but we should not also be looking for it. Instead, we should understand and live our life fully so that we can leave in peace without any regrets. The clock of death is meticulous, so instead of chasing it, wait for it to come your way.
16. "One mustn't put too much strength in the hand that's holding something lowly. If you clench on it because it is precious, that lowly and precious thing is bound to die." - Park Joong Hun
Another quote from our list of Goblin quotes that speak facts of life, if you are trying to hold on to something tightly that is fragile but dear to your heart, it is bound to break. Therefore, you must not try to hold it back when it's time to let go of it.
17. "The Almighty simply questions. Fate is the question I throw. You can find the answer." - Yoo Deok-hwa
An eye-opening quote from our list of Goblin quotes, our fate is already decided, but we are the ones who need to find out how it will turn for us. Fate is just a question, as told in this Goblin quote, and all we need to do is to find the answer.
18. "The price is too high for meddling with a human's life and death." - Kim Shin/Goblin
Another Goblin quote from our Goblin quotes list that needs no explanation, we should not come in the way of life and death. Messing with them can bring greater consequences which are beyond one's imagination.
19. "A human's sacrifice, is something the Almighty cannot predict. It wasn't a part of his plan. That's because it's a momentary instinct and a choice solely made by that human. It's a choice only humans can make." - Eun-tak
The ephemeral instinct of a human is a power that they have that the Almighty also can't decipher. Instinct can act as a variable in the path of a human's life and death. There stand endless possibilities that come with the momentary instinct.
20. "Life is a mixture of all sorts of genres. What genre was your day today? Rom-com? A strange but beautiful fantasy? A sad melodrama?" - Eun-tak
No doubt that movies and dramas are of a particular genre, but our life is a brew of every genre in existence. Even if you are experiencing a sad genre today, know that tomorrow a happy genre is on its way to you.
21. "Even if I were to die tomorrow, I must live today." - Eun-tak
We are meant to die, but not living while we are given the chance is a crime. Live life like it is your last day. Even if you don't wake up in your bed tomorrow for a fresh start, your soul will be gratified as you have lived all through your life, whether short or long.
22. "Every life is touched by a deity at least once. Just when you are drifting away from the world, if someone nudges you back in the right direction, that'd be when the deity chooses to visit you." - Kim Shin/Goblin
It's true when they say that the Almighty will show you the right path when you are lost or going towards negativity, and this Goblin quote from our Goblin quotes list points to the fact.
23. "While looking for the answer to those questions, I realized one day that it maybe makes us yearn for a name and the life we had once abandoned. Maybe this punishment ends when we become desperate for life." - Wang Yeo/Grim Reaper
We as humans, at some point or the other, want to abandon our precious life because we feel like our head is under water. But the biggest crime that one can ever commit is to give up and take their life. The price is heavy for abandoning one's life.
24. "Even the deepest sorrow can't last a thousand years. Even a profound love can't last a thousand years." - Kim Shin/Goblin
Whether it is sadness or love, things that start are intended to end. Nothing lasts forever as time plays the role of vanishing the traces.
25. "The worst comes right before you become perfect." - Wang Yeo/Grim Reaper
To become perfect, one needs to come up against several worse conditions. We might feel vexed but only the worse conditions squeeze out the perfection from within us.
26. "Act of responsibility, willingness to become better, people call it an apology." - Kim Shin/Goblin
An apology helps you in growing better and more responsible. When you accept your faults, that is when you start going again in the direction of amelioration which eventually shall lead to a happy life.
27. "Life is a momentary thing. You come and you go. You can live in a nightmare even when you are not dreaming." - Eun-tak
These words of Eun-tak need no explanation and thus make a sensible Goblin quote about life.
28. "I'm saying this because today is just about right. I'm saying this because you're still blindingly bright. I'm saying this because you are my first love. On another day that is just about right, will you be this man of Goryeo's bride?" - Kim Shin/Goblin
The last Goblin quote that will make your heart do somersaults, Kim Shin said this when he proposed to his first and last love of his life, Ji Eun-tak. On a regular yet bright and beautiful day, he chose to confess his eternal love to his destined bride.
The proposal might seem rustic to the common people, but that is where the beauty lies. The beauty of these simple words lies in their unsophisticated nature and candour. After a long wait of more than 900 years and permission from heaven, the Goblin finally gets to tell his bride that she is his first and only love.
Bonus- A poem
This captivating poem in the k-drama symbolises Kim Shin's realization of his first love. The combination of the poem and the scene is unduly exquisite and it will surely imbue your heart with happiness and incite the butterflies in your stomach because you would want to experience that kind of love that Kim Shin and Eun-tak share, a love that is strong and keeps getting stronger, acing all the tests of the Almighty.
Though Goblin has ended years ago, the characters and the quotes are still fresh and truly precious to those whose heart has a special place for this k-drama. Whether you are addicted to this k-drama or not, I'm sure these Goblin quotes will change your perspective towards love and life and will abide with you for quite a long time as it does in my heart.
While putting up together the quotes in this list of Goblin quotes, I was taken back to the times when I heard them for the first time and the diverse emotions that they brought. Amid heart-rending scenes and scenes that load your heart with love and pure bliss, I learned a lot from this k-drama. It teaches us not to take this precious life that we are given for granted and to love and live fully till our last breath.
If you had a fun time reading these quotes and learnt from them, let me know in the comment section which quote is your favourite and why you like it. Also, don't forget to like this article and share it with your friends. I would love to see some like-minded people hovering in the comment section and talking about this beautiful k-drama which should be treasured.