You cant gain something, without giving something in return

Stand up and walk. Move forward.

What, exactly, is the happiness that can be earned by turning away from reality?

It brings joy in sorrow, victory in battle, light to darkness, life to the dead. That is the power of the blood-red jewel which men honor with the name "The Philosopher's Stone.

Even when our eyes are closed, there's a whole world that exists outside ourselves and our dreams.

And now, I'm thinking again, isn't there something we can do about something we can't do anything about?

Humankind cannot gain something without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. This is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth.