Quotes

Other

[giving Fielding some advice after a speech] And you get too personal. I mean, if anybody really knew Kennedy, you think they would've voted for him? You gotta be strong. So strong you're gonna want to blow your brains out. But you won't. So strong, people can say right to your face, "you're a dirty, lying son of a bitch", and it's not gonna make a bit of difference.

Other

It's a damn good feeling knowing you're out there patrolling New York Harbor, son. The fucking Cong could be shopping on Fifth avenue like that.

Dialogue

Sarah Williams: Ambition is... the ice on the lake of emotion. Fielding Pierce: Who said that? Sarah Williams: I did.

Dialogue

Sarah Williams: You can't be everything to me. Fielding Pierce: I want to be. Sarah Williams: Oh, dear. I love that you said that.

Dialogue

Danny Pierce: Remember what Sarah used to say? Sarah Williams. You do remember Sarah, don't you? Fielding Pierce: Go fuck yourself. Danny Pierce: I know you do. She'd see some junkie on the street and people just walking by, nobody even noticing, but she'd see him and she'd say, "How do you know that's not Jesus?"

Dialogue

Sarah Williams: Our lives have taken us so far apart now. It seems wrong to think we belong together. Fielding Pierce: But I think it. Sarah Williams: I do too. I think I know why. Fielding Pierce: Why? Sarah Williams: Because it's what we want. But... so few people get what they want. And the ones they do aren't really the lucky ones anyway. Fielding Pierce: They're not? Who are? Sarah Williams: The ones that do what they are meant to.

Dialogue

Sarah Williams: I don't want to watch you turn into a cog in their machine. Fielding Pierce: That's so fucking condescending. Sometimes cogs can make machines run a little but better. Sarah Williams: Sometimes yes. Mostly they turn in circles and wear out. Then they get replaced.

Dialogue

Fielding Pierce: I risk throwing away everything that I've worked for. This way eventually, I can make some real substantial changes without throwing away my life on some ultimately meaningless gesture. Sarah Williams: Sometimes, meaningless gestures are all we have.

Dialogue

Sarah Williams: It is so infuriating loving you sometimes! Fielding Pierce: Well, the feeling's mutual.

Dialogue

Sarah Williams: You, um, still haven't told ,e how you got the idea you wanted to be a senator. Fielding Pierce: That's not actually what I want. I want to be the President. Fielding Pierce: Why are you smiling? Sarah Williams: Because you mean it.

Dialogue

Fielding Pierce: I am so sick of having to apologize for being an American. Father Stephen Mileski: North American. Fielding Pierce: Uh, God, I'm so sorry. Yes, North American. But I can't help noticing that when people run to freedom they tend to wash up on North American shores. This country is still the best that we've been able to do in the whole fucking history of the planet.