THE DARK KNIGHT [2008]

Welcome To A World Without Rules

I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger.

~Joker

Alfred: Whenever you stitch yourself up, you do make a bloody mess.

Bruce: Yeah, it makes me learn from my mistakes.

Alfred: You ought to be pretty knowledgeable by now, then.

Bruce: There were more copycats last night, Alfred, with guns.

Alfred: Why not hire them, take the weekend off?

Alfred, see so many scars on Wayne's back: Know your limits, Master Wayne.

Bruce: Batman has no limits.

Harvey: When their enemies were at the gates, 

the Romans would suspend democracy and appoint one man to protect the city.

It wasn't considered an honor, it was a public service.

Rachel: Harvey, the last man that they appointed to protect the republic was named Caesar and he never gave up his power.

Harvey: Okay, fine.

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Chechen: What do you propose?

Joker: It's simple. We, uh, kill the Batman.

[the rest gentlemen laugh]

Maroni: If it's so simple, why haven't you done it already?

Joker: If you're good at something, never do it for free.

You wanna know how I got this scars?

My father was... a drinker... and a fiend.

And one night, he goes off crazier than usual.

Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself.

He doesn't like that... not one bit.

So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it.

He turns to me and he says, "Why so serious?"

He comes at me with the knife.

"Why so serious?"

He sticks the blade in my mouth.

"Let's put a smile on that face"

And... why so serious?

~Joker, kill Gambol

You see, this is how crazy Batman's made Gotham.

You want order in Gotham, Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in.

Oh, and everyday he doesn't, people will die.

Starting tonight.

I'm a man of my word.

~Joker

[grab Rachel with a knife pointed to her mouth]

You wanna know how I got them?

So I had a wife.

She was beautiful like you, 

who tells me I worry too much, who tells me I ought to smile more...

who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks.

One day they carve her face.

And we have no money for surgeries.

She can't take it.

I just wanna see her smile again, hm?

I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars.

So... I stick a razor in my mouth and do this... to myself.

And you know what?

She can't stand the sight of me.

She leaves...

Now I see the funny side.

Now I'm always smiling.

~Joker

Alfred: A long time ago, I was in Burma...

and my friends and I were working for the local government.

They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones.

But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit.

So we went looking for the stones.

But in 6 months, we never met anyone who traded with him.

One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine.

The bandit had been throwing them away.

Bruce: So why steal them?

Alfred: Because he thought it was good sport.

Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money.

They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.

Some men just wanna watch the world burn.

Mr. Reese: I went to the archives and I started pulling some old files.

Don't tell me you didn't recognized your baby [open up the batmobile sketch]

pancaking cop cars on the evening news.

Now you got the entire R&D Department burning through cash

claiming it's related to cell phones for the army?

What are you building for him now, a rocket ship?

I want... $10 million a year for the rest of my life.

Lucius: Let me get this straight.

You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful man in the world

is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp 

with his bare hands...

and your plan is to blackmail this person?

[smirking] Good luck.

Batman: Where is he?

Maroni: I don't know where he is. He found us.

Batman: He must have friends.

Maroni: Friends... Have you met this guy?

Batman: Someone knoes where he is.

Maroni: Nobody's gonna tell you nothing.

They're wise to your act.

You got rules.

The Joker, he's got no rules.

Nobody's gonna cross him for you.

If you want this guy, you got one way.

But you already know what that is.

Just take off that mask, let him come find you.

Or you can let a couple more people get killed while you make up your mind.

Batman: You're the symbol of hope I could never be.

Your stand against organized crime is the first legitimate ray of light in Gotham in decades.

If anyone saw this, everything would be undone.

The criminals you arrested would be released and Jim Gordon will have died for nothing.

You're gonna hold a press conference tomorrow morning.

Harvey: Why?

Batman: No one else will die because of me.

Bruce: You once told me that if the day came when I was finished, that we'd be together.

Rachel: Bruce, don't make me your one hope for a normal life.

Bruce: Did you mean it?

Rachel: Yes...

[Bruce starts kissing her and then walk away]

Rachel: Bruce, if you turn yourself in, they're not gonna let us be together.

The night is darkest just before the dawn.

And I promise you, the dawn is coming.

One day the Batman will have to answer for the laws he's broken.

But to us... not to this madman.

~Harvey Dent

Rachel: Alfred, why is he letting Harvey do this?

Alfred: He went down to the press conference.

Rachel: I know. And he just stood by.

Alfred: Perhaps both Bruce and Mr. Dent believe that Batman stands for something more important than the whims of a terrorist, Miss Dawes,

even if everyone hates him for it.

That's the sacrifice he's making.

He's not being a hero.

He's being something more.

Batman: Why do you wanna kill me?

Joker, laughing: I don't wanna kill you.

What would I do without you?

Go back to ripping off mob dealers?

No, no, no, no... You... you complete me.

Batman, throw Joker to the wall: WHERE ARE THEY?

Joker: Killing is making a choice.

Batman, hit Joker: WHERE ARE THEY?

Joker, giggle: Choose between one life to the other.

Your friend the district attorney or his blushing bride-to-be.

[Batman hits him again]

You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with.

Nothing to do with all your strength.

Don't worry, I'm gonna tell you where they are, both of them.

And that's the point, you'll have to choose.

He's at 25052nd street and she's on Avenue X at Cicero.

Do you wanna know why I use a knife?

Guns are too quick.

You can't savor all the little emotions.

You see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are.

So in a way, I knew your friends better than you ever did.

~Joker

Dear Bruce,

I need to be honest and clear.

I'm going to marry Harvey Dent.

I love him and I wanna spend the rest of my life with him.

When I told you that if Gotham no longer needed Batman we could be together,

I meant it.

But now I'm sure the day won't come when you no longer need Batman.

I hope it does.

And if it does, I will be there, but as your friend.

I'm sorry to let you down.

If you lose your faith in me, please keep your faith in people.

Love now and always,

Rachel.

Bruce: I was meant to inspire good. 

Not madness, not death.

Alfred: You have inspired good.

But you spat in the faces of Gotham's criminals.

Didn't you think there might be casualties?

Things always get worse before they get better.

Bruce: But Rachel, Alfred...

Alfred: Rachel believed in what you stood for... what we stand for.

Gotham needs you.

Bruce: No, Gotham needs its true hero and I let that murdering psychopath blow him half to hell.

Alfred: Which is why, for now... they're gonna have to make do with you.

It's not about what I want, it's about what's fair!

You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time.

But you were wrong.

The world is cruel.

And the only morality in a cruel world is chance [hold his lucky coin].

Unbiased.

Unprejudiced.

Fair.

~Two Faces

Batman: What happened to Rachel wasn't chance.

We decided to act. We three.

Two Faces: Then why was it me who was the only one who lost everything?

Batman: It wasn't.

Two Faces: THE JOKER CHOSE ME!

Batman: Because you were the best of us!

He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall.

Two Faces: He was right.

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

I can do those things, because I'm not a hero, not like Dent.

~Batman

A hero...

Not the hero we deserved, bu the hero we needed.

Nothing less than a knight... shining.

~Jim Gordon

Jim: They'll hunt you.

Batman: You'll hunt me, you'll condemn me, set the dogs on me.

Because that's what needs to happen.

Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough.

Sometimes people deserves more.

Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.

James, see Batman runs: Why is he running, Dad?

Jim: Because we have to chase him.

James: He didn't do anything wrong.

Jim: Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

So we'll hunt him, because he can take it.

Because he's not our hero.

He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight.

*****

BATMAN BEGINS [2005]

Ducard: I speak for Ra's Al Ghul, a man greatly feared by the criminal underworld.
A man who can offer you a path.
Bruce: What makes you think I need a path?
Ducard: Someone like you is only here by choice.
You have been exploring the criminal fraternity but whatever your original intentions
you have become truly lost.
Bruce: And what path can Ra's Al Ghul offer?
Ducard: The path of a man who shares his hatred of evil and wishes to serve true justice.
The path of The League of Shadows.

 Ducard: If you make yourself more than just a man,
if you devote yourself to an ideal,
and if they can't stop you,
then you become something else entirely.
Bruce: Which is?
Ducard: Legend, Mr. Wayne.

Ducard: To manipulate the fears in others, you must first master your own.
Are you ready to begin?
Bruce: I can... I can barely stand.
Ducard kick him: Death does not wait for you to be ready!
Death is not considerate or fair!

Alfred: Took quite a fall, didn't we, Master Bruce?
Thomas: And why do we fall?
So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Ducard: Do you still feel responsible for your parents' death?
Bruce: My anger outweighs my guilt.
Ducard: You have learned to bury your guilt with anger.
I will teach you to confront it and face the truth.

You must become more than just a man in the mind of your opponent.
~Ducard

The training is nothing!
Will is everything!
The will to act.
~Ducard

Ducard: Your anger gives you great power.
But if you let it, it will destroy you as it almost did me.
Bruce: What stopped it?
Ducard: Vengeance.

Alfred: With all due respect, sir, Wayne Manor is your house.
Bruce: No, Alfred, it's my father's house.
Alfred: Your father is dead.
Bruce: This place is a mausoleum.
If I have my way, I'll pull the damn thing down brick by brick.
Alfred: This house, Master Wayne, has sheltered 6 generations of your family.
Bruce: Why do you give a damn, Alfred? It's not your family.
Alfred: I give a damn because a good man once made me responsible
for what was most precious to him in the whole world.

Bruce: Should I just bury the past out there with my parents, Alfred?
Alfred: I wouldn't presume to tell you what to do with your past, sir.
Just know that there are those of us who care about what you do with your future.
Bruce: Haven't given up on me yet?
Alfred: Never.

Bruce: My parents deserved justice.
Rachel: You're not talking about justice. You're talking about revenge.
Bruce: Sometimes, they're the same.
Rachel: No, they're never the same.
Justice is about harmony.
Revenge is about you making yourself feel better.

We all know where to find him.
As long as he keeps the bad people rich and the good people scared, no one'll touch him.
Good people like your parents, who'll stand against injustice, they're gone.
What chance does Gotham have when the good people do nothing?
~Rachel Dawson

People from your world have so much to lose.
Now, you think because your mommy and your daddy got shot,
you know about the ugly side of life, but you don't.
You've never tasted desperate.
You're Bruce Wayne, the prince of Gotham.
You'd have to go 1000 miles to meet someone who didn't know your name.
So don't come here with your anger, trying to prove something to yourself.
This is a world you'll never understand.
And you always fear what you don't understand.
~Carmine Falcone

You've traveled the world to understand the criminal mind and conquer your fears.
 But a criminal is not complicated.
And what you really fear is inside yourself.
You fear your own power.
You fear your anger, the drive to do great or terrible things.
~Ducard

To conquer fear, you must become fear.
You must bask in the fear of other men.
And men fear most what they cannot see.
You have to become a terrible thought. 
A wraith.
You have to become an idea.
Feel terror cloud your senses.
Fell its power to distort. To control.
And know that this power can be yours.
Embrace your worst fear.
Become one with the darkness.
Focus. Concentrate. Master your senses.
You cannot leave any sign.
~Ducard

Bruce: I'm no executioner.
Ducard: Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share.
Bruce: That's why it's so important.
It separates us from them.

 Lucius: Environmental procedures, defense projects, consumer products.
All prototypes. None in production. On any level whatsoever.
Bruce: None?
Lucius: What did they tell you this place was?
Bruce: They didn't tell me anything.
Lucius: Earle told me exactly what it was when he sent me down here.
Dead end.
Place to keep me from causing the board any more trouble.

Alfred: Why bats, Mr. Wayne?
Bruce: Bats are frightened me.
It's time my enemies shared my dread.

Bruce: How are the things?
Rachel: The same.
Job's getting worse.
Bruce: Can't change the world on your own.
Rachel: What choice do I have when you're too busy swimming?

Ducard: When I found you in that jail, you were lost.
But I believed in you.
I took away your fear and I showed you a path.
You were my greatest student.
It should be you standing by my side, saving the world.
Bruce: I'll be standing where I belong.
Between you and the people of Gotham.

If someone stands in the way of true justice,
you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart.
~Ducard

Bruce: What have I done, Alfred?
Everything my family, my father, built...
Alfred: The Wayne legacy is more than bricks and mortar, sir.
Bruce: I wanted to save Gotham. I failed.
Bruce: Why do we fall, sir?
So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.
Bruce: You still haven't given up on me?
Alfred: Never.

Rachel: At least tell me your name.
Batman: It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.
Rachel: Bruce?

Rachel: The day that Chill died, I said terrible things.
Bruce: But true things.
I was a coward with a gun and justice is about more than revenge, so thank you.
Rachel: I never stopped thinking about you. About us.
And when I heard you were back, I started to hope.
But then I found out about your mask.
Bruce: Batman's just a symbol, Rachel.
Rachel: No. This is your mask. Your real face is the one that criminals now fear.
The man I loved, the man who vanished, he never came back at all.
But maybe he's still out there somewhere.
Maybe someday, when Gotham no longer needs Batman, I'll see him again.

Gordon: I never said thank you.
Batman: And you'll never have to.



*****

LITTLE WOMEN [1994]

Save A Place In Your Heart For The Unforgettable Story Of These... 

LITTLE WOMEN

Feminine weaknesses and fainting spells are the direct result of our confining young girls to the house, bent over their needlework, and restrictive corsets.

[Marmee March]

Oh, Jo. Jo, you have so many extraordinary gifts; how can you expect to lead an ordinary life? 

You're ready to go out and - and find a good use for your talent. 

Tho' I don't know what I shall do without my Jo. 

Go, and embrace your liberty. 

And see what wonderful things come of it.

[Marmee March]

[Jo March]: I find it poor logic to say that because women are good, women should vote. 

Men do not vote because they are good; they vote because they are male, 

and women should vote, not because we are angels and men are animals, 

but because we are human beings and citizens of this country. 

[Mr. Mayer]: You should have been a lawyer, Miss March. 

[Jo March]: I should have been a great many things, Mr. Mayer.

Well, of course Aunt March prefers Amy over me. Why shouldn't she? 

I'm ugly and awkward and I always say the wrong things. 

I fly around throwing away perfectly good marriage proposals. 

I love our home, but I'm just so fitful and I can't stand being here! 

I'm sorry, I'm sorry Marmee. There's just something really wrong with me. 

I want to change, but I - I can't. And I just know I'll never fit in anywhere.

[Jo March]

If only I could be like father and crave violence and go to war and stand up to the lions of injustice.

[Jo March]

[Marmee March]: I fear you would have a long engagement, three or four years. 

John must secure a house before you can marry and do his service to the union.

[Jo March]: John? Marry? You mean that poky old Mr Brooke? 

How did he weasel his way into this family?

[Marmee March]: Jo! Mr Brooke has been very kind to visit father in the hospital every day.

[Jo March]: He's dull as powder Meg, can't you at least marry someone amusing? 

[Meg March]: I'm fond of John, he's kind and serious and I'm not afraid of being poor.

[Jo March]: Marmee, you can't just let her go and marry him. 

[Meg March]: I'd hardly just go and marry anyone.

[Marmee March]: I would rather Meg marry for love and be a poor man's wife than marry for riches and lose her self-respect. 

[Meg March]: So, you don't mind that John is poor.

[Marmee March]: No, but I'd rather he have a house.

[Jo March]: Why must we marry at all? Why can't things just stay as they are?

[Marmee March]: It's just a proposal, nothing can be decided on. 

Now girls? Don't spoil the day.

[Marmee, after Amy has burned a precious manuscript]: It is a very great loss and you have every right to be put out. 

But don't let the sun go down on your anger. 

Forgive each other, begin again tomorrow.

[Jo March]: I will never forgive her.

We'll all grow up one day, Meg. 

We might as well know what we want.

[Amy March] 

Well, it's not like being stuck with the dreadful nose you get. 

One does have a choice to whom one loves.

[Amy March]

[Younger Amy March]: Do you love Laurie more than you love me?

[Jo March]: Don't be silly! I could never love anyone more than I love my sisters. 

[Laurie]: I have loved you since the moment I clapped eyes on you. 

What could be more reasonable than to marry you? 

[Jo March]: We'd kill each other.

[Laurie]: Nonsense! 

[Jo March]: Neither of us can keep our temper-... 

[Laurie]: I can, unless provoked. 

[Jo March]: We're both stupidly stubborn, especially you. We'd only quarrel! 

[Laurie]: I wouldn't! 

[Jo March]: You can't even propose without quarreling. 

Someday you'll find a man, a good man, and you'll love him, and marry him, and live and die for him. 

And I'll be hanged if I stand by and watch.

[Laurie]

You must write from life, from the depths of your soul! 

[Friedrich Bhaer]

Over the mysteries of female life there is drawn a veil best left undisturbed. 

[John Brooke] 

I know I shall be homesick for you even in Heaven.

[Beth]

[Beth March]: If God wants me with Him, there is none who will stop Him. I don't mind. 

I was never like the rest of you... making plans about the great things I'd do. 

I never saw myself as anything much. Not a great writer like you.

[Jo March]: Beth, I'm not a great writer. 

[Beth March]: But you will be. 

Oh, Jo, I've missed you so. 

Why does everyone want to go away? 

I love being home. But I don't like being left behind. 

Now I am the one going ahead. I am not afraid. I can be brave like you. 

*****