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Collected Quotations from Babylon 5
aarondf@bu.edu
Please visit the Last Homely House, run by Aaron or see more of my selected
quotations.
Acknowledgments
All thanks to J. Michael Straczynski, creator/writer/producer of the
television show Babylon 5 and writer of almost all of these quotations.
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"I was there, at the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind. It began in the Earth
year 2257 with the founding of the last of the Babylon stations, located
deep in neutral space. It was a port of call for refugees, smugglers,
businessmen, diplomats and travelers from a hundred worlds. It could be a
dangerous place, but we accepted the risk because Babylon 5 was our last,
best hope for peace. Under the leadership of its final commander, Babylon 5
was a dream given form, a dream of a galaxy without war, when species from
different worlds could live side-by-side in mutual respect, a dream that was
endangered as never before by the arrival of one man on a mission of
destruction. Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. This is its
story."
Ambassador Londo Mollari, Babylon 5 Pilot Opening monologue in The
Gathering
"Sooner or later, everyone comes to Babylon 5."
Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, The Gathering
"Would you prefer to be conscious or unconscious during the mating? I would
prefer conscious, but I don't know what your .. pleasure threshold is."
Ambassador G'Kar to Lyta Alexander, The Gathering
"It was the Dawn of the Third Age of Mankind, ten years after the
Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to
prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work
out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home away from home
for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs and wanderers. Humans and aliens
wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal .. all
alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last, best
hope for peace. -- This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations.
The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5."
Sinclair, Season 1 Opening monologue in Midnight on the Firing Line
"The wheel turns, does it not, Ambassador?"
G'Kar to Londo, Midnight on the Firing Line
"Commander, please. On the issue of galactic peace, I am long past innocence
and fast approaching apathy. It's all a game -- a paper fantasy of names and
borders. Only one thing matters, Commander. Blood calls out for blood."
Londo, Midnight on the Firing Line
"I will confess that I look forward to the day when we have cleansed the
Universe of the Centauri and carved their bones into little flutes for Narn
children. It is a dream I have."
"Be careful, Ambassador. Not every dream I've heard lately ends well for
you."
G'Kar and Sinclair, Midnight on the Firing Line
"They are alone. They are a dying people. We should let them pass."
Ambassador Kosh Naranek, Midnight on the Firing Line
"It's all so brief, isn't it? Typical human lifespan is almost a hundred
years, but it's barely a second compared to what's out there. It wouldn't be
so bad if life didn't take so long to figure out. Seems you just start to
get it right and then .. it's over."
"Doesn't matter. If we lived two hundred years, we'd still be human.
We'd still make the same mistakes." "You're a pessimist."
"I am Russian, Doctor. We understand these things."
Dr. Stephen Franklin Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova, Soul Hunter
"What do you want, you moon-faced assassin of joy?"
Londo to Vir, Born to the Purple
"You still haven't told me when the commander is due back?"
"Soon."
"How soon is soon?"
"Longer than little while, faster than later."
Mary Ann Cramer and Security Chief Michael Garibaldi, Infection
"The last time I gave an interview they told me to just relax and say what I
really felt. Ten minutes after the broadcast I got transferred to an outpost
so far off the starmaps you couldn't find it with a hunting dog and an ouiji
board."
"Don't sweat it. Just be that charming, effervescent commander we've all
come to know and love. What's the worst that could happen? They fire you,
ship you off to the Rim and I get promoted to Commander. I don't see a
problem here."
Sinclair and Garibaldi, Infection
"No. We have to stay here and there's a simple reason why. Ask ten different
scientists about the environment, population control, genetics and you'll
get ten different answers, but there's one thing every scientist on the
planet agrees on. Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years
or a million years, eventually our Sun will grow cold and go out. When that
happens, it won't just take us. It'll take Marilyn Monroe and Lao-Tzu,
Einstein, Morobuto, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes .. and all of this .. all of
this was for nothing unless we go to the stars."
Sinclair, Infection
"Ambassador, it is not my place to speculate on how anything gets in your
bed."
Aide Na'Toth to G'Kar,The Parliament of Dreams
"With luck, they may never find you, but if they do, you will know pain .."
".. and you will know fear .."
".. and then you will die. Have a pleasant flight."
G'Kar and Na'Toth to Tu'Pari, The Parliament of Dreams
"Let me pass on to you the one thing I've learned about this place: No one
here is exactly what he appears. Not Mollari, not Delenn, not Sinclair ..
and not me."
G'Kar, Mind War
"There are things in the Universe billions of years older than either of our
races. They are vast, timeless, and if they are aware of us at all, it is as
little more than ants and we have as much chance of communicating with them
as an ant has with us. We know. We've tried and we've learned that we can
either stay out from underfoot or be stepped on. They are a mystery and I am
both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders in the
Universe, that we have not explained everything. Whatever they are, Miss
Sakai, they walk near Sigma 957 and they must walk there alone."
Ambassador G'Kar, Mind War
"That's a lie."
"Yes, it is. What's your point?"
Psi-Cop Alfred Bester and Sinclair, Mind War
"You're a vicious man."
"I'm Head of Security. It's in the job description."
Ivanova and Garibaldi, The War Prayer
"Mr. Garibaldi, there're days I'm very glad I don't have to think the way
you do."
Ivanova, And the Sky Full of Stars
"What is he? And what was on that data crystal he gave you?"
"Reflection. Surprise. Terror. For the future."
Talia Winters and Kosh, Deathwalker
"You will fall upon one another like wolves. It will make what we did pale
by comparison. The billions who live forever will be a monument to my work,
and the billions who are murdered to buy that immortality will be the
continuance of my work. Not like us? You will become us. That's my
monument."
Ja'Dur (Deathwalker), Deathwalker
"Ambassador Kosh has been a busy boy today."
"They say God works in mysterious ways."
"Maybe so, but He's a con man compared to the Vorlon."
Security Chief Michael Garibaldi and Sinclair, Deathwalker
"The avalanche has started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote."
Kosh, Believers
"'Sure' is for people with nothing on the line. You and me, we just get on
with it."
Garibaldi, Believers
"Who asked you to play God ?"
"Every damn patient who comes through that door, that's who! People come to
doctors because they want us to be gods. They want us to make it better ..
or make it not so. They want to be healed and they come to me when their
prayers aren't enough. Well, if I have to take the responsibility, then I
claim the authority too. I did good. And we both know it. And no-one is
going to take that away."
Sinclair and Dr. Franklin, Believers
"I'm waiting. For an apology."
"You better check the temperature in Hell first."
Dr. Stephen Franklin and Sinclair, Believers
"That's no excuse for what I put you through."
"It's not about excuses. Seventeen years ago, we both died inside. But
somehow we survived. For better or worse, that's all we can do. Survive, and
maybe one day, forget how much it can hurt to be human."
Lianna Kemmer and Garibaldi, Survivors
"The universe is driven by the complex interaction between three
ingredients: matter, energy, and enlightened self-interest."
G'Kar, Survivors
"We all believe in something .. greater than ourselves, even if it's just
the blind forces of chance."
"Chance favors the warrior."
G'Kar and Na'toth, By Any Means Necessary
"Sleep well?"
"Sleeping is not the problem. Waking up -- that is a problem. I've always
had hard time getting up when it's dark outside."
"But in space it's always dark."
"I know, I know."
Sinclair and Ivanova, Signs and Portents
"Leave this place. They are not for you. Go, leave. Now."
Kosh to Mr. Morden, Signs and Portents
"So, how are things back home?"
"They change, they stay the same. Russia is Russia. Your father used to say:
'If regret could be harvested, Russia would be the world's fruit-basket.'"
Ivanova and Rabbi Jossel Koslov, TKO
"It doesn't matter that his Grail may or may not exist, what matters is that
he strives for the perfection of his soul and the salvation of his race and
that he has never wavered a lost faith."
Delenn, Grail
"Mr. Gray, I'm grateful the Psi Corps give you purpose in life, but when
that purpose includes scanning *my* mind to prove *my* loyalty, it's not
only an invasion of my privacy, but my honor. As for fear, if you enter my
mind for any reason I will twist your head off and use it for a chamber pot.
If you'll excuse me."
Ivanova, Eyes
"There is nothing more annoying than Mr. Garibaldi when he's right."
Ivanova, Legacies
The Babylon 5 mantra:
"Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore
Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God. And if this ever happens again,
Ivanova will personally rip your lungs out. Babylon Control out. [Sigh]
Civilians. [Looking up] Just kidding about the God part -- no offense."
Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova, Voice in the Wilderness Part I
"Now, I go to spread happiness to the rest of the station. It is a terrible
responsibility but I have learned to live with it."
Londo, A Voice in the Wilderness, Part I
"I know, I know. It's a Russian thing. When we're about to do something
stupid, we like to catalog the full extent of our stupidity for future
reference."
Ivanova, A Voice in the Wilderness, Part II
"Now, landing thrusters.. landing thrusters, hmm. Now if I were a landing
thruster, which one of these would I be?"
Londo, A Voice in the Wilderness, Part II
"You take, Zathras die. You leave, Zathras die. Either way, it is bad for
Zathras."
Zathras, Babylon Squared
"Next! We start by removing your clothes."
"Not without dinner and flowers."
Dr. Franklin and Ivanova, The Quality of Mercy
"Now out of that 50, how many gods do you think I must have offended to have
ended up with G'Kar's teeth buried so deeply in my throat that I can barely
breathe?"
"All of them?"
"Sounds right. And now I have to go back to the Council and explain to them
that in the interest of peace the Centauri government will agree to give
quadrant 37 to the Narns. I think I will stick my head in the station's
fusion reactor. It would be quicker. And I suspect, after a while I might
even come to enjoy it. But this -- this, this, this is like being nibbled to
death by .. what are those Earth creatures called? Feathers, long bill,
webbed feet .. go 'quack' .."
"Cats."
"Cats. I'm being nibbled to death by cats."
Londo and Vir, Chrysalis
"There comes a time when you look into the mirror and realize that what you
see is all that you will ever be. Then you accept it, or you kill yourself.
Or you stop looking into mirrors."
Londo, Chrysalis
"And so it begins. You have forgotten something."
Kosh, Chrysalis
"Nothing's the same anymore."
Sinclair, Chrysalis
"The Babylon project was our last best hope for peace. A self-contained
world five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and
diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in
space, all alone in the night. It was the dawn of the third age of mankind,
the year the great war came upon us all. This is the story of the last of
the Babylon stations. The year is 2259, the name of the place is Babylon 5."
Captain John Sheridan, Season 2 opening monologue in Points of
Departure
"I can only conclude that I'm paying off karma at a vastly accelerated
rate."
Ivanova, Points of Departure
"It was an early earth president, Abraham Lincoln, who best described our
situation. 'The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy
present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the
occasion. We cannot escape history. We will be remembered in spite of
ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor
or dishonor, to the last generation. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, or
last best hope for Earth.'"
Sheridan, Points of Departure
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of "Spiritus Mundi"
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indigant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
G'Kar to Na'Toth, Revelations
Quoted sections are shown in italics. The poem is The Second Coming by
William Butler Yeats.
"Ambassador Delenn remains indisposed."
"'Indisposed'! She's in a cocoon!"
"Yes?"
Lennier and Londo, Revelations
"Weep for the future, Na'toth. Weep for us all."
"Are you all right?"
"I have looked into the darkness, Na'toth. You can not do that and never be
quite the same again. When you told me about the destruction of our base at
quadrant 37, I knew that only a major power could attempt an assault of that
magnitude. But none of the governments here could've done it. Which left
only two possibilites: a new race, or an old race. A very old race."
G'kar to Na'toth, Revelations
"What you are asking could be considered treason."
"Or the first step in restoring our people to their rightful place in the
galaxy. Depending on who writes the history books. I think it will be us."
Londo and Lord Refa, The Geometry of Shadows
"You don't frighten easily"
"I work for Ambassador Mollari. After a while nothing bothers you."
Elric the Technomage and Vir Cotto, The Geometry of Shadows
"You will have to wear a cast. And it's gonna hurt."
"Swell. Ouch."
"I can give you something for the pain."
"Oh, great, *now* you can give me something for the pain. Where were you
when I was going through puberty?"
Franklin and Ivanova, The Geometry of Shadows
"Rules of combat older than contact with other races. Did not mention
aliens. Rules change caught up in committee. Not come through yet."
Former Green Drazi Leader, The Geometry of Shadows
"We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of
laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocations
of equations. These are the tools we employ and we know many things."
Elric, The Geometry of Shadows
"Oh, I'm afraid you have to spend the rest of your life paying for your
mistakes. Not this one of course, it's trivial, I have withdrawn the spell,
but there will be others."
"What are you talking about?"
"You are touched by darkness ambassador. I see it as a blemish that will
grow with time. I could warn you of course, but you would not listen. I
could kill you, but someone would take your place. So I do the only thing I
can, I go."
Elric and Londo, The Geometry of Shadows
"Well take this for what little it will profit you. As I look at you
ambassador Mollari, I see a great hand reaching out of the stars. The hand
is your hand. And I hear sounds. The sounds of billions of people calling
your name."
"My followers?"
"Your victims."
Elric and Londo, The Geometry of Shadows
"I'll gain weight!"
"Well, briefly, yes."
"Figures. All my life I've fought against imperialism. Now, suddenly I *am*
the expanding Russian frontier."
"But with very nice borders."
Ivanova and Franklin, A Distant Star
"Then I will tell you a great secret, Captain. Perhaps the greatest of all
time. The molecules of your body are the same molecules that make up this
station and the nebula outside, that burn inside the stars themselves. We
are starstuff, we are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself
out. As we have both learned, sometimes the universe requires a change of
perspective."
Ambassador Delenn, A Distant Star
"An old friend of mine once quoted me an ancient Egyptian blessing: 'God be
between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk.'"
Sheridan to Zeta Squadron, A Distant Star
"What else have I missed?"
"Oh. The usual. The good times, and the bad times, the revelations, the
revolutions. Outbreaks of hysteria, the parade of scandals, promises,
constitutions, and the occasional war. The last big ones were against the
Dilgar, which we won, and against the Minbari, which.. Well, that's a long
story."
Mariah Cirrus and Dr. Franklin, The Long Dark
"Well, you know how I feel about telepaths."
"Do I ever. You threw one out of a third story window on Io."
"There was an ample pool below the window."
"Alas, I assume you knew that."
Ivanova and Sheridan, Spider in the Web
"What's he hiding, Vir? Tell me. I won't bite, Vir."
"With all due respect, Madame, that's not what I've heard."
"All right, that one time."
"Twice."
Timov and Vir, Soul Mates
"You seriously expect me to become involved in your sexual olympics?"
"They are merely expressing their feelings for me."
"I can do that." [slaps Londo in the face]
"You haven't changed."
"You have. You've devolved."
Timov and Londo, Soul Mates
"We do not have cats on Minbar, we have gogs."
"Gogs?"
"Gogs. Such creatures are an attempt by the universe to make sure that we
never take ourselves too seriously."
Delenn and Sheridan, A Race Through Dark Places
"...Hardly the description of a monster."
"Smooth. You're getting good at this. Keep working on it. One of these days
I might even be convinced that you're human."
Bester and Garibaldi, A Race Through Dark Places
"No regrets then?"
"A few. But just a few. You?"
"Oh, enough to fill a lifetime. So much has been lost, so much forgotten. So
much pain, so much blood. And for what, I wonder. The past tempts us, the
present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away,
moment by moment, lost in that vast terrible inbetween. But there is still
time to cease that one last fragile moment. To choose something better, to
make a difference, as you say. And I intend to do just that."
Centauri Emperor and Sheridan, The Coming of Shadows
"Mollari. What did he say, really?"
"He said .. that we are both damned."
"Well. It's a small enough price to pay for immortality."
Lord Refa and Londo, The Coming of Shadows
"We are all slaves to our histories. If there is to be a .. bright future,
we must learn to break those chains."
Delenn, GROPOS
"Summoned, I take the place that has been prepared for me. I am Grey. I
stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the
darkness and the light."
Delenn, All Alone in the Night
"It is good to have friends, is it not, Mr. Garibaldi? Even if, maybe, only
for a little while?"
"Even if only for a little while."
Londo and Garibaldi, Acts of Sacrifice
"Dammit, what do you want? What do you want from me? You know, ever since I
got here I had this feeling that .. that you've been watching me. The record
shows you hardly ever went to council meetings until I showed up. When I was
captured, it was you .. reached out and .. touched my mind. Now you call me
here. Why? Just to throw me out? Are we just toys to you, ha? What do you
want?"
"Never ask that question."
"At least I got a response out of you. So, what will it be, Ambassador?"
"I will teach you."
"About yourself?"
"About you. Until you are ready."
"For what?"
"To fight legends."
Sheridan and Kosh, Hunter, Prey
"It's a mockery. It doesn't even have any .. ahhem .. attributes."
"Attributes?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you?"
Londo and Sheridan, There All the Honor Lies
"Why does any advanced civilization seek to destroy less advanced one?
Because the land is strategically valueable, because there are resources
that can be cultivated and exploited, but most of all, simply because they
can."
G'Kar, And Now For a Word
"What do you want?"
"I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head
and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some
favors come with too high a price. I'd look up at your lifeless eyes and
wave like this. Can you and your associates arrange it for me, Mr. Morden?"
Morden and Vir, In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
"There are beings in the universe billions of years older than either of our
races. Once, long ago, they walked among the stars like giants, vast,
timeless. Taught the younger races, explored beyond the rim, created great
empires, but to all things, there is an end. Solely, over a million years,
First Ones went away. Some passed beyond the stars never to return. Some
simply disappeared."
Delenn, In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
"The blood is already on my hands. Right or wrong, .. I must follow the path
.. to its end."
Londo, Knives
"Don't look away, Captain. All life is transitory, a dream. We all come
together in the same place, at the end of time. If I don't see you again
here, I will see you, in a little while, in a place where no shadows fall."
Delenn, Confessions and Lamentations
"I have been nothing but compassionate and understanding. I mean, all you
had to do was to admit you were wrong and I was right and everything
would've been fine."
Ivanova to Talia Winters, Divided Loyalties
"Mass drivers! They have been outlawed by every civilized planet!"
"These are uncivilized times."
"We have treaties."
"Ink on a page."
Londo and Refa, The Long, Twilight Struggle
"No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by the force of
arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for
freedom. Against that power governments, and tyrants, and armies can not
stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them
again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free."
G'Kar, The Long, Twilight Struggle
"Mr. Garibaldi. I have been on this station long enough to know that you
don't ask leading questions unless you already know the answers. So, why
don't we just pretend I've lied about it, you've caught me in your web of
insufferable logic and cut to the point."
G'Kar to Garibaldi, Comes the Inquisitor
"I apologize. I'm .. sorry. I'm sorry we had to defend ourselves against an
unwarranted attack. I'm sorry that your crew was stupid enough to fire on a
station filled with a quarter million civilians, including your own people.
And I'm sorry I waited as long as I did before I blew them all straight to
hell. .. As with everything else, it's the thought that counts."
Sheridan, The Fall of Night
"The Babylon project was our last, best hope for peace. .. It failed. .. But
in the year of the Shadow war it became something greater: our last, best
hope .. for victory. The year is 2260, the place: Babylon 5."
Ivanova, Season 3 Opening monologue in Matters of Honor
"I'm not authorized for that kind of information."
"But you are the head of security."
"Then what kind of head of security would I be if I let people like me know
things that I'm not supposed to know? I know what I know because I have to
know it. And if I don't have to know it, I don't tell me, and I don't let
anyone else tell me either. Now look, we have tried most of the other
ambassadors, why don't you speak to G'Kar, maybe he knows something about
this ship."
Garibaldi and David Endawi, Matters of Honor
"God goes by many names, perhaps some alien sounding, different faces, and
history, but all describing the same Creator. We've come here to learn all
those names, in hopes of better understanding the One who's behind them."
Brother Theo to Ivanova, Convictions
"There, you see! I'm going to live."
"So it would seem. Well, it's an imperfect universe."
"Bastard."
"Monster."
"Fanatic."
"Murderer."
"You are insane!"
"And that is why we'll win."
"Go be the ambassador to Babylon 5 they say. Will be an *easy* assignment.
Ah, I hate my life."
"So do I."
"Shut up!"
Londo and G'Kar, Convictions
"So is that what it's about, pride? It's not enough that we have beaten
them, we have to break them?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, I thought you understood that. I don't want our people to
go through this again in another hundred years. There's a way things are
done, Vir, nothing personal."
Vir and Londo, A Day in the Strife
"I want to protect you."
"I don't want to be protected!"
"Well, I'm afraid it's not your decision. It's already done. You've been
promoted. You'll earn more money, receive more attention, women may even
come to find you attractive .. in time."
Londo and Vir, A Day in the Strife
"We are the universe, trying to understand itself."
Delenn, Passing Through Gethsemane
"Good luck, Captain. I think you are about to go where everyone has gone
before."
Ivanova, Voices of Authority
"With our basic freedom in stake, no response can be too extreme. There
maybe some minor and *temporary* abridgments in the traditionally protected
areas, such as speech and association, but only until this crisis is over."
Julie Musante, Voices of Authority
"I will not support murder. We can not kill him."
"Can we wound him? Just a little?"
Franklin and Ivanova, Dust to Dust
"Decorative, and soft. Probably out to impose their views on everyone
else."
"But their cities are thousands of years old."
"The lack of new construction is a sure sign of a faltering economy.
This could make them very aggressive."
"They are deeply spiritual people, Londo."
"That you can leave in. It always scares people."
Vir and Londo, Dust to Dust
"What is there left for Narn if all of creation falls around us? There's
nothing. No hope, no dream, no future, no life. Unless we turn from the
cycle of death toward something greater. If we are a dying people, then let
us die with honor, by helping the others as no-one else can."
"I can't understand."
"Because you have let them distract you. Blind you with hate. You cannot see
the battle for what it is. We are fighting to save one another, we must
realize we are not alone. We rise and fall together. And some of us must be
sacrificed if all are to be saved. Because, if we fail in this, then none of
us will be saved. And the Narn will be only a memory."
Narn Image and G'Kar, Dust to Dust
"Hi! Something I can help you with?"
"I don't know, I was thinking .. flowers."
"Thinking flowers is good, giving flowers is better. What's the occasion?"
"I'm not sure, but I think I have a date."
"She asked you out?"
"She asked me in, her place."
"Works fast. Is she agressive?"
"You could say that."
"Hah. Lucky guy."
"It's not like that. Well, it's not like that yet. .. I think."
Flower salesman and David Corwin, Exogenesis
"And according to one of our units on the border of Centauri space, they've
continued massing their fleet. We don't know why. Maybe they expect a
counter attack, it's hard to say. And they have much to be concerned about.
There's always the threat of an attack by say, a giant space dragon, the
kind that leaves the sun every thirty days. It's a nuisance, but what would
you expect from reptiles. Did I mention that my nose was on fire? That I
have fifteen wild badgers living in my trousers? I'm sorry, would you prefer
ferrets?"
Marcus to Ivanova, Messages from Earth
"I thought the purpose of filing these reports was to provide accurate
intelligence."
"Vir, intelligence has nothing to do with politics."
Vir and Londo, Point of No Return
"I believe that I have been touched. That I am meant for something greater.
A greater darkness or a greater good, I can no longer say. All I have ever
wanted is to serve our people. I need to see what is before me. If I should
escape it, or embrace it. If there is any longer a choice."
"There is always choice. We say there is no choice only to comfort ourselves
with the decision we have already made. If you understand that, there's
hope. If not .."
Londo and Lady Morella, Point of No Return
"You must understand, Ta'Lon, I have had a revelation."
"What kind of revelation ?"
"Most profound and substantial one, Ta'Lon. The kind of revelation that
transforms your mind, .. your soul, .. your heart, .. even your flesh. So
that you are a new creature. We born in the instant of understanding."
G'Kar and Ta'Lon, Point of No Return
"You have a chance few others will ever have, Mollari. You still have three
opportunities to avoid the fire that waits for you at the end of your
journey. You've already wasted two others. You must save the eye that does
not see. You must not kill the one who is already dead. And at the last, you
must surrender yourself to your greatest fear, knowing that it will destroy
you. Now, if you fail all the others, that is your final chance for
redemption."
"I .. don't understand."
"The future reveals itself only reluctantly, Ambassador. Take the sign for
what it is. Look for it when it appears."
"I will, thank you."
Lady Morella and Londo, Point of No Return
"This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our
protection. Withdraw, .. or be destroyed."
"Negative. We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship."
"Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with Minbari
fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be
somewhere else."
Delenn and Captain Drake, Severed Dreams
"Only an idiot fights a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the throne of
the kingdom of idiot would fight a war on twelve fronts."
"We can handle it. Our resources are greater than you think."
Londo and Lord Refa, Ceremonies of Light and Dark
"Oh, Londo, you are a fool. You walk away from the greatest power I have
even seen, and now you expect me to do the same. They are the key to my
eventual rise to the throne. Why would I abandon them?"
"Because I have asked you. And because your loyalty to our people should be
greater than your ambition. And because I have poisoned your drink."
Lord Refa and Londo, Ceremonies of Light and Dark
"I'm already attending to my past, my present and what remains of my future.
I do not require your assistance. Or your approval. Enjoy your ceremony,
Delenn. I intend to have other plans."
Londo to Delenn, Ceremonies of Light and Dark
"Hello Delenn. Now, I was thinking, you couldn't come to the ceremony, the
ceremony should come to you. I've given up something that really mattered to
me, the uniform and everything that goes with it. I've never told anyone
before now.. When you were hurt, when you were in my arms, I was ready to
kill that guy with my bare hands. I realized I have never told you how much
I cared about you, how much you mean to me. I think it's time you knew that.
I can no longer imagine my world .. without you in it. I don't .. know
exactly when or how it happened, .. but I'm glad it did."
Sheridan to Delenn, Ceremonies of Light and Dark
"And how are things at the royal court?"
"You know, collusion, politicking, scheming, innuendo, gossip. The same old
thing."
Londo and Vir, Sic Transit Vir
"There were other women, but I never got past one."
"You mean first base."
"No, no, I mean one. You see, we have six a .. we have six, you see, and
each one is a different level of intimacy and pleasure. So, you know, first
you have one, and that's naa-naa. Then there's two .. and by the time you
get to five it's ..."
"All I can say is that enthusiasm, sincerity, genuine compassion, and humor
can carry you through any .. lack of .. prior experience with .. high
numerical value."
"Wow, I'm gonna remember that. Thank you, thank you."
Vir and Ivanova, Sic Transit Vir
"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I
thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible
things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I
take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe."
Marcus Cole, Ranger to Franklin, A Late Delivery from Avalon
"You know the real reason you don't like me, Commander ? It's the jealousy
of evolution. Normals like you are obsolete. The future belongs to telepaths
.. and I intend to make sure that future happens. One way or another."
"But we can't be on top if the aliens get there first and some of them have.
Through Clarke they infiltrated the Psi-Corp. And apparently they have their
own plans for my telepaths. Whoever these aliens are, they are interfering
with my plans for the future. I won't have it! And so, I need someone who
feels the same way I do. .. Which brings me to you. You'd like to hurt them,
Commander ? Because I think I know how. If you are up for it.
Bester to Ivanova, Ship of Tears
"'Some must be sacrificed for all to be saved.' First I took that as a
revelation for the future. Now I see that it is as much about how we got
here as about where we are going. I think that one sentence is the greatest
burden I have ever known."
"You are right, nothing would've been changed. Except that my people would
now be a dead race."
"You have come a long way, G'Kar. Further than I would've guessed.
Sheridan's promise binds me as well it does him. We will take you into the
Council, G'Kar. And someday, when all this is over, perhaps you will find it
in your heart to forgive me."
"Perhaps, but not today."
G'Kar and Delenn, Ship of Tears
"I've got it. I've got it. I've got it. It's right here. It's right here."
"Do not thump the book of G'Quon. It is disrespectful."
Garibaldi and G'Kar, Ship of Tears
"You can never go wrong with garters. .. Hmm, you might."
Vendor to Vir, Interludes and Examinations
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Hmm. Short of dying, no, can't think of a thing."
Morden and Vir, Interludes and Examinations
"It is not yet time."
"And who decides that time? You? You put me in this position, you asked me
to fight this damn war. Well, it's about time you let me fight it my way."
Kosh and Sheridan, Interludes and Examinations
"My associates need a voice and an ear in the Centauri royal court. If you
violate the terms of our agreement, my associates may turn their eye toward
your homeworld."
"Then, we shall pluck it out."
"If you put yourself between us and our objectives, you may come to regret
it."
"There is nothing you can do to me, Mr. Morden, ...that has not already been
done. Good day."
Morden and Londo, Interludes and Examinations
"There you are. Being very honored to meet you. I'm being called.."
"Zathras. We've met before on Babylon 4."
"No. .. Zathras does not.."
"It was my past, your future. Zathras, this is very important. When you meet
me again, it will be me, but it won't be me now. So, you are not say
anything that may change the past. Do you understand?"
"Zathras understand. .. No. Zathras not understand, but Zathras do. Zathras
good at doings, not understandings. Zathras honored to meet you for many
reasons."
Zathras and Sinclair, War Without End, Part I
"Yes, yes, Zathras is used to being beast of burden to other people's needs.
Very sad life. Probably have very sad death, but at least there is symmetry.
Go, go, Zathras take care."
Zathras, War Without End, Part I
"My life is almost over. My world, all I hoped for, gone. You two are my
last chance, for this place, for my people, for my own redemption. There is
a ship, hidden behind the palace, my guard will take you there. In exchange
for your lives, all I ask is that you and your allies help to free my
people. I can do nothing more for them."
Londo to Sheridan and Delenn, War Without End, Part II
"No-one ever listens to Zathras. Quite mad, they say. It is good that
Zathras does not mind. He's even grown to like it. Oh yes."
Zathras, War Without End, Part II
"What guarantees will you give me that the crews will not open fire on a
Centauri vessel as it approaches Babylon 5 ?"
"It's the same guarantee I gave when I said that none of the other Narns
would break into your quarters in the middle of the night and slit your
throat."
"Mr. Garibaldi, you have never given me that promise."
"You're right. Sleep tight."
Londo and Garibaldi, Walkabout
"Of course he doesn't! It's easy to fight when you've got a lot of ships to
work with. The real crunch comes when you are down to almost nothing. Then
you either play it safe and you probably lose it all or you take a chance.
After everything we've been through with your people, Sheridan was crazy to
send our pilots out to fight for your ship. They didn't want to go, they
didn't want to get blown out of the sky and leave B5 defenseless, and they
sure as hell didn't want to die. But they did it because Sheridan *told*
them to do it, and because it was right."
"This time it is possible he could be wrong."
"Yeah, it's possible. But you don't follow an order because you know for
sure it's gonna work out. You do what you are told, because your CO has the
moral authority that says you may not come back. But the cause is just, and
fair, and necessary. That's why Sheridan is out there, and dammit, that's
where the cruiser should be too! It's not Na'kal's decision, G'Kar, he
doesn't see the big picture. You do, so in my book, and your book, that
makes it your responsibility. Deal with it!"
Garibaldi and G'Kar, Walkabout
"Thin air? Why is it always thin air? Never fat air, chubby air,
mostly-fit-could-stand-lose-a-few-pounds air?"
Garibaldi, Grey 17 is Missing
"I am a Ranger. We walk in the dark places no others will enter. We stand on
the bridge and no-one may pass. We live for the One, we die for the One."
Marcus to Neroon, Grey 17 is Missing
"Denn Shar, you said. To the death. And death there was. The death was mine.
To see a human invoke the name of Valen, be willing to die for one of my
kind when I was intent upon killing one of my own, the rightness of my cause
disappeared. Strange, that a human in his last moments should be more of a
Minbari than I. Perhaps it is true what Delenn said. That we are not of the
same blood, but we are of the same heart."
"The next time .. the next time .. you want a revelation .. could you
possibly find a way .. that isn't .. quite so .. uncomfortable?"
Neroon and Marcus, Grey 17 is Missing
"Londo, they could've killed me." "Nonsense, you are not important enough to
kill."
Vir and Londo, And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
"'May gods stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must
walk.'"
Ivanova speaking for Sheridan, Shadow Dancing
"Hey, come on Chief, it's not your fault. I heard what happened. You offered
to help, he walked away."
"Yeah, I know, but the thing is: sometimes people walk away because they
want to be alone, and sometimes they walk away because they want to see if
you care enough to follow them into hell. I think I went the wrong way."
Zack and Garibaldi, Shadow Dancing
"The Vorlons are like your parents, I suppose. They want you to play nice,
clean your room, do it by the rules. I guess you could call them Lords of
Order."
"The others, the ones who live here, believe that strength only comes from
conflict. They want to release our potential, not bottle it up."
"It's really simple. You bring two sides together. They fight. A lot of them
die, but those who survive are stronger, smarter and better.
Justin and Anna Sheridan, Z'ha'dum
"It was the end of the Earth year 2260, and the war had paused, suddenly and
unexpectedly. All around us, it was as if the universe were holding its
breath, waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition
or moments .. of revelation. This had the feeling of both."
"G'Quon wrote: There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the
darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against
powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the
death of flesh is the death of hope. The death of dreams. Against this peril
we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting in moments of
ctransition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of
that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always paved
in pain."
G'Kar, Season 3 ending in Z'ha'dum"
"It was the year of fire, the year of destruction, the year we took back
what was ours. It was the year of rebirth, the year of great sadness, the
year of pain, and the year of joy. It was a new age. It was the end of
history. It was the year everything changed. The year is 2261; the place:
Babylon 5."
Babylon 5 Main Cast, Season 4 Opening in The Hour of the Wolf
"Minister, I have met Cartagia three times before, twice when he was an
infant. He drooled most of the time, I wonder if he's continued the habit,
and again when he was 15 trying to peek up the dresses of some young women.
I promise you, I will be just as impressed by him now as I was then, yes?"
Londo and Minister, The Hour of the Wolf
"Ah, Mollari. It's wonderful to see you again."
"And you, Majesty. I could swear you have not changed since the last few
times I saw you."
"Oh, you are of course too generous."
Emperor Cartagia and Londo, The Hour of the Wolf
"Our thoughts form the universe, they always matter."
G'Kar, The Hour of the Wolf
"What are a few million lives compared to the glory of becoming a living
god?"
Emperor Cartagia, The Hour of the Wolf
"Is there something wrong?"
"Something: no. Everything: yes. Conspiracies require more than one person.
And there's no-one here I trust. Come quickly, Vir, we have much to do."
Vir and Londo, The Hour of the Wolf
"Words have meaning and names have power."
Lorien, Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
"I was doing fine until you showed up with that .. thing in hand."
"It's a Minbari fighting pike, several hundred years old. You are just
jealous because you don't have one. Bad case of pikal envy, if you ask me."
G'Kar and Marcus, Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
"You didn't ask the price .. for my co-operation."
"You are not exactly in a position to bargain, G'Kar."
"Neither are you. You want my help .. for the sake of your people. I will
give it .. for the sake of my own. If I remove the monster from your throne,
you will remove the monster .. from my world. Leave Narn, set my world free.
Promise me this, and I will do as you ask."
"You have my word."
G'Kar and Londo, Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
"Captain, we're sorry. We thought you were dead."
"I was. I'm better now."
Drazi spokesman and Sheridan, The Summoning
"You heard?"
"I heard."
"They need to believe."
"Not in me."
"You can't save them all."
"I'll try."
"You'll fail."
"We'll see."
Lorien and Sheridan, Falling Toward Apotheosis
"He was gravely wounded at Z'ha'dum. He was dying. He was dead. I did all I
could to help him, but I can not create life, only the universe can do that.
I can extend, enhance, there is no magic, nothing spiritual about it, only
the application of energies, healing and rebuilding cells."
Lorien, Falling Toward Apotheosis
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me-
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads - you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil.
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Sheridan, The Long Night
The poem is the final stanza of Ulysses by Alfred Tennyson. Sheridan
only quotes part of it.
"I can not tell you that your pain will ever go away. I can not tell you
that you'll ever forget his face. I can only tell you that it was necessary.
You may have helped to save our people. You did a hard thing. But you still
have your heart, and your heart is a good one. You would not be in such
great pain otherwise. That means there is still hope for you. And for that..
I find that I still envy you."
Londo to Vir, The Long Night
"You misunderstand me, Prime Minister. I was merely being specific. In my
experience, if you can not say what you mean, you can never mean what you
say. The details are everything."
Drano to Londo, Into the Fire
"Maybe the doc's right. Embrace the moment. In the end, that's all we have.
Trouble will come in its own time, it always does. But that's tomorrow. Give
me today, and I will be happy."
Sheridan, Epiphanies
"I have seen what power does, and I have seen what power costs. The one is
never equal to the other."
G'Kar, Epiphanies
"Tired? Of course not, don't be absurd. The Emperor himself said I would
only be allowed to leave over his dead body. I said: Well, how strange, Mr.
Allen said I would only be allowed back on to Babylon 5 over his dead body.
With my very busy schedule I can only accomodate so many requests. I know
it's a burden, but you will simply have to wait your turn."
Londo to Zack Allen, Epiphanies
"I'm delirious with joy. It proves that if you confront the universe with
good intentions in your heart, it will reflect that and reward your intent.
Usually. It just doesn't always do it in the way you expect."
G'Kar, Epiphanies
"I want you to know that I object to this, Captain. Ms. Alexander has no
business being here. She's a blip. By all right I should arrest her and take
back with me."
"You could do that. And I could nail your head to the table, set fire to it,
and feed your charred remains to the Pak'ma'ra. But it's an imperfect world
and we never get exactly what we want. So get used to it."
"Captain, this is pointless. She is a P-5. If I were really going to try
something, she's not powerful enough to block me anyway. You're just
embarrassing yourself, and her. Haven't we learned by now to trust each
other."
"No. Now, sit."
Alfred Bester and Sheridan, Epiphanies
"Commander! Did you threaten to grab hold of this man by the collar and
throw him out an airlock?"
"Yes I did."
"I'm shocked. Shocked and dismayed. I'd remind you that we are short on
supplies here. We can't afford to take perfectly good clothing and throw it
out into space. Always take the jacket off first, I've told you that before.
Sorry, she meant to say: Stripped naked and thrown out an airlock. I
apologize for any confusion this may have caused."
Sheridan and Ivanova, The Illusion of Truth
"To celebrate this latest victory against the tyranny of a fanatical few who
have endangered the lives of our citizens, Clarke proclaimed today a
planetary holiday. Curfew has been extended two full hours until 9 PM Earth
standard time, so go out and enjoy."
ISN broadcast by Alison Higgins, The Illusion of Truth
"Raise your eyes and look at me."
"It's disrespectful."
"I can not have an aide who will not look up. You will be forever walking
into things."
Dukhat and Delenn, Atonement
I also have a set of my favorite quotes of all time and some other secondary
quotations which you might enjoy. You might also want to look at lists of My
Favorites or read more quotations at loQtus. For a set of humorous quotes
look at the Fortunes page.
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