Yesterday was the DVD release of the Dark Knight Rises, in which it concluded an epic journey of Bruce Wayne. (AKA Batman) These powerful movies, like all Nolan movies, showed wide variety of symbolism and demonstrated many morale dilemmas that the average person is forced to deal with.
Thus, I give you my favorite quotes. Powerful, meaningful, and sometimes a punch to the gut, the writing was simply inspiring and motivating to its viewers.
1. "They told me there was nothing out there, nothing to fear. But the night my parents were murdered I caught a glimpse of something. I’ve looked for it ever since. I went around the world, searched in all the shadows. And there is something out there in the darkness, something terrifying, something that will not stop until it gets revenge. Me." Bruce Wayne (Batman Begins)
This quotes summarizes the whole trilogy and the dilemma Bruce Wayne faces as a person and as the Batman. So many times in our lives, we have to live with a monster or demon that we carry and cannot get rid of. I related to this quote not only as a fan of Batman, but as a human being. Simply, we all have issues that we must make peace with and never loose ourselves to those issues.
2. "Sometimes the truth isn't good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.." Batman (The Dark Knight)
I remember sitting in the theater, hearing this line, and feeling a ton of mixed emotions. This epiphany that sometimes the truth will not always be what we want to hear. Often times you see the media reporting about issues and revealing truths that sometimes are better kept in the dark. This line describes the good people of Gotham, and in life, describes the people that do the right thing and believe in something more.
3. Batman: "Watch for my sign."
Gordon: "You're just one man?"
Batman: "Now we're two."
(Batman Begins)
(Batman Begins)
Many I believe missed the meaning of this and really didn't see its value. When I first heard it, it really hit home. Not only that one man can change the outcome of anything, but he can become something that a corrupt city needs and that's hope. When Gordon responds with pessimism, it was because he was a good cop distorted by how evil had consumed the city. Batman's response reassures him that we will grow and become hope for the ones longing for peace and justice.
4. "Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." Alfred (The Dark Knight)
When referring to the Joker, Alfred's famous line is something that hit home to me. Often times you meet people that are just rotten to the core. No matter what you say or do, they will always choose to do wrong. As a person, you either see these types of people, or you slowly start to become like these people. You cannot understand them as people either, because of your conscience. Something The Joker didn't have, nor needed to terrorize the city of Gotham.
5. "Don't talk like one of them. You're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."-The Joker (The Dark Knight)
6. "It's not just your name, sir! It's your father's name! And it's all that's left of him. Don't destroy it" Alfred (The Dark Knight)
7. "Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!" Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
8. Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can pick
9. "Home, where I learned the truth about despair, as will you. There's a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earth... Hope. Every man who has ventured here over the centuries has looked up to the light and imagined climbing to freedom. So easy... So simple... And like shipwrecked men turning to sea water from uncontrollable thirst, many have died trying. I learned here that there can be no true despair without hope. So, as I terrorize Gotham, I will feed its people hope to poison their souls. I will let them believe they can survive so that you can watch them clamoring over each other to "stay in the sun." You can watch me torture an entire city and when you have truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny... We will destroy Gotham and then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die." - Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
10. "But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved one is just... poison in your veins. And one day, you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed so you'd be spared your pain." Ra's al Ghul (Batman Begins)
4. "Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." Alfred (The Dark Knight)
When referring to the Joker, Alfred's famous line is something that hit home to me. Often times you meet people that are just rotten to the core. No matter what you say or do, they will always choose to do wrong. As a person, you either see these types of people, or you slowly start to become like these people. You cannot understand them as people either, because of your conscience. Something The Joker didn't have, nor needed to terrorize the city of Gotham.
5. "Don't talk like one of them. You're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."-The Joker (The Dark Knight)
6. "It's not just your name, sir! It's your father's name! And it's all that's left of him. Don't destroy it" Alfred (The Dark Knight)
7. "Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!" Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
8. Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can pick
9. "Home, where I learned the truth about despair, as will you. There's a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earth... Hope. Every man who has ventured here over the centuries has looked up to the light and imagined climbing to freedom. So easy... So simple... And like shipwrecked men turning to sea water from uncontrollable thirst, many have died trying. I learned here that there can be no true despair without hope. So, as I terrorize Gotham, I will feed its people hope to poison their souls. I will let them believe they can survive so that you can watch them clamoring over each other to "stay in the sun." You can watch me torture an entire city and when you have truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny... We will destroy Gotham and then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die." - Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
10. "But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved one is just... poison in your veins. And one day, you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed so you'd be spared your pain." Ra's al Ghul (Batman Begins)
11. Ra's al Ghul: "Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share"
Bruce Wayne: " That's why it's so important. It separates us from them."
12. "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."
13. "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."
14. "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. Unbiased, unprejudiced... fair. His son's got the same chance she had. Fifty-fifty." Two Face
15. "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain"
16. "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. Feel its power to distort.. to control. And know that this power can be yours. Embrace your worst fears. Become one with the darkness."
17. "People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy, and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I’m flesh and blood. I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol as a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting."
18. It's not who I am underneath, but what I *do* that defines me.
19. The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.
20. "A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended." Batman
13. "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."
14. "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. Unbiased, unprejudiced... fair. His son's got the same chance she had. Fifty-fifty." Two Face
15. "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain"
16. "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. Feel its power to distort.. to control. And know that this power can be yours. Embrace your worst fears. Become one with the darkness."
17. "People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy, and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I’m flesh and blood. I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol as a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting."
18. It's not who I am underneath, but what I *do* that defines me.
19. The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.
20. "A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended." Batman
