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DATAGIRL7'S COLLECTED B5 QUOTES PART 1 (The Gathering through Geometry of Shadows)
Collected Quotations from Babylon 5
If you have any others you'd like me to add to this list, if I've gotten a name wrong or missed something else, please just drop me an email. datagirl7@oocities.com
Great thanks to J. Michael Straczynski, the Great Maker of Babylon 5, who wrote these quotations.
"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
"I'd rather have my tonsils taken out through my ears."
Garibaldi to reporter, Infection
"Don't. You're too young to experience that much pain."
Ivanova to reporter approaching Sinclair, 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
"Ah, he has become one with his inner self."
"He's passed out."
"That too."
Vir and Garibaldi referring to Londo, Parliament of Dreams
"I don't mean to alarm you, but your pants are talking to you."
Katherine to Sinclair, Parliament of Dreams
"I cannot have an aid that will not look up. You will be forever walking into things."
Delenn to Lennier, Parliament of Dreams
"And let me say from the bottom of my heart, hot pink is definitely your color."
Garibaldi to G'Kar, 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 to Katherine, Mind War
"That's a lie."
"Yes, it is. What's your point?"
Psi-Cop Alfred Bester and Sinclair, Mind War
"Anatomically impossible, Mr. Garibaldi, but you are welcome to try. . . anytime. . .anywhere."
Bester, Mind War
"What do you do in your spare time, juggle babies over fire pits? Oops, there goes another calculated risk."
Ivanova to Psi Cop, 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
"And I warn you, Ambassador. Any disruption of Babylon 5 will be dealt with even if I have to throw the entire Narn population into the brig."
Sinclair to G'Kar, The War Prayer
"You're a vicious man."
"I'm Head of Security. It's in the job description."
Ivanova and Garibaldi, The War Prayer
"These are my three wives: pestilence, famine and death. Do you think I married them for their personalities? Arranged marriages every one, but they worked out, they inspired me. Knowing that they were waiting at home for me is what keeps me here 75 light years away."
Londo to Vir, 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
"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
"You know, it occurs to me, we haven't spent much time together you and I. I hardly know anything about you."
"From birth, I was raised in the temple and studied the ways of the religious case.; Six moths ago I came here. There is nothing else."
Londo and Lennier, The Quality of Mercy
"Right now, I want to introduce you to the ultimate means of interstellar understanding, the Earthers call it poker."
Londo to Lennier, The Quality of Mercy
"When we were at the gaming table somehow a part of you reached out for the cards."
"Yes, Yes."
"What was that?"
(Whispers) "Yes it's true. Yes. Here, Li, goddess of passion, a synthesis of male and female Centauri, did you think these were just decorations?"
"I am going to take a vow of silence concerning this entire conversation."
Londo and Lennier, 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
"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, our last best hope for Earth.'"
Sheridan, Points of Departure
"It is now 8 days since the death of Earth Alliance President Louis Santiago and 5 days since Commander Sinclair was recalled to Earth without explanation. And the whole place has gone straight to hell."
Ivanova, Points of Departure
"And as far as I'm concerned the transports can wait until the sun explodes, and if you are not happy with the seating arrangements I will personally order your seats to be moved outside, down the hall, across the station and into the fusion reactor. Am I absolutely perfectly clear on this?"
Ivanova, Points of Departure.
"Chief of security is in critical condition in med lab. He thinks there is a conspiracy regarding the Presidents death. And G'Kar has mysteriously vanished. After 2 years we still don't know what Ambassador Kosh looks like inside his encounter suit. And Delenn is in a cocoon."
"A cocoon as in a moth or a butterfly?"
"Yes sir, about yeah high."
"Interesting place you have here."
"Yes sir."
Ivanova and Sheridan, Points of Departure
"I can only conclude that I'm paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate."
Ivanova, Points of Departure
"If you are going to kill me, then do so. Otherwise I have considerable work to do."
Lennier to Kalain, Points of Departure
"The war has already begun, Captain. All that remains now is honor and death."
"And I thought I was a pessimist."
Deran to Sheridan and Ivanova, Points of Departure
"I learned a while ago, that there's enough guilt in the world to go around without grabbing for more. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt."
Ivanova to Sheridan, Points of Departure
"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 possibilities: a new race, or an old race. A very old race."
G'Kar to Na'Toth, Revelations
"To see even one of them is a rare thing. To see more than one at a time is considered a very bad omen, Three, this is definitely not good."
Londo to Vir, regarding the Technomages, The Geometry of Shadows
"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
"On the other hand, maybe I'll just sit here."
"Vir, do you believe in fate?"
"Well, actually, I believe there are currents in the Universe, eddies and tides that pull us one way or the other. Some we have to fight, some we have to embrace. Unfortunately the currents that we have to fight look exactly like the currents we have to embraces. The currents that we think are ones that are going to make us stronger they're the ones that are going to destroy us. And the ones that we think are going to destroy us, they're the ones that make us stronger. Now the other current..."
"Vir. Yes or no?"
"Yes, you know, somewhat."
Vir and Londo, The Geometry of Shadows
"The universe doesn't give you any points for doing things that are easy."
Sheridan to Garibaldi, The Geometry of Shadows
"We put green and purple in great barrel equal to numbers of Drazi. Then we reach in, we take, where there was one Drazi people, now there are two. The two fight until there are one."
"That's it? Its' totally random? arbitrary? Well, then how do you chose the leader for either side."
"One purple and one green carries mark of leadership. He who takes leader cloth is leader. He who takes green is green and follows green leader. He who takes purple is purple and follows purple leader."
"OK, so in other words...Would you two please step forward for a minute, please. OK, so what you're trying to tell me is that if I take this purple sash off of him and put in onto him, that this one thing alone is enough to...:"
Ivanova and Drazi, leading to fight, 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
"No, I'll just get used to it. If it gets too bad I'll just gnaw it off at the ankle."
Ivanova to Dr. Franklin, The Geometry of Shadows
"Tell the Drazi we'll meet in chambers and we'll try this again...as soon as I can figure out how to stand up."
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
"Then he said 'don't come here again'"
"That's unacceptable, you have to go back."
"It won't work, they're not for sale."
"No, And how do you know?"
"It's just something in the way he looks at you. something in his voice. Londo, they're going away. Money doesn't matter to them. Power doesn't matter to them."
"Money and Power always matter."
"Not to them. I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to get between them and where they're going."
Vir and Londo, 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
"That is why we are going away, to preserve that knowledge."
"From what?"
"There is a storm coming. A black and terrible storm. We would not have our knowledge lost, or used to ill purpose. From this place we'll launch ourselves into the stars. With luck you'll never see our kind again in your lifetime. I know you have your orders, Captain. Detain us if you wish but I cannot tell you where we are going. I can only ask you, trust us."
"Hmm, orange blossom."
Elric and Sheridan, The Geometry of Shadows
"Green must fight purple, purple must fight green. Is no other way."
"Just my luck, I get stuck with a race that speaks only in macros."
Green Drazi and Ivanova, The Geometry of Shadows
"So, in other words, you're perfect for the job because you're paranoid and compulsive."
"Or Compulsive and paranoid."
"Who told you to say that?"
Sheridan, Dr. Franklin and Garibaldi, 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. Oh, I believe it was a endorsement you wanted, a word or two, a picture, to send to the folks back home confirming that you have a destiny to perform.
It was just a thought, nothing more"
"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
"What was it he said? Dreamers, shapers, singers, makers. Part of me says we'll not see their like again and the part of me that still believe in the magic says don't be so sure."
Sheridan, The Geometry of Shadows.
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