Michael Westen quotes from Burn Notice

Michael

[voice-over] As a spy, you get used to people having whispered conversations about you. It's a little like being in high school. But when people are whispering about you in algebra they're a lot less likely to try and kill you afterward.

Michael

[voice-over] People tend to think spies are motivated by love of the game, desire for adventure or patriotic fervor. The truth though, is that you don't choose a life as a covert operative unless something deeper is going on beneath the surface. Something more personal, something harder to explain and something a lot more painful.

Michael

[voice-over] For a spy, finding out you've been compromised, that someone has something on you, is the ultimate nightmare. The worst part for someone who has spent a career training for every situation is knowing that there is nothing you can do but grit your teeth and try to find out exactly how bad the nightmare is going to be.

Michael

[voice-over] For a spy, the worst thing that can happen is to become someone else's asset. You do anything you can to avoid it, making sure there's nothing people can grab onto and use as leverage. You move through life unattached, keeping the world at a distance. It's a hard way to live, but there's a cold logic to it. Love nothing, and nothing you love can be used against you. Once you violate that rule and make that connection with someone, you've handed your enemies the key to destroying you.

Michael

[voice-over] For a spy, loyalty is a strange thing. Your job is to deceive, to live among your enemies, to perform dark deeds for a noble purpose. And it's that purpose that guides you through the darkness. When you lose sight of that, the darkness is all there is.

Michael

Sometimes betrayal is as easy as pushing a button. The hard part is being able to live with yourself after you've done it.

Michael

[voice-over] There's nothing quite like searching the home of someone you care about for evidence they've betrayed you. It's something spies have to do regularly, even with the people they love the most. It's never easy searching for something as hard as you can and praying you find nothing at all.

Michael

[V.O.] My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy, until...

[Over the phone] We got a burn notice on you. You're blacklisted.

Michael

[V.O.] When you're burned, you've got nothing. No cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in.

Michael

Where am I?

Fiona

Miami.

Michael

[V.O.] You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who's still talking to you. A trigger-happy ex-girlfriend...

Fiona

Shall we shoot them?

Michael

[V.O.] An old friend who used to inform on you to the FBI...

Sam

You know spies. Bunch of bitchy little girls.

Michael

[V.O.] Family too...

Sam

Hey, is that your mom again?

Michael

[V.O.] ...if you're desperate.

Madeline Westen

Someone needs your help, Michael.

Michael

[V.O.] Bottom line is: as long as you're burned, you're not going anywhere.

Michael

[V.O.] My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy, until...

[Over the phone] We got a burn notice on you. You're blacklisted.

Michael

[V.O.] When you're burned, you've got nothing. No cash, no credit, no job history. You're stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in.

Michael

Where am I?

Fiona

Miami.

Michael

[V.O.] You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who's still talking to you. A trigger-happy girlfriend...

Fiona

Shall we shoot them?

Michael

[V.O.] An old friend who used to inform on you to the FBI...

Sam

You know spies. Bunch of bitchy little girls.

Michael

[V.O.] Family too...

Sam

Hey, is that your mom again?

Michael

[V.O.] ...if you're desperate...

Madeline

Someone needs your help, Michael.

Michael

[V.O.] ...And a down-and-out spy you met along the way.

Jesse Porter

That's how we do it, people!

Michael

[V.O.] Bottom line is: as long as you're burned, you're not going anywhere.

You're real Michael Westen, yes?

Michael

Yeah.

Back home, your story Russian Intelligence tells to scare. They say you're one name for many people. Special Operations team. They think one person cannot make so much problems.

Michael

Nope. Just me.

Madeline Westen

You know you missed your father's funeral... by eight years.

Michael

Well, last time I talked to him he said, "I'll see you in hell, boy," so I figured we had something on the books.

Sam

[re: Fiona] You sure this is a good idea, you hooking up with her again?

Michael

I'm not hooking up with her, okay? I'm not. I need her for tactical support.

Sam

[laughs] Is that what they're calling it these days? "Tactical support"?

Michael

Would you put some pants on?

Sam Axe

What? I work better when I can breathe down there!

Michael

Uh, listen, Fi, now's not the best time...

Sam

[entering] Oh, Jesus, Mike, you didn't tell me she was gonna be here.

Fiona

[rushing at Sam] You cost me a lot of money, you son of a bitch! I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time!

Sam

I cost you? Okay, for starters, what you're talking about never officially happened! Second, you deserved a lot worse than what you got, lady!

Michael

Sam...

Michael

[V.O.] There's a reason spies don't have a lot of parties. Everybody's got a history with everybody else.

Michael

Fiona, you were supposed to stop the car, not blow it into the Everglades! What happened to shorting the ignition?

Fiona

You said disable; it's not going anywhere.