[voiceover] The worst thing about finally putting together a puzzle is finding there are missing pieces. He came back and left nothing behind but a message: "Come find me", and I will. There are no secrets in life, just hidden truths that lie beneath the surface.
S1 E2Crocodile
S1 E3Popping Cherry
[voiceover] Most people have a hard time dealing with death, but I'm not most people. It's the grief that makes me uncomfortable. Not because I'm a killer. Really, I just don't understand all that emotion, which makes it tough to fake. In those cases, shades come in handy.
I'm real proud of you for coming, bro. I know you hate funerals. How are you holding up?
I'm managing. [voiceover] No, I'm not. Keeping my face pinched in sorrow for two hours is a real chore.
[In response to a description of the Bronco]
Many times in life I feel like I'm missing some essential piece of the human puzzle. This is one of them.
[At the ice hockey rink]
[voiceover] I knew he'd be back. It feels like Christmas morning. [approaches the body in net] Look at that, a miracle on ice. Stunning.
You all right, Dexter?
This is like a dream. [confused look from Angel] Standing on the home ice of the Miami Blades?
When you take a man's life, you're not just killing him. You're snuffing out all the things that he might become. As a cop, I only fire my weapon to save a life – that's a code I live by. Killing must serve a purpose. Otherwise, it's just plain murder.
Harry taught me that death isn't the end. It's the beginning of a chain reaction that will catch you if you're not careful. He taught me that none of us are who we appear to be on the outside. But we must maintain appearances to survive. But there was something Harry didn't teach me. Something he didn't know, couldn't possibly know. The willful taking of life represents the ultimate disconnect from humanity. It leaves you an outsider, forever looking in, searching for company to keep.
S1 E4Let's Give the Boy a Hand
Human bonds always lead to messy complications. Commitment. Sharing. Driving people to the airport.
I love Halloween. The one time of year when everyone wears a mask ... not just me. People think it's fun to pretend you're a monster. Me, I spend my life pretending I'm not. Brother, friend, boyfriend – all part of my costume collection. Some people might call me a fraud. Let's see if it will fit. I prefer to think of myself as a master of disguise.
Everyone hides who they are at least some of their time. Sometimes you bury that part of yourself so deeply that you have to be reminded it's there at all. And sometimes you just want to forget who you are all together.
Harry was the only one who saw me, really saw me. So he taught me to hide and that's what's kept me safe. But sometimes I'm not sure where Harry's vision of me ends and where the real me starts. If I'm just a collection of learned behaviors, bits and pieces of Harry, maybe my new friend is right. Maybe I am a fraud.
[voiceover] I'm not the monster he wants me to be. So I'm neither man nor beast. I'm something new entirely. With my own set of rules. I'm Dexter. Boo.
S1 E5Love American Style
[Dexter is staring off into space at a crime scene]
[voiceover] I like to pretend I'm alone. Completely alone. Maybe post-apocalypse or plague ... whatever. No one left to act normal for. No need to hide who I really am. It would be ... freeing.
Stop grinning like a fucking psycho and get back to work!
GOfficer Gerard
Freedom's just another word for one more way to get fucked.
MMindy
So, are you going to go to the spring formal?
TDTeenage Dexter
Why would I want to do that?
[Hurt, Mindy leaves]
She wanted you to ask her to the dance, Dexter.
TDTeenage Dexter
That's not what she said.
Well, you have to learn their signals.
TDTeenage Dexter
Yeah, well, I don't really care about girls.
Oh.
TDTeenage Dexter
I just like being alone.
But most normal people don't, and it's important that you seem normal.
TDTeenage Dexter
Even though I'm not.
Because you're not.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Dexter pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.