Jim Gordon quotes from Gotham

Harvey Bullock

Jim! Hey, Jim! Where are you goin'? We've got monsters to find.

Jim Gordon

And you'll find 'em. You got this, I know you do. And I have more important things to do. And Harvey?

Harvey Bullock

Yeah?

Jim Gordon

You're the boss now. Maybe, get a haircut?

Harvey Bullock

How many escapees you brought in now? Hmm? Six? Five grand a pop? That's not too bad. What happens when there aren't any more?

Jim Gordon

I don't think Gotham's running out of monsters anytime soon.

Valerie Vale

I have a proposition...

Jim Gordon

Not interested.

Valerie Vale

Oh c'mon. Think of it as a way to say "I'm sorry for handcuffing you to a car door."

Jim Gordon

Except I'm not.

Valerie Vale

So, this is where you live. Anyone considering a career in bounty hunting should see this, preferably wearing a Haz-Mat suit. You don't bring women here, do you?

Barbara Kean

Jim. I had a dream about you the other night. You were in this horrible accident, and you lost both of your legs, and then I had to push you around in a giant baby carriage.

Good seeing you, Barbara.

[whle stitching up Gordon's head] Lee speaks very highly of you. I'm Mario, Lee's fiance.

Jim Gordon

That's nice of her.

Jim, I don't know where your head's at with all this, but I want you to know that I love her very much. I'll take good care of her.

Jim Gordon

Good to know.

So we're okay?

Jim Gordon

Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't we be? Lee and I are old news. Water under the bridge. You won't get any problem from me. I wish you both nothing but the best.

Thank you. All done.

Jim Gordon

[smiling] But, uh, if you ever were to hurt her, I'd have to hunt you down and kill you.

Capt. Nathaniel Barnes

Look, you've caught some bad breaks. Blackgate, Lee... I don't know what happened when you went to see her, but I can take a pretty good guess. But at some point, you're going to have to make peace with the decisions you've made.

Jim Gordon

What if I can't?

Capt. Nathaniel Barnes

Take it from me, you don't want to wake up one day and realize that 20 years have gone by.

Jim Gordon

Guess you're gonna have to trust me.

Harvey Bullock

Remember to chisel that into my tombstone.

Jim Gordon

This is about your sister, isn't it? In your addled brain, you blame me for what happened to her.

Jervis Tetch

Don't you talk about her!

Jim Gordon

I got to know her, Jervis. She was a good person - that's why she hated you. Why she died trying to get away from you. You want revenge, kill yourself.

Valerie Vale

You don't have any whiskey, do you?

Jim Gordon

Sorry.

Valerie Vale

You get a girl shot and you don't even bring her booze. You got a lot of nerve.

Jim Gordon

When I was a kid, people used to say to me, "Your dad's a hero." All I knew is you went to court every morning, and you came home and played ball with me while mom made dinner. Then I got older, and I understand that you were a hero. Only for it wasn't just that you'd been a great DA, it was that you got up, day after day, faced down the worst the city had to offer, but you never brought that home to mom and me. You protected us. I wanted to be just like you. Turns out I'm the opposite. I destroy everything and everyone around me.

C'mon, Jimmy. I'm far from perfect. I got plenty of darkness inside me, I just don't dwell on it. Focus on the good you can do, that's what counts.

Jim Gordon

That's what I'm trying to do...

No, you're hiding behind self-righteous, lone wolf nonsense because you're afraid. Why is that?

Jim Gordon

The badge holds expectations. People want a hero, and I'm not.

You know what makes a hero, son? A man who values protecting others over protecting himself. A man who knows his limits, but isn't afraid to fail. A man who asks for help when he needs it. I wasn't always that man, but dammit, it didn't stop me from trying.

Harvey Bullock

There you are. We got a call. Warehouse district. You comin'?

Jim Gordon

That's it? No "welcome back"?

Harvey Bullock

Please. If we had a big to-do every time you came back to the GCPD, we'd never catch any bad guys.

Capt. Nathaniel Barnes

You know that feeling, Jim, when you've won the battle, but you know you're going to lose the war?

Jim Gordon

Wars are fought one battle at a time, sir.

You once told me that I ever hurt Lee, you'd kill me. Well, now it's my turn. I love Lee, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep her.

Jim Gordon

Well then, word of advice: Lose the jealousy. It's weak.

Gordon?

Jim Gordon

For Lee, I'll let you have that one.

Jim Gordon

[upon discovering that Barnes is a murderer] What happened to you? How did you become this?

Capt. Nathaniel Barnes

This is who I've always been. I just needed something too unlock it.

Jim Gordon

What are you talking about?

Capt. Nathaniel Barnes

You're just gonna say that I'm sick. Well, I'm not. I have never been so clear and so strong in my life.

Capt. Nathaniel Barnes

Day after day, criminals thumbing their nose at the law. Well, today, I draw a line in the sand. The only question is, where do you stand?

Jim Gordon

Against you.