Hannibal Lecter quotes from Hannibal

Hannibal Lecter

I was rooting for you, Will. It's a shame - you came all this way, and you didn't get to kill anybody. Your only consolation is Dr. Chilton. Congratulations for the job you did on him. I admired it enormously. What a cunning boy you are.

Hannibal Lecter

You died in my kitchen, Alana, when you chose to be brave. Every moment since is borrowed. Your wife, your child - they belong to me. You made a bargain for Will's life, and then I spun you gold.

Hannibal Lecter

I imagine what you see and learn touches everything else in your mind. Your values and decency are present yet shocked at your associations, appalled at your dreams. No forts in the bone arena of your skull for things you love.

Will Graham

Whose profile are you working on? [to Jack] Whose profile is he working on?

Hannibal Lecter

I'm sorry, Will. Observing is what we do. I can't shut mine off any more than you can shut yours off.

Will Graham

Please, don't psychoanalyze me. You won't like me when I'm psychoanalyzed.

Jack Crawford

Will...

Will Graham

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go give a lecture on psychoanalyzing.

Hannibal Lecter

I would apologize for my analytical ambush, but I know I will soon be apologizing again and you'll tire of that eventually, so I have to consider using apologies sparingly.

Will Graham

Just keep it professional.

Hannibal Lecter

Or we could socialize, like adults. God forbid we become friendly.

Will Graham

I don't find you that interesting.

Hannibal Lecter

You will.

Hannibal Lecter

(over the phone) Mr. Garret Jacob Hobbs?

Yeah. Who's this?

Hannibal Lecter

You don't know me and I suspect we will never meet. This is a courtesy call. Listen very carefully. (pause) Are you listening?

(anxious) Yes.

Hannibal Lecter

They know. (hangs up)

Will Graham

Jack thinks I need therapy.

Hannibal Lecter

What you need is a way out of dark places when Jack sends you there.

Will Graham

Last time he sent me to a dark place I brought something back.

Hannibal Lecter

It's not Hobbs' ghost that's haunting you, is it? It's the inevitability of there being a man so bad that killing him felt good.

Will Graham

Killing Hobbs felt just.

Hannibal Lecter

Which is why you're here, to prove that sprig of zest you feel is from saving Abigail, not killing her dad.

Will Graham

I didn't feel a 'sprig of zest' when I shot Eldon Stammets.

Hannibal Lecter

You didn't kill Eldon Stammets.

Will Graham

I thought about... I'm still not entirely sure that wasn't my intention, pulling the trigger.

Hannibal Lecter

Killing must feel good to God, too. He does it all the time, and are we not created in his image?

Will Graham

Depends on who you ask.

Hannibal Lecter

God's terrific. He dropped a church roof on 34 of his worshipers last Wednesday night in Texas, while they sang a hymn.

Will Graham

Did God feel good about that?

Hannibal Lecter

He felt powerful.

Hannibal Lecter

It's important to know when to turn the page. Have you thought about applying to schools?

Abigail Hobbs

My dad killed girls at all the schools I applied to.

Hannibal Lecter

[pause] Perhaps that can wait, then.

Hannibal Lecter

First and worst sign of sociopathic behavior, cruelty to animals.

Jack Crawford

That doesn't apply in the kitchen.

Hannibal Lecter

I have no taste for animal cruelty. That's why I employ an ethical butcher.

An ethical butcher, be kind to animals and eat them?

Hannibal Lecter

I'm afraid I insist on it, no need for unnecessary suffering. Human emotions are a gift from our animal ancestors. Cruelty is a gift humanity has given itself.

Jack Crawford

A gift that keeps on giving.

Will Graham

Jack hasn't abandoned me.

Hannibal Lecter

Not in discernible way. Perhaps the same way gods abandon their creations. You say he hasn't abandoned you, but at the same time wandering around Wolf Trap in the middle of the night.

Will Graham

Well this should be interesting. Please, doctor, proceed.

Hannibal Lecter

Jack gave you his word he would protect your head space, yet he leaves you to your mental devices.

Will Graham

Are you trying to alienate me from Jack Crawford?

Hannibal Lecter

You seem more betrayed by Jack than by your own body.

I don't feel betrayed by Jack, and there's no point at being mad at cancer for being cancer.

Hannibal Lecter

Sure there is.

Cancer isn't cruel. Tiny cell wanders off from liver, gets lost, finds its way into my lung, where it's just trying to do its job and grow a liver.

Hannibal Lecter

What it grows, and where it's growing it will likely kill you.

Not "likely". It will kill me.

Jack Crawford

You don't think I have a right to know what's happening with my wife?

Hannibal Lecter

You have every right to know what's happening, but not from me.

Jack Crawford

Well, I'm not just gonna stand outside my marriage and watch this happen. If that's what she wants, too bad! She married the wrong guy for that.

Hannibal Lecter

I'll offer one insight. She doesn't think she married the wrong guy.

Will Graham

Why'd you stop being a surgeon?

Hannibal Lecter

I killed someone. [beat] Or, more accurately, I couldn't save someone, but it felt like killing them.

Will Graham

You were an emergency room surgeon. It had to happen from time to time.

Hannibal Lecter

It happened one time too many. I transferred my passion for anatomy into the culinary arts. I fix minds instead of bodies, and no one's died as a result of my therapy.

Will Graham

I feel like I've dragged you into my world.

Hannibal Lecter

I got here on my own. But I appreciate the company.