Frank Underwood quotes from House of Cards

Frank Underwood

The only thing more satisfying than convincing someone to do what I want is failing to persuade them on purpose. It's like a do not enter sign. It just begs you to walk in the door.

Frank Underwood

From the lion's den to a pack of wolves. When you're fresh meat, kill and throw them something fresher.

Frank Underwood

[of Claire] I don't know whether to be proud or terrified. Perhaps both.

Frank Underwood

Exile. I've managed to isolate the president from everyone, including myself.

Frank Underwood

[in a letter to Walker] Dear Mr. President, I'm writing you on an Underwood portable my father gave me when I left for the Sentinel. It was the words my father said when he gave it to me that resonated even more than this 70-year-old machine. "This Underwood built an empire," he said. "Now you go and build one of your own." Those words have been a large part of what has motivated my life. I've only written one other letter with these keys. It did not fail me then. I hope it will not fail me now. You said I wanted to diminish you. The truth is I don't. You said I wanted to challenge you in 2016. The truth is I don't. You said I wanted the presidency for myself. The truth is... I do. What politician hasn't dreamed about what it would be like to take the oath of the highest office of our land? I've stared at your desk in the Oval and coveted it. The power. The prestige. Those things have a strong pull on someone like me, who came from a small South Carolina town with nothing. But since you assumed office, my only aim has been to fight, for you and alongside you. Whether that be in Congress, or as now, the battle over impeachment. Maybe one day I'll have my chance to serve as President. But not while you are the nation's leader. And in you, sir, I see a brave man. A just man. A president whom I would follow anywhere, no matter how strong the wind blows against us... I want to tell you something I have never told anyone. When I was 13, I walked in on my father in the barn. There was a shotgun in his mouth. He waved me over. "Come here, Francis," he said. "Pull the trigger for me." Because he didn't have the courage to do it himself. I said, "No, pop," and walked out, knowing he would never find that courage. The next 7 years were hell for my father, but even more hell for my mother and me. He made all of us miserable; drinking, despair, violence... My only regret in life is that I didn't pull that trigger. He would've been better off in the grave, and we would have been better off without him. I'm not going to put you in the same position as my father put me in. You will find enclosed, on a separate sheet, a confession to the crimes you have been accused of. They're false words, but my signature will make them true. Use them, if you must. If you truly believe that I have only served myself, then I have forever lost your trust. All I can do now is give you my freedom to save your own. I said I would take the fall for you. And now I give you the means to make that happen. I am pulling the trigger myself. We all must make sacrifices to achieve our dreams. But sometimes we must sacrifice ourselves for the greater good. It is my honor to make such a sacrifice now. Your loyal friend, still in my heart, if not in yours, Francis.

Frank Underwood

[at his father's grave] Hey, pop. Been awhile. Did you see that motorcade pull up? It's the first time that the President of the United States has visited Gaffney. Can you believe it? [to audience] Oh, I wouldn't be here if I had a choice, but I have to do these sorts of things now. Makes me seem more human, and you have to be a little human when you're the president. He couldn't even afford his own gravestone. I paid for it, out of my own scholarship money from the Sentinel. Nobody showed up at his funeral, except me. Not even my mother. I'll tell you this, though, pop: When they bury me, it won't be in my backyard, and when they come to pay their respects, they'll have to wait in line.

Frank Underwood

There's nothing like a death in the family to separate the wheat from the bullshit.

Frank Underwood

[about Dunbar] She sees me as the bank robber who made it to the county line, but she's smart enough to leave her badge at the door.

Frank Underwood

I've always said that power is more important than money. But when it comes to elections, money gives power... well, a run for its money.

Frank Underwood

Good evening. For too long, we in Washington have been lying to you. We say we're here to serve you when in fact, we're serving ourselves. And why? We are driven by our own desire to get re-elected. Our need to stay in power eclipses our duty to govern. That ends tonight. Tonight, I give you the truth. And the truth is this: the American Dream has failed you. Work hard, play by the rules? You aren't guaranteed success. Your children will not have a better life than you did. Ten million of you can't even get a job, even though you desperately want one. We've been crippled by Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, by welfare, by entitlements... and that is the root of the problem: entitlements. Let me be clear: You are entitled to nothing. You are entitled to nothing. America was built on the spirit of industry. You build your future, it isn't handed to you. And the problem with Washington is that we haven't given you the tools to build it. The only way for us to serve you is to give you the means to serve yourselves. That's exactly what I intend to do. Not handouts - jobs. Real paying jobs. In the next few weeks, the Democratic leadership will introduce a bill called America Works. Its goal is simple: to put the ten million Americans who are unemployed to work. All of them. If you want a job, you get one. The cost is $500 billion. Now, that's a lot of money. To pay for it, we'll have to rethink Social Security, health care, and benefits from the ground up. We can't maintain the welfare state as we know it. Now, that's not a popular thing to say. Anyone running for office wouldn't dare utter those words. Every adviser and consultant and staff member would beg a presidential candidate not to say them. But I can say them... because I will not be seeking the Democratic nomination in 2016. Candidates are cautious. They must equivocate. They dodge and tip-toe. But I'd rather leave this office having accomplished something of value than secure another four years having done nothing at all. Franklin Delano Roosevelt ushered in an era of hope and progress when he proposed the New Deal, and at the time his reforms were considered radical. But he once said, 'This country demands bold, persistent experimentation.' It is common sense to take a method and try it and if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. Roosevelt would have understood better than anyone the necessity for trying something different. The New Deal succeeded for many years, but we must now try something newer before it fails us. If America Works succeeds, we will reinvent the American Dream. If we fail in our attempt, we will admit it frankly and try another. But above all, we must try something. Thank you, and God bless the United States of America.

Frank Underwood

You can't turn a no to a yes without a maybe in between.

Frank Underwood

No writer worth his salt can resist a good story, just as no politician can resist making promises he can't keep.

Frank Underwood

I never tried to swim to Fort Sumter. Thomas probably knows that I made it up, but he wrote about it anyway because he understands the greater truth: Imagination is its own form of courage.

Frank Underwood

Sometimes I think the presidency is the illusion of choice.

Frank Underwood

[about Sharp] Such a shame how ruthless pragmatism gets weighed down by family values. Without that doctor and his pimply-faced brood, she could soar as high as this plane. Oh, I know - the marriage was my idea. Don't remind me.