TV show quotes
You changed everything we wrote.
There was no imagination to it, no rhythm.
We've been writing their speeches since we took office. We know what we're doing.
Do you want it to be good, or do you want it to be yours?
Do you know what separates politicians from the rest of the species? A politician is the one who would drown a litter of kittens for 10 minutes of prime time.
Oh, I always wear protection when I'm getting my dick sucked by the Democrats.
[after Conway takes a call in the bathroom] A fog of war. A backroom within a backroom. Whatever is being plotted in there, I can tell you it's no good for me. It's times like these that I wish I was Nixon - he had every nook and cranny bugged.
[Frank and Durant have a confrontation in the Oval Office about her plan to upstage Frank at the convention]
You know, when I was waiting for my transplant, I had the most vivid hallucinations. You wouldn't believe it. Do you know who I saw? Peter Russo and Zoe Barnes, right here in this room. Zoe was trying to seduce me right here on this couch, and Peter, he shoved my face up against this glass. Cigarettes, razor blades, sex, it was terrifying. All I wanted to do was to get out of this room that I worked so hard to get in. But of course it makes sense that they would have haunted me, because it's all true.
What is?
Everything Lucas Goodwin claimed. I killed them both, just like he said I did.
[Durant is visibly disturbed]
But of course nobody believes it, and nobody ever will. Because that's how good we are at making things disappear.
[Frank raises a letter opener and makes threatening advances towards Durant, then suddenly walks away laughing.]
No, we didn't kill anybody. But we would have. If it was necessary. So you're right, the time for negotiations is over. You will hand over your delegates and you will serve on in my cabinet, and we will forget that any of this ever happened. Because if you don't, I swear to God... I will never... ever... forget. Do you understand now?
...Yes.
[Frank approaches Durant again and points the letter opener at her again before nonchalantly dropping it on his desk. His tone completely changes.]
Good. Now let's go decide what we're going to do about these terrorists.
The ayes have it! Our party's ticket for the 2016 presidential election will be Francis and Claire Underwood!
Are you interested in my input on this, or has it already been decided?
Cathy, I want to move fast. Unless you have a quicker option, it's probably best you keep it to yourself.
Yes, sir. [starts to leave]
Cathy. [she stops] Do we have a problem?
No, sir. I'll coordinate with Doug. [leaves]
[to audience] After a dog's bitten you, you either put it to sleep, or you put a muzzle on it. I've chosen a muzzle... for now.
You know what you should do before you go? You should come up here one night and cook us a rack of ribs. I realize oven cooked isn't nearly as good as the smoker, but I bet you'd make 'em delicious anyhow.
Ribs... really. You want me to cook ribs for you?
Well, sure! Just like old times. What's wrong with that?
I'm just the help, ain't I?
That's not true.
I tell you I got something good goin', and your first thought ain't "Freddy, congratulations", it's "make me ribs". What's my big send-off? I get to cook you ribs!
No, look, you are being way oversensitive about this. You're misinterpreting what I meant.
You're right. It's all my fault. I don't know how Claire does it.
What did you just say?
Is this how you treat her? Is she part of the collection too?
I don't where all this is coming from, but it's extremely ungrateful, given all that I have done for you.
What did you do for me, Frank?
This is the White House! You will call me Mr. President!
You're a motherfucker!
Get out!
My bad, my bad. You're a motherfucker, Mr. President!
Security. I have concerns.
I've got everything masked. The algorithms for ICO and the campaign are identical. It's just a question of variables you input.
Give me English.
One spoon. I can use it to stir my coffee, to eat soup, to boil heroin. All they see is the spoon, not what I do with it.
Or we could just get rid of the spoon.
Shut it down? That would be a shame, especially after yesterday.
What happened yesterday.
Beyond happened.
Beyond?
What your wife said in South Dakota. Beyond what's pretty and perfect. Liberation from convention, from the past. Beyond surface, beyond bullshit, beyond the election.
Beyond marriage.
Yes, exactly. You're not just husband and wife. You're not just running mates. You're both, and more. You're what's possible. The Conways are everything that everyone wants to be. You're everything everyone wants to become.
Do you regret it, not having children? Oh, I'm sorry. That's too personal.
Do you ever regret having them?
The moment bigotry becomes a form of patriotism, America is no longer America.
I feel sorry for you. Two years. That's all you're going to get in here. You're not going to last any longer than Walker did. And what kills you is that I'll make a great president, the kind of president who'll actually be remembered. And isn't that worse than dying, Frank? Being forgotten?
You actually think you'd make a great president.
Today was just a taste.
Ninety-nine percent of this job is in the dark. You had your little moment in the sun today, but what are you going to do when you have to make a thousand little decisions that no one will ever hear about or appreciate? I think you're excellent at running for president, but I don't think you're equipped to actually be one.
Don't be condescending. I'm the Governor of New York.
Ooh, Albany, really? You're a pretender, Will. And if you win, you'll go from pretender to fraud.
Do you trust your instincts, Tom?
I always have.
Then look me in the eye. I've told you the truth.
What you said, is it on the record now?
Do you believe me?
Not for a second.
Then no, not a word.
We can't fight everything off one by one, Francis. But if we make this - we make it work for us.
Create chaos...
More than chaos.
War...
Fear.
Fear. Brutal. Total.
I'm done trying to win over people's hearts.
Let's attack their hearts.
We can work with fear.
Yes, we can.
My fellow Americans. Over the past two years, certainly within the last several days and hours, I have asked myself what does it mean to be president. What does true leadership look like? It's a question many of you have asked yourselves as November approaches. Right now, as I sit in this chair in this office – where so many of my predecessors have steered our nation through turbulent times – I realize that this job is one that transcends politics and rhetoric. Entrusted to anyone who sits behind this desk is something far more elemental: the very survival of our nation. And I, as your president, must confront the storm before us. That storm is terror, more dangerous and unpredictable than any hurricane. It has endangered us abroad. It has endangered us at home. And right now, it has placed James Miller in the gravest of dangers. We attempted to communicate with his captors. We hoped for a peaceful solution. We're relieved that Caroline and Melissa Miller are safe and sound. But terror is blind to reason. Given the opportunity to renounce terror, Yousef Al Ahmadi chose to encourage it. So unfortunately, we must now move beyond reason. We must respond with force. Because there is no scenario in which we will release him. He will remain in United States custody until his dying breath. If the captors call again, we will not answer. The time for conversation is over, no matter the consequences. Regardless of whether James Miller is released or not, rescued or not, killed or not, ICO will be destroyed. We are at war. It will be a war more total than anything we have waged thus far in the fight against extremism. Soldiers will die. Civilians may die. There will be pain. There will be suffering. We will be confronted with the most horrific aspects of humanity. We will confront the inhuman – evil itself – but we will triumph. It is not a war we will lose. And if the worst happens to James Miller, we must remember to mourn is not to fear, to grieve is not to admit defeat. God bless America, and all of those who believe in freedom and democracy.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's House of Cards pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
