I ain't one for lookin' back. Eyes ahead.
All S1
S1 E15Unfinished Business
I've always loathed the necessity of sleep. Like death, it puts even the most powerful of men on their backs.
PWPresident Walker
Nobody walks away from something like this without bruises.
Well, bruises you can survive. I just don't know how we can avoid it at this point.
Are you unsatisfied?
There's just too much at stake now. No one we can trust. We don't have the freedom we once did.
Maybe it's better this way. No room for distractions. I don't mind the sacrifice.
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.
From the lion's den to a pack of wolves. When you're fresh meat, kill and throw them something fresher.
Mrs. Underwood was brave enough to go on national television and admit that--
And where has she been since? Deflecting scandal and hiding from the press. You called me disgraceful in The New York Times, Megan, and you have every right. But I also have the right to say that Mrs. Underwood is disgraceful, because nothing is more disgraceful than running from a battle.
There were political realities we couldn't ignore.
Do you ever wonder why so many people hate Washington? It's because of people like you using phrases like that.
[of Claire] I don't know whether to be proud or terrified. Perhaps both.
Exile. I've managed to isolate the president from everyone, including myself.
Well, Miss Dunbar, in 67 years on this planet I have never once been issued a subpoena. I can now cross it off my bucket list.
[Frank has just asked Jackie to help him get Walker impeached]
Mr. Vice President, what you are asking is just shy of treason.
Just shy, which is politics.
[To Frank] When they put you in that box barely bigger than a coffin remember how beautiful the music was tonight. It might give you some small degree of comfort.
I've done what I have to do. Now you do what you have to do. Seduce him, give him your heart. Cut it out and put it in his fucking hands!
[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.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's House of Cards pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.