Elliot Stabler quotes from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

The Internet has opened up a whole world of possibilities.

Stabler

Easy access. No more trees to climb, no binoculars to lug around. You can look into a little girl's bedroom with just a click of a mouse.

You see?

Benson

See what?

You see why the children love me? He's so cold, so angry. The kids from the bad homes, the neglected ones, the abused... when they leave the social worker's office with their anatomically correct dolls, when they leave the police station, they're in tears.

Benson

What's your point, Wallace?

When they leave me, they're all smiles.

Daddy, why does Christmas only come once a year?

Stabler

Because Santa Claus' credit cards are all maxed out.

Benson

I bet I know what you're thinking.

Stabler

Bet you don't.

Benson

Even the best parents can't protect their children.

Stabler

Gutter at home. Part of it is broken. I need to fix it.

Benson

Well, you can't do everything.

Stabler

You'd feel everything for them if you could. All the pain.

Benson

Sometimes I just look at the kids and I think, "Why? Why do it at all?"

Stabler

Because you want to more than anything in the world. 'Cause you want to love them every day.

You hate me.

Stabler

I don't hate you. I look at you and I try to see that little child being abused. But now...

You see an abuser.

Stabler

Yeah, yeah I do. I see a guy who, if he ever got near my child...

How long does a case like this stay with you?

Stabler

A while.

What do you do to turn it off?

Stabler

Go home, kiss my wife, hug my kids.

Do you share these cases with your family?

Stabler

No. I don't let that world touch my family.

That world is everywhere. You can't put them on 24-hour surveillance.

Stabler

True, but I don't have to be their tour guide.

You have to work with a lot of cases involving children. How do you handle it?

Stabler

[pause] Have you ever seen an 8-year-old with no soul? I have.

And what do you do when you see that?

Stabler

I think... I think a lot. About the crime, about the victim, about people who do those sorts of things.

And what do you think about?

Stabler

How I could get away with killing them.

How long have you been on the force?

Stabler

14 years.

In all those years, how many murders have actually made sense?

Stabler

None. But ... some I understood.

But this one ... you let get under your skin. Why?

Stabler

This one my daughter saw.

Benson

[after Stabler's talk with Dr. Skoda] Hey. How'd it go?

Stabler

I talked too much. Again.

Stabler

You're protecting your win-loss ratio.

Elliot.

It's okay, Captain. Detective Stabler's judgment is clouded by the stress of the Morris Commission's review and the fact that Michael did what he fantasizes about: kill a perpetrator.

It's not my fantasy and I stand with Detective Stabler on this.

Stabler

[to his daughter] What are you doing up?

I couldn't sleep.

Stabler

What's the matter? You got nightmares?

You have to sleep to have nightmares.

Stabler

Right. What was I thinking? You want something to drink?

No. Dad. What that boy Michael did to that man...

Stabler

That man was supposed to take care of Michael. And instead he molested him. He abused him physically, he betrayed his trust and I think Michael...just had enough.

So what happens now?

Stabler

He's probably gonna go to prison. All he's gotta do is tell the truth. What is it with you kids?

It's hard to talk to adults.

Stabler

Why?

You're always judging us. You expect us to be like you and get mad if we're not. It's just easier to talk to our friends.

Stabler

What if you don't have any friends?

Everybody's got friends.

Kathy

Well?

Stabler

The Morris Commission cleared me.

Stabler

Wilding's back in vogue.

Benson

I hate that word: "wilding." Like it's some kind of party.

[about Cleary] We couldn't keep him. Not our fault.

Stabler

Wanna tell the victim that?

[to Stabler] As one hungry man to another, is there anything better than gorging on fresh meat?

Stabler

You won't be eating out anymore.

Stabler

This whole case is like a jigsaw puzzle.

Well, let's look at the pieces we've got. One suspect eliminated, one cooperating, and one hiding behind his lawyer.

Fin

Picture's gettin' clearer.

What ever happened to just hanging out on the jungle gym?

Stabler

Went the way of your 8-track tape.