Elizabeth McCord quotes from Madam Secretary

Henry

I've got good news and bad news. Um, and I'm gonna tell you the bad news first. So I don't want you to freak out, okay?

Elizabeth

That never helps.

Elizabeth

We used to have a regular Cranium night with them!

Henry

You used to make people cry at Cranium.

Elizabeth

Look, it's not my fault I can still spell backwards after two drinks.

Elizabeth

Chip Harding is no longer our sponsor.

Blake

Because of Bella Rossi?

Elizabeth

Because I refused to endorse Arctic drilling. And I may also have mentioned his company's long history of hiding data and denying climate change. And violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, so that probably did it.

Elizabeth

She just wanted their first time to be special and romantic, and I guess Jason went along with the plan, right down to Luther Vandross and chocolate covered strawberries

Henry

It's like they wanted to have sex in the 80s.

So, I wanted to ask you, uh, about the impact of the job on your family. [Elizabeth's phone buzzes]

Elizabeth

I am so sorry, I have to take this.

And there you pretty much have it. Pasta?

Elizabeth

[pointing at a pastry] To be clear, that's the last I wanna see of that today.

Blake

No purse muffin?!

Blake

You're still planning to fire me in six months?

Elizabeth

I fire because I love. Move up or move out, Blake.

Elizabeth

This whole ordeal has reminded me of the importance of civic duty. It's reaffirmed my faith in the process, you know?

Henry

I do.

Elizabeth

We got this enormous thing done, Henry, and I feel a responsibility to make sure it doesn't get undone. When the time comes...I want to run for president.

Henry

I know.

Henry

Okay, let's use the Socratic method.

Elizabeth

Oh, please, no.

Russell

Why the hell would we declassify any of it?

Elizabeth

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Russell

Yes, and it causes cancer, too.

I know you're the Dalton whisperer, but now you're getting into --

Elizabeth

Excuse me, what?

Oh, come on, Elizabeth. Everybody knows you play the friend card with him.

Elizabeth

Really? I'm just trying to decide if that's more insulting to me or POTUS.

Russell

You know I respect Henry, but he needs to be on the same page as you. Publicly.

Elizabeth

We still have a year.

Russell

Practice makes perfect. Unless you convince your family that they're in it too, you won't win. It's as simple as that.

Elizabeth

If you want to make things better for the next generation, get rid of this notion that we're supposed to be invisible and self-effacing.

Stevie

I don't want to be invisible. I just want to be worthy of the people who came before me.

Elizabeth

We know how this works -- once we respond, China escalates and so on until the both of us go over an economic cliff, probably taking the rest of the world with us.

Russell

A few months of being locked out the Chinese markets and many of our pork producers, soybean farmers, they could go under.

Elizabeth

You know the last Secretary of State to become President? James Buchanan. 150 years ago.

Henry

Well, even the Cubbies eventually won the World Series.