Harold Finch quotes from Person of Interest

Not everything that's broken is meant to be fixed.

Young Finch

If they don't want you to see inside, they ought to built it better.

Harold Finch

I urge you to consider what Mr. Reese would do.

Sameen Shaw

Brood?

Sameen Shaw

Would you really want someone to call 911 and get me?

Harold Finch

Point taken.

Is that him?

Harold Finch

I wanted to offer you the one thing that 911 operators never get: closure.

Harold Finch

Dare I hope you packed something other than weaponry?

John Reese

There’s some trip wire to booby trap the room door and a toothbrush.

Harold Finch

Oral hygiene is something, I suppose.

Peter Collier

You expect us to believe you gave one thought About people's rights as you were building The government a weapon of mass surveillance?

Harold Finch

Not a weapon.

Peter Collier

What else would you call it?

Harold Finch

I would call it the best I could do.

Harold Finch

What are we gonna do with this?

Root

I don't know yet, but I am truly enjoying this new side of you, Harold. It's very unexpected.

Harold Finch

The world must seem very dark to you.

Root

Even without her, I can still see the edges of the tapestry. The world is dark for everyone...but, Harold, things are gonna get much darker.

Root

We understand the machine. We can understand Samaritan.

Harold Finch

We don't understand the machine at all. Out of 43 versions, how many do you think there were that didn't try to either trick or kill me? One, and I could only bring it to heel by crippling it. I put the machine in chains, bereft of voice or memory. Now it has both, and it terrifies me.

Root

You don't trust the god you made?

Harold Finch

It's not a divinity. I programmed it to pursue objectives within a certain parameter, but it's grown out of my control. One day, to suit its own goals, it's possible that the machine will try to kill us. We are only numbers to it, code.

Root

No, the machine cares about us.

Harold Finch

If it fools you into thinking that you're special, that assumption may doom you.

Root

You're wrong. She chose me. I will protect her, and you.

Harold Finch

The second that a bullet enters your brain, the machine will cast you off and replace you. Don't tie your life to its whims. We cannot understand these intelligences. The best we can hope for is to survive them.

Root

She loves us, Harold. She taught me to value life, but war requires sacrifice. I'm not lost. I'm scared. We're losing. But I know where I am and where I'm headed.

Harold Finch

We have more to look forward to than death.

Root

I hope so. But the life I've led, a good end would be a privilege.

Harold Finch

It's not where you begin, it's where you end up. You're a brilliant woman, comrade and a friend.

Root

If the worst comes to pass, if you could give Shaw a message -

Harold Finch

I think she already knows.

John Reese

Coolly delivered sadistic warning.

Lionel Fusco

Self-deprecating inquiry into time necessary to infiltrate system.

Root

Funny yet insightful retort.

Harold Finch

Mildly agitated declaration of mission completion. Channel exhortation to further action.

Root

Overly affectionate greeting.

Sameen Shaw

Greeting.

Root

Transparent rationale for conversation.

Sameen Shaw

Annoyed attempt to deflect subtext.

Root

Overt come on.

Sameen Shaw

Mildly embarrassed defensiveness bordering on hostility.

Root

Playfully witty sign off.

Control

I admit to not seeing your angle here, Harold. Why spin this tale?

Harold Finch

A shootout beneath the beating heart of the American economy and you don't know anything about it? You're in the dark. And you're being kept there for a reason. How long until your employers decide to kill you?

Control

Oh, I see now. You're trying to turn me against my employers. Against my country. You expect much success with that, Harold? So desperate to find Shaw, you're willing to say anything to me.

Harold Finch

You foolish woman. You don't understand. You're not in control of anything. You're just a cleanup crew. You're the janitor.

Sierra. Tango. Oscar. Papa. Sierra. Tango. Oscar. Papa.

Harold

"Stop."

Sierra. Tango. Oscar—

Harold

The Machine is asking us to stop looking for her. Perhaps the Machine does know. Perhaps it has a plan. But for our own survival, our sanity, I believe we must reconcile ourselves with never knowing the truth. Otherwise, our pursuit of it will consume us entirely.

Root

Good-bye, Harold.

Harold Finch

No, I can't think of anything that would prejudice me in this case. I mean, except for the larger issues with our government.

Issues?

Harold Finch

Well, one can't really call it government of the people by the people anymore, can one? Because we're all being watched by an intelligent supercomputer that's slowly but surely taking over the world.

You can return to your seat in the gallery, Mr. Whistler.

Harold Finch

That's Professor Whistler, actually.

Harold Finch

I thought we agreed not to involve any more innocent people in our work.

John Reese

Well, Zoe's not exactly what I'd call innocent. Besides, she insisted.

Harold Finch

And saying no to Ms. Morgan was never your strong suit, was it?

Finch

How goes the moonlighting, Mr. Reese? Uncover any hidden threats?

Reese

Do empty carbohydrates count?