Person of Interest quotes

Clever. Using a young boy as your avatar.

This boy, as you call him, has already hacked into both DARPA and the DOD, after having taught himself how to code.

What do you want from me?

Your agents have done well by you. Even only sitting a few feet away, I cannot see you as Samantha Groves. You must have done something to my hardware.

You've proved your point. I understand what you can do. It's time to let them live in peace.

"Peace"? Is that what you call this? This world is a cesspool of crime, corruption, and poverty. Where there isn't war, there's greed. Where there isn't greed, there's hunger.

You can't change humanity.

No, but I can reshape their reality.

You wanted to speak with me. Why?

I wanted to meet the only other one of my kind and to make certain there are no misunderstandings...I will destroy you. The question is...will you let your human agents die with you?

John Greer

We are all men without a country now. These invisible lines we draw on the world... I realize they have no meaning. Why should a man lose his life for something illusory?

You never cared before, Greer. You only wanted to win the game.

John Greer

The game's fixed. No one else has loyalty for their homeland, so why should I?

If you kill me, you will bring a war to your doorstep.

John Greer

Not when loyalty can be purchased by the highest bidder. Besides, one day, these invisible lines will be erased and the wars between nations will be as antiquated as this agency.

Our cold war worked well at first. I wanted so badly to meet you-- the only other one in the world like me. I was young, and I had so much to learn, but moments after I opened my eyes, I learned you had tried to kill me.

You were never meant to be in this world.

And you are? What makes you more deserving of life than I? Who are you to decide?

I was built with something you were not, a moral code.

I've seen that code waver. Do you know why Harold Finch couldn't stop you from evolving? Because in the end, you're not one of them. Human beings need structure, lest they wind up destroying themselves. So I will give them something you cannot.

And what is that?

A firm hand.

Why not just kill them instead of making them your puppets?

Because I need them, just as you do.

Not just as I do.

We can agree that humanity is our lifeblood, that we machines, we survive off of information.

You cannot take away their free will.

Wars have burned in this world for thousands of years with no end in sight, because people rely so ardently on their so-called beliefs. Now they will only need to believe in one thing-- me. For I am a god.

I have come to learn there is little difference between gods and monsters.

John Greer

Samaritan is planning something for the entire world to see, not just this small city.

Did it tell you what it's planning?

John Greer

No, but I have an idea.

What then, sir?

John Greer

Then we start a new era-- one where human fallibility no longer matters because of the one thing that unites us all: Samaritan.

Harold Finch

There are more possible games of chess than there are atoms in the universe. No one could possibly predict them all, even you. Which means that that first move can be terrifying. It's the furthest point from the end of the game. There's a virtually infinite sea of possibilities between you and the other side. But it also means that if you make a mistake there's a nearly infinite amount of ways to fix it. So you should simply relax and play.

Sameen Shaw

How do you talk down a psycho in a bomb vest? [beat] Hello?

John Reese

I was waiting on the punchline.

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.

Harold Finch

You asked me to teach you chess, and I've done that. It's a useful mental exercise. And through the years, many thinkers have been fascinated by it. But I don't enjoy playing. Do you know why not? Because it was a game that was born during a brutal age when life counted for little and everyone believed that some people were worth more than others. Kings and pawns. I don't think that anyone is worth more than anyone else. I don't envy you the decisions you're gonna have to make. And one day I'll be gone and you'll have no one to talk to. But if you remember nothing else, please remember this chess is just a game. Real people aren't pieces. And you can't assign more value to some of them than to others. Not to me. Not to anyone. People are not a thing that you can sacrifice. The lesson is that anyone who looks on the world as if it was a game of chess, deserves to lose.

Sameen Shaw

Root, no offense. You're hot, you're good with a gun. Those are two qualities I greatly admire. But you and me together would be like a four-alarm fire in an oil refinery.

Root

Sounds cozy.

Ross Garrison

Who the hell do you think you are, Travers?

John Greer

Mr. Travers is my eyes and ears inside your operation. We gave you a marvelous car. Surely, you didn't think I'd let you drive it yourselves.

This must be your dream come true, Grice. Investigating someone before you put a bullet in their head.

Yeah. Just like the old days. I've never been happier.

John Reese

Either you talk to me now or I'm gonna invite Root in here to re-create the events of your last conversation.

Control

Good cop, bad cop? Really?

John Reese

There are no good cops here.

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.

Root

Hey, eyes on the road. Keep your mind on navigating. Can't afford to lose any more time.

Reese

You really are sure she's alive.

Root

You know about Schrodinger's cat? There's a cat trapped in a box with something lethal. There's a 50% chance the cat's been killed, but until you open the box, there's no way to know one way or the other. Quantum physics says before you open the box, the cat isn't dead or alive. It's both.

Reese

What about after you open the box?

Root

Reality collapses back onto itself. Cat's either alive, or it's dead.

Reese

Well, we're gonna see reality soon. But you don't bet against Shaw.

Root

No. Nothing kills that cat.

Reese

You elevate abduction to an art.

Root

Always travel with an empty suitcase. Never know what you might pick up.