Opening Narration quotes from The Fugitive

At dawn, he rises to labor through the sunlight hours. His hands, skilled enough for a surgeon's knife, are forced to cruder tasks, tasks no longer of his own choosing. Not even his name is his own.

A fugitive is like a long-distance runner, with a difference; a fugitive's distance is infinity. Infinity is a long, impossibly long, way away and there must be time for the hunted to rest, to gather strength to move once again.

For a fugitive to survive, he must rely entirely on his senses. Richard Kimble has survived because his senses have become exceptional. The world is his jungle and the tiger he stalks is a man with one arm. From Kimble's years in this jungle, he has learned to miss nothing and to react quickly, as one must in a jungle.

For the fugitive, the offer of help--some simple, decent act of kindness--must be rejected. There are no relationships of any duration for him. Life consists of fleeting contacts.

A traveling carny; here one day, there the next. A place for a man on the run. A place for Richard Kimble.

Any public disaster will attract a crowd of spectators, people secretly please, perhaps, that they aren't touched by the tragedy, that they may walk away from the dying and go on about their lives. But one man here today cannot remain so uninvolved, so insulated against another's pain. He is bound by an oath taken many years ago, an oath written by a man named Hippocrates. "I will follow that method of treatment which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients. Into whatever houses I enter, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick." These words, remembered from better days, return to haunt Richard Kimble.

The open sea is a perfect place for a fugitive, nothing but water and great horizons. But always, the land pulls you back and for Richard Kimble, the horizon is a small off-coast fishing island, now a strike-torn battleground. A dangerous place for a man on the run.

To Richard Kimble, the laws of society are threatening. For society has judged him guilty of breaking the law and ruled that he be punished unto death. But there are other societies with laws no less threatening, no less extreme, and punishing those who violate its code.

Richard Kimble, fugitive, like everyone else, has to stop long enough to work and eat and rest, even though every time he does any of these things, his own personal danger increases tenfold.

A temporary job in the peaceful meadows of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. Calling himself Russell Jordan, Richard Kimble has had a rare chance to relax, catch his breath, at least for a few days.

For some, a highway is just a road to travel for business or pleasure. For Richard Kimble, it is sometimes the only means to freedom. But at the moment, just minutes ahead of the law, it can be a one-way street leading to sudden death.

A stranger in a small town, a hunt for safety: the fate of a fugitive on the move. But for Richard Kimble, they can be no safety--only danger.

For men who go down to the sea in ships, time ashore is precious, measured in minutes. For this man, it is measured in apprehension and danger. His name is Richard Kimble. He is a fugitive.

Along an isolated stretch of farmland in Nebraska, a construction company builds the sleek asphalt ribbon of a new superhighway. Workers are need. Richard Kimble takes his place in line with other nameless faces, seeking a job that will give him a new beginning, a new identity. But a superhighway, even one that is yet unfinished, can prove a dangerous road--for a fugitive.

Between birth and death, a man travels many roads and learns to predict what lies around the next bend. But for a fugitive, there are no road maps--only blind instinct, sharpened by the knowledge that every step may be his last.