The Fugitive quotes

Richard Kimble

Your grandson was given back to you. Not many people get a second chance.

(hesitantly with a hint of guilt at hating his own grandchild) It can't be God's will, not with doctors and medicine.

Richard Kimble

How do you know I wasn't sent here? Or why did I come to this house, why did I come to this town? Do you know?

Richard Kimble, both the hunted and the hunter. The truth that will free him is somewhere ahead. He will find it.

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.

And so Richard Kimble, fugitive, is back in the jungle again, where as always, he must be the prey of others. Until the day, once more, he can become the hunter.

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 hunted man can clutch at a single straw. That one day, the hunters will lay down their guns, but for Richard Kimble, that day has not yet come.

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

For some men, the world has provided little room. No place for them to live as other men. But for Richard Kimble, there is such a place, and to find it, he must now continue his lonely search.

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.

What is it with you?

Richard Kimble

What do you mean?

Don't you think I know? This room costs, and you signed for it. What is Maggie Tibbett to you?

Richard Kimble

He wasn't running from you, Maggie, he was running from me.

(clearly surprised) Freddie? A guy like you mixed up with him?

Richard Kimble

How long have you known him?

A couple of months.

Richard Kimble

Do you know where I can find him?

Why?

Richard Kimble

I've got to talk to him.

It doesn't sound to me like you want to talk.

Richard Kimble

Well that's up to him.

I owe you. I know. They told me you saved my life.

Richard Kimble

I'm a doctor.

But I owe Freddie, too. Somehow you scare me about him. What's this all about?

Richard Kimble

A long time ago something happened.

Trouble?

Richard Kimble

Yes, trouble. And he's the only one who can clear it up.

Fred Johnson

Doctor? What doctor? What does he look like?

Tall. Dark. Sort of quiet.

Fred Johnson

That's Kimble all right. Now listen.

(after Johnson tells her) Honey, there's got to be another way, I can't call the cops on him. (after Johnson objects) Why not? He saved my life!

Fred Johnson

You wanna see me again, or you wanna see me in jail? (after she agrees) Okay, then, do like a tell you.

I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity. Even under threat, I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity. I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honor. And for Richard Kimble, fugitive, they still apply.

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.

Another horizon, another haven to look for. The constant search of a fugitive.

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.