What Are the Best Quotes from The Wire?
The Wire Quotes
- “It may sound crazy, but I’m the only one who can get this done. And if it’s crazy, then maybe it’s time we see things a little crazy.”
- “Anything is better than nothing.”
- “In order to be an American without guilt, you have to leave America.”
- “If the milk turns out to be sour, don’t blame the cow.”
- “I didn’t want any part of them killing each other in they’re own neighborhood. They did what they had to do.”
- “There is nothing ‘cut and dry’ about a puzzle. No one’s ever lasting success is ever the result of pure inspiration.”
- “And when you’re down and out, listen to the people who see you as human.”
- “I aim to misbehave.”
- “‘Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today,’ says Darkside Dennis, ‘It’s gonna end tomorrow. Meanwhile, I got me this here gun and some food in my backpack and I’m gonna go out and shoot me a cow.'”
- “I ain’t saying the boy was an idiot. But he might have been smart to be an idiot.”
- “It’s called the game because somebody’s going to lose.”
- “The only thing a man can give his son is his example.”
- “When a poor man keeps his mouth shut, he saves himself a hundred blows.”
- “I don’t want a man that I can trust to do what’s right, because he’s not gonna do it. I don’t want my men thinking they can trust me to do what’s right. Because I’m not gonna do it. And then, when the situation does come where they have to make a choice, we’re gonna lose all of our people.”
- “I have a problem with authority, but authority is necessary for survival. That’s the key.”
- “Just got here. Don’t know ’em, don’t care to.”
- “A man must have a code.”
- “Bottle and a shotgun keep me company…Been living that outlaw life ever since I was released from prison”
- “What the f—k did you just say?”
- “I’m all about an even break, yo.”
- “I believe that if you put a little love into the world, you get a little love back.”
- “A man must be what he is.”
- “We ain’t come to kill you, Prezbo…If we was gonna kill you, you’d already be dead. We came for Marlo.”
- “This is not a drug case, this is a war.”
- “A man can die but once. It’s better to die in a bed made with laughter then in one made with tears, and it’s better to die while you’re laughin’ than to never laugh at all.”
- “A man must be both a doctor and a father.”
- “The American dream is dead. You want somethin’? You come here, you take it.”
- “People ain’t good enough for each other if they can’t even be good enough for themselves.”
- “Don’t burn your bridges…you may be forced to cross them again.”
- “Never let your guard down. Death is always watching.”
- “Trust no man.”
- “Don’t ever take candy from a baby or drugs from a dealer. And if you do take ’em, don’t pay for ’em.”
- “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
- “Every day our lives get shorter. Every day our lives get shorter. Every goddamn day. But what do any of us do? Hide under a rock? Cry about it?”
- “My name is Jimmy McNulty, I’m a cop, and I’m an alcoholic.”
- “All the pieces matter.”
- “If you come at the king, you best not miss.”
- “They say that it’s better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable. But that’s not what they say in West Baltimore.”
- “Not my problem, my friend. Not my problem”
- “It’s not a lack of morals that got us into this situation, it’s a lack of money.”
- “When you’re done turning your life around, don’t come back here, and tell me it was too late.”
- “I do what I have to do…it ain’t nothing personal…my way of life is killing people…and sometimes I catch feelings…and sometimes I don’t. That’s how it is.”
- “I didn’t know that he was a snitch, a rat bastard, until I found out he was that way.”
- “I’m asking you all to look up to the man in front of you, not as an officer so much as a human being.”
- “You know what happens when you take them away from me? When I don’t have no one to run with? All I got left is myself.”
Omar The Wire Quotes
- Every time you go to the store, you see them. That woman who is walking from aisle to aisle with a cart filled with chips, cookies, and goodies.
- “In many ways I still amaze myself every day by the things people are capable of doing that affect other people’s lives so profoundly in all sorts of ways.” – Denise J. Dubois
- “The world’s not a meritocracy, you know. It would seem that if it were, my life would be entirely different than it is.”
- “What is the secret to happiness? You can ask me that question and I will give you my answer. I don’t like the sound of that question: what is the secret to happiness? Whatever they are, this one I don’t have.” – John Green (author of The Fault in Our Stars)
- “In the interior recesses of your soul, you may be just as afraid, but you are also just as brave.”
- “It’s not about being beautiful. It’s about not being afraid to look ugly sometimes because that’s where you find your beauty.”
- “I’m not so sure that society would have been a better place if I hadn’t been born.”
- “I’ve become a great specialist in failures, and I’ve revealed that they’re not failures at all. They’re the best preparation for success in life.”
- “I feel like wherever I go, be it research or traveling, I’m a little bit more popular than everyone else. People know who I am and it’s like two to one. It’s very flattering but also very strange, because you’d never meet anyone like me anywhere else in the world.”