New Year
Resolutions:
The Doctor
Presents 20
Quotes to Live
by in 2012

River Song's Diary (pic by Vivien Fay)

Recently BBC America and the global Doctor Who Facebook page asked fans to submit their favorite quotes from Doctor Who, seasons past, to contribute to a roundup of New Year wisdom, advice – words to live by, if you will – from the Doctor and his companions in 2012 and beyond.

As you can imagine, the response was swift and overwhelming, so here, in condensed form, is what we’re going to have to call The Tao of Who:

We’ll get started with one of our favorites: “A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.” – The Third Doctor, The Time Warrior

From the BBC America Facebook page:

“Some people live more in 20 years than others do in 80. It’s not the time that matters, it’s the person.”
The Tenth Doctor, The Lazarus Experiment  – nominated by Jennifer Phelps

“For some people, small, beautiful events are what life is all about.”
The Fifth Doctor, Earthshock – Matthew Rognstad

“There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t act a little childish sometimes.”
The Fourth Doctor, RobotMelinda Botterbusch (this was a very popular choice, but Melinda was first to nominate it)

“Courage isn’t a matter of not being frightened, you know. It’s being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway.”
The Third Doctor, Planet of the DaleksLeo Sarmiento

“The good things don’t always soften the bad, but vice-versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.”
The Eleventh Doctor, Vincent and the DoctorCourtney Davis

“Never ignore coincidence. Unless, of course, you’re busy. In which case, always ignore coincidence.”
The Eleventh Doctor, The Pandorica Opens – Kathy Quinn Hertzog

“One good solid hope is worth a cartload of certainties.”
The Fourth Doctor,  Warrior’s GateBarry McCann

“Nobody important? Blimey, that’s amazing. Do you know, in nine hundred years of time and space I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important before.”
The Eleventh Doctor, A Christmas CarolHayley Dennis

From the global Doctor Who Facebook page:

“Always take a banana to a party, Rose: bananas are good!”
The Tenth Doctor, The Girl in the FireplaceBethy Barnum

“You know when sometimes, you meet someone so beautiful – and then you actually talk to them, and five minutes later they’re as dull as a brick; but then there’s other people. And you meet them and you think, ‘Not bad, they’re okay,’ and then when you get to know them… Their face just sort of becomes them, like their personality’s written all over it, and they just – they turn into something so beautiful. Rory’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever met.”
Amy Pond, The Girl Who WaitedKatherine Pollock

“Our lives are different from anybody else’s. That’s the exciting thing. Nobody in the universe can do what we’re doing.”
The Second Doctor, Tomb of the CybermenRomalee Pomi

“Your life could depend on this. Don’t blink. Don’t even blink. Blink and you’re dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don’t turn your back, don’t look away, and don’t blink! Good luck.”
The Tenth Doctor, BlinkKarrie Sturgeon

“If it’s time to go, remember what you’re leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me.”
The Eleventh Doctor, The Wedding of River SongMatt Jean-Lubin

“Go forward in all of your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.”
The First Doctor, The Dalek Invasion of EarthPhil Stewart

“There’s a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive… wormhole refractors… You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold.”
The Tenth Doctor, Fear HerAmy K Malcolm

“I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams.”
The Eleventh Doctor, The Almost PeopleNed Thorne

“When you’re a kid, they tell you it’s all… Grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid, and that’s it. But the truth is, the world is so much stranger than that. It’s so much darker. And so much madder. And so much better.”
Elton, Love and MonstersMoira Weis

“You don’t just give up. You don’t just let things happen. You make a stand! You say no! You have the guts to do what’s right, even when everyone else just runs away.”
Rose, The Parting of the WaysMia Kaim

“There’s always something to look at if you open your eyes!”
The Fifth Doctor, KindaEarl Roggeman

“One may suffer a world of demons for the sake of an angel.”
Madame du Pompadour, The Girl in the FireplaceWill Cole

What’s your most profound Doctor Who quote? Tell us here:

191 Comments

  1. Bec C
    Posted January 18, 2012 at 9:49 am | Permalink

    ‘look at me I’m a target’
    -the eleventh doctor

    Funniest line ever :)

  2. LIDZ
    Posted January 21, 2012 at 12:23 pm | Permalink

    “Look at me I’m a target”-Eleventh Doctor

  3. LIDZ
    Posted January 21, 2012 at 12:23 pm | Permalink

    “Look at me I’m a target”-Eleventh Doctor
    Don’t go Matt Smith, bow ties will go out of style

  4. Jennifer
    Posted January 22, 2012 at 11:56 am | Permalink

    Don’t forget my favorite!
    “Box falls out of sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at you ! Just stting there! So you know what I think?”
    “What?”
    “Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall.”
    -Eleventh Doctor to Little Amelia in The Eleventh Hour

  5. Larry
    Posted January 22, 2012 at 10:56 pm | Permalink

    “You know when adults tell you everything is going to be okay, even thought you know they’re lying just to make you feel better?”
    “yeah” “Everything is going to be okay.” -11th Dr., 11th hour

  6. Jaisen Zentz
    Posted January 23, 2012 at 8:42 pm | Permalink

    “A broken clock keeps better time than you”. 4th Doctor

  7. Posted January 23, 2012 at 9:31 pm | Permalink

    From ‘The Doctor’s Wife’…
    House: “Fear Me, I’ve killed hundreds of Time Lords…”
    11th Doctor: “Fear Me, I’ve killed all of them!..”

  8. Jennifer
    Posted January 24, 2012 at 9:26 pm | Permalink

    Also one of my favorite quotes is:
    “New body, new town: I’m going shopping.” -River Song, in Let’s Kill Hitler

  9. Paul
    Posted January 24, 2012 at 11:17 pm | Permalink

    My all-time favorite quote is:

    “People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint – it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly… time-y wimey… stuff.”

    The Tenth Doctor, in “Blink”

  10. Greg
    Posted January 26, 2012 at 6:53 pm | Permalink

    1st Doctor to Ian:

    If you could touch the alien sand and hear the cry of strange birds and watch them wheel in another sky, would that satisfy you?

  11. Jynx
    Posted January 27, 2012 at 5:04 pm | Permalink

    No one mentioned River’s “Spoilers” and “Hello Sweetie.”

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