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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, Robot – Melinda 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 Daleks – Leo 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 Doctor – Courtney 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 Gate – Barry 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 Carol – Hayley 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 Fireplace – Bethy 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 Waited – Katherine 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 Cybermen – Romalee 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, Blink – Karrie 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 Song – Matt 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 Earth – Phil 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 Her – Amy 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 People – Ned 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 Monsters – Moira 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 Ways – Mia Kaim
“There’s always something to look at if you open your eyes!”
The Fifth Doctor, Kinda – Earl Roggeman
“One may suffer a world of demons for the sake of an angel.”
Madame du Pompadour, The Girl in the Fireplace – Will Cole
What’s your most profound Doctor Who quote? Tell us here:
194 Comments
“Amelia Pond, get your coat”!
~ A good man goes to war~
I can’t believe no one mentioned this one it’s one of my favorites from Doomsday.
Rose: ” They have guns.”
Doctor: “And I don’t, so that makes me the better person.”
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- Blink
“You live in Scooby-Doo’s house. ”
Larry Nightingale – Blink
[the doorbell rings]
Kathy Nightingale: What are you doing? It could be a burglar!
Sally Sparrow: A burglar who rings the doorbell?
Kathy Nightingale and Sally Sparrow – Blink
“Tracked you down with this. This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes ding when there’s stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at 30 paces, whether you want it to or not, actually, so I’ve learned to stay away from hens. It’s not pretty when they blow. ”
The Tenth Doctor – Blink
“In the deepest part of the winter at the exact midpoint, everyone stops and turns, and hugs, as if to say ‘Well done! Well done, everyone! We’re halfway out of the dark!’”
- The Eleventh Doctor
a few to mention here:
First the amusing:
“GERONIMO!!” – 11th Doctor in The End of Time, Part 2
“The ultimate ginger.” – Amy Pond in Vincent and the Doctor”
Then the profound
The scene where the doctor speaks to Amy for what seems the last time
A captivating moment in “The Big Bang” episode.
Amy: [to The Doctor] Hi.
The Doctor: Amy pond: the girl who waited, all night in your garden was it worth it?
Amy: Shut up of course it was.
The Doctor: Remember that night you flew away with me?
Amy: Course I do.
The Doctor: Then you asked me why I took you with me and I said there wasn’t a reason, I was lying.
Amy: So you did have a reason.
The Doctor: Your house.
Amy: My house?
The Doctor: It has too many empty rooms. Does it ever bother you Amy that your life doesn’t make any sense?
The Doctor: That’s why I’m doing this. Amy your house is too big, that big empty house, just you.
Amy: And Aunt Sharon.
The Doctor: Where were you mum and dad? Where was everybody who lived in that big house?
Amy: I lost my mum and dad.
The Doctor: How? What happened? Where did they go?
Amy: Uh?…I don’t… I don’t
The Doctor: It’s ok, it’s ok don’t panic.
Amy: I don’t even remember.
The Doctor: There’s a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom, and it’s been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond, all alone the girl who didn’t make sense, how could I resist.
Amy: But how could I just forget?
The Doctor: Nothing is ever forgotten, not really, but you have to try.
River: Doctor! It’s speeding up!
The Doctor: There’s going to be a very big bang, big bang two. Try and remember your family and they’ll be there.
Amy: But how can I remember them if they never existed!
The Doctor: Because you’re special, that crack in your wall all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back, you can bring them back too. You just remember and they’ll be there.
Amy: You won’t.
The Doctor: You’ll have your family back, you won’t need your imaginary friend anymore. Amy Pond crying over me eh? Guess what?
Amy: What?
The Doctor: Gotcha.
And again, more profound ones from my side:
The 11 Doctor from The Big Bang as he sits beside the seven year old Amy pond who is sleeping
The Doctor:[walks over to a seven year old Amelia Pond] The girl who waited. Come here you. That’s funny I thought if you could hear me I could hang on somehow, silly me; silly old Doctor. When you wake up you’ll have a mum and dad, and you won’t even remember me. Well you’ll remember me a little, I’ll be a story in your head, but that’s ok we’re all stories in the end; just make it a good one, eh? Cause it was you know? It was the best, a daft old man who stole a magic box, and ran away. Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it I was always going to take it back. Oh that box, Amy you’ll dream about that box. It’ll never leave you, big and little at the same time, brand new a ancient and the bluest blue ever. And the times we had eh? Would’ve had, never had. In your dreams they’ll still be there, The Doctor and Amy Pond: and the days that never came. The cracks are closing, but they can’t close properly until I’m on the other side. I don’t belong here anymore. I think I’ll skip the rest of the rewind, I hate repeats. Live well love Rory. Bye bye, Pond.
11th Doctor from Vincent and the Doctor. Vincent, the Doctor, and Amy have returned to the present day art museum.
The Doctor to Mr. Black: I just wondered between you and me in 100 words where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?
Dr Black: Well… big question, but to me, van Gogh is the finest painter of them all; certainly the most popular great painter of all time: The most beloved; his command of colour; the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world… no one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind that strange wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world’s greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived.
[Vincent, already in shock, starts breaking down in tears]
Doctor: Oh, Vincent, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, is it too much?
Vincent: No, they are tears of joy! Thank you sir, thank you! [kisses Dr Black in gratitude].
Another from Vincent and the Doctor
Vincent, the Doctor, and Amy are all laying on the ground staring up into the starry night sky each holding hands
Vincent: Hold my hand, Doctor. Try to see what I see. We’re so lucky we’re still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky. It’s not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue. And over there! Lighter blue. [the starscape slowly transforms into The Starry Night] And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the winds swirling through the air. And there shining, burning, bursting through, the stars! Can you see how they roll their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes.
Doctor: I’ve seen many things, my friend, but you’re right: nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see.
11th Doctor in Cold Blood
The Doctor: There are fixed points throughout time where things must stay exactly the way they are. This is not one of them. This is an opportunity! Whatever happens here will create its own timeline, its own reality, a temporal tipping point. The future revolves around you, here, now, so do good!
11th Doctor in The Pandorica Opens
All of the Doctor’s enemies surround him at Stonehendge.
The Doctor: Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe! But, bad news, everyone, [Doctor jumps up from inside Stonehenge] ’cause guess who! Ha! Listen, you lot! You’re all whizzing about. It’s really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute, because I! Am! Talking!!
[The ships stop instantly]
The Doctor: Now the question of the hour is, “Who’s got the Pandorica?” Answer: I do. Next question: Who’s coming to take it from me? [Pause] Come on! Look at me! No plan, no back-up, no weapons worth a damn! Oh, and something else I don’t have: Anything to lose! So, if you’re sitting up there in your silly, little spaceship with all your silly, little guns, and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way! Remember every black day I ever stopped you and then, and then, do the smart thing: Let somebody else try first.
[The battleships all flee to a much higher orbit]
11th Doctor and Amy Pond in The Big Bang
Amy Remembers the Doctor during her wedding reception. She jolts up from her seat, interrupts her father who was about to speak.
Amy: There’s someone missing. Someone important, someone so, so important. Sorry everyone, but when I was a kid, I had an imaginary friend, the Raggedy Doctor, my Raggedy Doctor. But he wasn’t imaginary, he was real. [shouting] I remember you! I remember! I brought the others back; I can bring you home too! Raggedy man, I remember you and you are late for my wedding!
[As Amy remembers, the Doctor and the TARDIS starts to materialise in the room]
Amy: I found you; I found you in words just like you knew I would; that’s why you told me the story, the brand new, ancient blue box. Oh clever, very clever.
Rory: Amy, what is it?
Amy: Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue.
10th Doctor in Blink
“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… timey-wimey… stuff.”
11th Doctor in The Lodger
“I’m the coming storm!”
11th Doctor, Let’s Kill Hitler
“I know your scared. But never run when your scared. Rule seven.
“Impossible? Bumblebees. Terran insects. Aerodynamically impossible for them to fly but they do it. I’m rather fond of bumblebees.” 4th Doctor
Larry Nightingale: “The angels have the phonebox,” that’s my favourite, I’ve got that on a T-shirt.
Kathy Nightingale: What did you come here for anyway?
Sally Sparrow: I love old things. They make me feel sad.
Kathy Nightingale: What’s good about sad?
Sally Sparrow: It’s happy for deep people.
From “Blink”
The quote “Some people live more in 20 years than others do in 80…” should be from the ‘Lonely Angel’ and not ‘ The Lazarus Experiment’.
dont forget………
Are you my mommy????????
point your gun at me if that helps you relax. – A good man goes to war.
You see, 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 timey wimey………………stuff
The Tenth Doctor
-Melody<3
“Allons-y Alonso!” -10 doctor, Voyage of The Damned
The eyes are not the windows of the soul, they are the doors. Beware what may enter them.
—The Eleventh Doctor (reading from a diary), The Time of Angels
Donna: You are completely impossible!
The Doctor: Not impossible. Just… a bit unlikely.
—The Doctor’s Daughter
Jenny: So what do you do?
The Doctor: I travel. Through time and space.
Donna: He saves planets, rescues civilizations, defeats terrible creatures. And runs a lot. Seriously, there’s an outrageous amount of running involved.
—The Doctor’s Daughter
My family recently watched Doomseday with the 10th Doctor and they have been marching around saying “This is not war – this is pest control!” Dalek Sec