The Best Arthur Quotes

Ariadne: That's some subconscious you've got on you, Cobb! She's a real charmer!
Arthur: Oh, I see you've met Mrs Cobb.

Arthur: Where were you? What happened to you?
Cobb: Got blocked by a freight train.
Arthur: [to Ariadne] Why would you put a train course in the middle of a downtown intersection?
Ariadne: Why, I didn't.
Arthur: Where did it come from?
Cobb: Let me ask you a question, why the hell were we ambushed, huh? Those were not normal projections. They've been trained, for God's sakes!
Arthur: You're right.
Ariadne: How could they be trained?
Arthur: Fischer's had an extractor teach his subconscious to defend itself, so, his subconscious has militarized. It should have shown in the research. I'm sorry.

Cobb: What do you want?
Saito: Inception. Is it possible?
Arthur: Of course not.
Saito: If you can steal an idea, why can't you plant one there instead?
Arthur: Okay, this is me, planting an idea in your mind. I say: don't think about elephants. What are you thinking about?
Saito: Elephants?
Arthur: Right, but it's not your idea. The dreamer can always remember the genesis of the idea. True inspiration is impossible to fake.
Cobb: No, it's not.

Ariadne: Cobb can't build anymore, can he?
Arthur: I don't know if he can't, but he won't. He thinks it's safer if he doesn't know the layouts.
Ariadne: Why?
Arthur: He won't tell me. But I think it's Mal.
Ariadne: His ex-wife?
Arthur: No, not his ex.
Ariadne: They're still together?
Arthur: No, she... she's dead. What you see in there is just his projection of her.
Ariadne: What was she like in real life?
Arthur: She was lovely.

Arthur: So, once we've made the plant, how do we go out? Hope you have something more elegant in mind than shooting me in the head?
Cobb: A kick.
Ariadne: What's a kick?
Eames: This, Ariadne, would be a kick
[kicks the leg of the chair Arthur's swinging at]
Arthur: [finds his balance and glares at Eames]

Cobb: "I will split up my father's empire." Now, this is obviously an idea that Robert himself would choose to reject. Which is why we need to plant it deep in his subconscious. Subconscious is motivated by emotion, right? Not reason. We need to find a way to translate this into an emotional concept.
Arthur: How do you translate a business strategy into an emotion?
Cobb: That's what we're here to figure out, right? Now, Robert's relationship with his father is stressed, to say the least.
Eames: Well, can we run with that? We could suggest to him breaking up his father's company as a "screw-you" to the old man.
Cobb: No, 'cause I think positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time. We all yearn for reconciliation, for catharsis. We need Robert Fischer to have a positive emotional reaction to all this.
Eames: Alright, we'll try this, umm... "My father accepts that I want to create for myself, not follow in his footsteps."
Cobb: That might work.
Arthur: Might? We're gonna need to do a little better than 'might'.
Eames: Oh, thank you for your contribution, Arthur.
Arthur: Forgive me for wanting a little specificity, Eames.
[Eames appears confused at the word]
Arthur: Specificity?

Arthur: You. What the hell was all that?
Cobb: I have it under control.
Arthur: I'd hate to see it out of control.

Ariadne: What's happening?
Arthur: Your subconscious is looking for the dreamer; me. Quick, give me a kiss.
Ariadne: [She kisses him and then looks around]
Ariadne: They're still looking at us.
Arthur: Yeah, it was worth a shot.

Arthur: Eames, I am impressed.
Eames: Your condescension, as always, is much appreciated, Arthur, thank you.

Arthur: It would have to be a 747.
Cobb: Why is that?
Arthur: Because in a 747, the pilot's up top, and the first class cabin's in the nose, so no one would walk through. But you'd have to buy out the entire cabin. And the first class flight attendant...
Saito: I bought the airline.
[Everybody turns and stares at him. Saito just shrugs]
Saito: It seemed neater.

Arthur: So, a totem. It's a small object, potentially heavy, something you can have on you all the time...
Ariadne: What, like a coin?
Arthur: No, it has to be more unique than that, like - this is a loaded die.
[Ariadne reaches out to take the die]
Arthur: Nah, I can't let you touch it, that would defeat the purpose. See only I know the balance and weight of this particular loaded die. That way when you look at your totem, you know beyond a doubt you're not in someone else's dream.

Arthur: What about his security? It's gonna get worse as we go deeper.
Cobb: I think we run with Mr. Charles.
Arthur: No.
Eames: Who's Mr. Charles?
Arthur: Bad idea.
Cobb: The second we get in that hotel with Fischer, his security is gonna be all over us. We run with Mr. Charles like we did on the Stein job.
Eames: So you've done it before?
Arthur: Yeah, and it didn't work. The subject realized he was dreaming and his subconscious tore us to pieces.
Eames: Excellent. But you learned a lot, right?