The Best Debbie Allen Quotes

Dr. Catherine Avery: For the love of God, Ellis Grey is rolling in her grave right now.

Dr. Mark Sloan: [to Catherine] Mark Sloan, Plastics. Isn't penile reconstruction the standard approach in cases like these? Why a transplant?
Dr. Catherine Avery: Well, I can answer your question with a question. Do you like your penis?
Dr. Callie Torres: [pretends to cough] Yes.
[Arizona and Teddy laugh]

Dr. Catherine Avery: [to Mark] My son tells me I have trouble admitting when I'm wrong, so this is the place where I should say, that was an impressive save.
Dr. Mark Sloan: Of course it was. He's a good kid, probably because you've give him such a complex, but whatever the reason, let him find his own way. He'll do good.
Dr. Catherine Avery: Thank you.
Dr. Mark Sloan: Oh, and don't count out Lexie Grey until you meet her. She's smart, she's beautiful, she's perfect. A guy couldn't do any better.

Dr. Catherine Avery: [When Bailey and Owen are operating on Richard, Catherine enters the operating gallery; over the intercom] What the hell do you think you're doing, cutting open a man in cardiogenic shock with nothing on his CT?
Dr. Miranda Bailey: There's dead tissue somewhere inside of him. I have to find it before it kills him.
Dr. Catherine Avery: He can't handle the stress until his cardiac stats have stabilized. Get him off that table!
Dr. Miranda Bailey: [to Owen] Lap pad, please.
Dr. Catherine Avery: Dr. Hunt!
Dr. Owen Hunt: Dr. Avery, I'm going to have to ask you to keep it down while we're doing our work.
[the monitors start beeping]
Dr. Catherine Avery: Oh, there's a surprise for you. Close the patient!

Dr. Owen Hunt: [to Catherine] You can't scream at my doctors when there is an open body on the table.
Dr. Catherine Avery: I can't believe you let her talk you into a boondoggle like that.
Dr. Owen Hunt: Dr. Avery, if you have any issues with...
[Bailey walks up to them]
Dr. Catherine Avery: [to Bailey] Does he know why you cut open a man in severe cardiac distress just so you could poke around and see what's going on?
Dr. Owen Hunt: We looked at all of the options.
Dr. Catherine Avery: Tell him. You feel guilty because the last thing Richard Webber heard from you is that he's a drunk that ruined your life. After all he's done for you. We talk on the phone for an hour every night. It came up. You feel bad, go find a priest. But do not try to fix it with a hail Mary that very well might kill the man!
[Bailey walks away, to Owen]
Dr. Catherine Avery: I want access to his charts... right now.

Dr. April Kepner: [after Catherine taps her on the shoulder] Yes! You have no idea...
Dr. Catherine Avery: No, sorry, sweetie. You're too tense. You're all wound up. This isn't wood shop. Step to the back.
[walks over to Cristina's station]
Dr. Catherine Avery: You need to lay off the lattes, dear. Your left hand is shaking like a motel bed spring.
Dr. Cristina Yang: It... It's just tired.
Dr. Catherine Avery: I hear you, honey. Aren't we all? Step to the back.
[to everyone]
Dr. Catherine Avery: It's very simple, people. All it has to be is perfect.

Dr. April Kepner: [sobbing] There's no way, no way for me to do what I need to do... and what I... I believe that I should do.
Dr. Catherine Avery: Shh, shh, shh. There is a way, sweetheart. There's always a way. Now, here's what we'll do. You will choose a day. Soon. Set it aside and arrange to be induced and you'll give birth to your beautiful little boy. And you'll give him a name and have him baptized right then and there. Then you're gonna get to hold that baby. And you'll pray for him and sing to him. You're gonna look at him. You're gonna look at him and memorize every little detail of his face. And you will do that as long as he lives. You will do that until God takes him. That's how you will do this.
Dr. Jackson Avery: We can do that.
Dr. April Kepner: [sobs] Can you do that for me?
Dr. Catherine Avery: Oh, of course I'll do that for you. I'll do that for you and him and us.
Dr. April Kepner: Okay.
Dr. Jackson Avery: Okay.
Dr. April Kepner: So, I'll just... I'll just hold him until God takes him.
Dr. Catherine Avery: That sounds lovely.
Dr. April Kepner: Maybe God won't take him. Maybe... maybe they'll be a miracle. I'll just pray for a miracle.
Dr. Jackson Avery: Okay.

Dr. Eliza Minnick: If anyone could follow protocol around here, Edwards would be perfectly fine right now.
Dr. Catherine Avery: I'm sorry. What?
Dr. Eliza Minnick: She was supposed to be in counseling, but Dr. Webber over here decided she should be able to work today. If you hadn't completely undermined me...
Dr. Miranda Bailey: Then a little girl would be dead! Dr. Minnick, I don't believe that there's a place for you in my hospital any longer.
Dr. Catherine Avery: Dr. Bailey, hold on.
Dr. Miranda Bailey: It's Chief Bailey and I am not holding on. She is holding on. She is clinging to these procedures and protocols and cannot see when to let go in order to save the life of a patient. A child! I do! I know! Because I was taught right. Dr. Edwards certainly knew, because she was taught right. This is not some factory that turns out surgical robots. We make doctors, thinking, feeling, human doctors. And we will teach them right.

Dr. Jackson Avery: [to Catherine] How is Richard?
Dr. Catherine Avery: Hanging by a thread. Thank you very much.
Dr. Jackson Avery: You gonna scream at me too, now? I heard you already had a go at Hunt and Bailey.
Dr. Catherine Avery: I just want to know what in God's name was going on through your head...
Dr. Jackson Avery: Stop! You are terrified. I get that. You love him. And you are as scared as you've ever been. Marching through this hospital, telling everybody they are incompetent is not going to fix that situation. We are all doing our best. And we are gonna take good care of him. And we are gonna take good care of you. Okay?
[he and Catherine hug each other]
Dr. Catherine Avery: As soon as he's stable... as soon as the storm passes, I'm going to move him to another hospital.