50 Best Dominic West Quotes

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [epigraph] ... when it's not your turn.

Lord: [Lara's found him in cave, but he thinks she's a hallucination] I'm not mad, I'm not mad, I'm not mad. Just ignore it. It will go away.

Det. Lester Freamon: Check this.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: That's Western District. What, Stringer's calling the Western?
Det. Lester Freamon: Maybe he's surrendering.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: After all the work we've done, I'd never forgive the son of a bitch.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Jesus, what the fuck did I do?
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: You happy now, bitch?

Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: What the fuck is that?
Asst. State's Atty. Rhonda Pearlman: It's a man's purse. European men like yourself sometimes carry one.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: [mumbles] Hm. Them people ain't right over there.

Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: I don't know. Men of color usually don't do themselves. I mean, take me, for instance.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Yeah, I mean, you got all the reason in the world.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: And yet here I am, still standing.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Give or take.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Can I get a Jameson?
Bartender: Bushmills OK?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: That's Protestant whiskey.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: If only half you motherfuckers at the district attorney's office didn't want to be judges, didn't want to be partners in some downtown law firm... If half of you had the fucking balls to follow through, you know what would happen? A guy like that would be indicted, tried and convicted. And the rest of 'em would back up enough, so we could push a clean case or two through your courthouse. But no, everybody stays friends. Everybody gets paid. And everybody's got a fucking future.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [to Omar, who just shot Stinkum] We're all grateful for the case you gave us on Bird. And we all have a certain admiration for your Do-It-Yourself nature...

Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs: It takes a whore to catch a whore.
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: What the fuck did I do?

Bubbles: [after seeing Jimmy 'tie off' the his boat at the dock] What the hell is that?
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Baltimore knot.
Bubbles: Baltimore knot? What the hell is a Baltimore knot?
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: I dunno, but it's never the same thing twice.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: How long you been in the pawn shop unit?
Det. Lester Freamon: Thirteen years and four months.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Thirteen years?
Det. Lester Freamon: And four months.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: I gotta ask you, what exactly does a police officer assigned to the pawn shop unit do?
Det. Lester Freamon: You intake reports from registered pawn shops on all items valued over $50. Then you make an index card for that item. Then you file that index card. If someone wants to find out if something stolen has been pawned, we look to see if we have an index card. If we do, we do. If we don't, we don't.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: You did that for thirteen years?
Det. Lester Freamon: And four months.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Why'd you ask out of homicide?
Det. Lester Freamon: Wasn't no "ask" about it.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: You got the boot?
Det. Lester Freamon: Uh-huh.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: What'd you do to piss 'em off?
Det. Lester Freamon: Police work.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: I think I need to buy you a drink.
Det. Lester Freamon: Just one?

Judge: McNulty, I hold you in contempt!
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Who doesn't?

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Nicely done

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Well, you know what they say: "stupid criminals make stupid cops". I'm proud to be chasing this guy.

Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [to a patrolman who has given someone a ticket at the urging for more arrests] Baker, Let me let you in on a little secret, The patrolling officer on his beat is the one true dictatorship in America, we can lock a guy up on the humble, lock him up for real, or say fuck it and drink ourselves to death under the expressway and our side partners will cover us, No one - I mean no one - tells us how to waste our shift!

[investigating a corpse in a vacant house]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: How happy am I to see my pager go off with your call number?
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Smoke 'em if you got 'em, because this muthafucka is as ripe as they get.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: We aren't up. Nolan's squad is up.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: I know, I know.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: But you had to answer the fuckin' phone, didn't you?
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: I gotta pay down my credit cards, man.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Not off him, you ain't. Motherfucker, I leave you alone for a minute or two, what do you do?
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: All right, I heard ya!
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Well, say the words, Bunk.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: [offers McNulty a cigar] Oh, come on, man.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Speak to me.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: [puts the cigar away] So you gonna cut and run on the Bunk? That shit ain't right, Jimmy. All right then, this is my case, my file. This shit comes back a murder, you ain't gotta do shit but stand there and laugh at me. You happy now, ya bitch?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: This'll teach you to give a fuck when it ain't your turn to give a fuck.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: It ain't even gonna be a murder. This muthafucka probably came in here to take a shit or somethin' and just fell out. I betcha there ain't nothin' to it.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [turns to leave] You hope.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Where you goin'?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Back to the office, where I belong.
[he leaves; Bunk looks down at the corpse]
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: You... molderin' muthafucka, don't even think about comin' back a murder. Don't even think of that shit.

[Carver and Colicchio pull up to Bodie's corner and get out of the car]
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Where's the love, Bodie? Where is the muthafuckin' love?
[to Colicchio]
Sgt. Ellis Carver: I go back so far with this kid, I was chasin' him through juvy.
[to Bodie]
Sgt. Ellis Carver: But does any of that matter when we roll up here? I get so much as a wave, a nod, a smile? Nothin'?
[Bodie hawks and spits, but says nothing]
Sgt. Ellis Carver: How 'bout just "hello"?
Preston: Hello.
Sgt. Ellis Carver: See? That wasn't so hard, was it?
[he turns to Lex, who is sweeping the sidewalk and trying hard not to be noticed]
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Lex, my man, how's your day goin'? Not to criticize or anything, but I think you missed a spot there.
[he turns to Little Kevin and Reesy]
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Little Kevin, how's it hangin'? Reesy, you look like someone just shot your dog. You all right, man? You okay?
[he turns back to Bodie]
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Reesy still messin' up the count?
Little: [to Reesy] You hear what he said?
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Yo, dawg, you send him up to Lamelle next month, I'll make sure Ms. Davis puts him in remedial math, and we'll have done some good here today.
[Bodie chuckles]
Reesy: [chuckling] He's fuckin' got me.
[McNulty pulls up in his squad car and gets out]
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Everything good?
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Yeah, just words.
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [to Bodie] Mr. Entrapment. How you doin'?
[Bodie sighs and rolls his eyes]
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Don't look like that, I'm still dining out on that story.
[to Carver]
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: You know how he beat the wiretap a year ago? Claimed entrapment when he was clockin' in Bunny Colvin's Hamsterdam. Shit you not. Smart kiddo. I loved it.
[to Bodie]
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: When I roll back in an hour, this corner's bone-dry. Your people are done for the day.
[he gets back in his car and drives away]
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Okay, so let's try this again: I say, "Have a good evening, Mr. Broadus."
Preston: And a good evening to you, Sergeant Carver.
Sgt. Ellis Carver: See?
[he taps his forehead, and he and Colicchio walk back to their car]
Preston: [sarcastically] And a very good evening to you, Officer Colicchio.
Off. Anthony Colicchio: [viciously] Fuck yourself with a forty, shitbreath.
[to Carver]
Off. Anthony Colicchio: The fuck was all that about?
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Can't bust every head, Tony.
Off. Anthony Colicchio: [chuckling] I can't?
Sgt. Ellis Carver: Bust every head, who you gonna talk to when the shit happens?

[first lines]
Lord: May 17th, 2009. Further research on Himiko. According to legend, Himiko, the first queen of Japan was a powerful sorceress who ruled the empire through dark magic. Spreading death and destruction by the mere touch of her hand. She was only stopped by a single twist of fate. An army of her own generals bound and dragged Himiko to an uninhabitable island in the middle of the treacherous Devil's Sea. There she remains entombed beneath the mountains. I found a spec, on an old map that no one else has. And she is there. Waiting to be unleashed. I have to get there first. Even if it means doing the last thing I'd ever want to do. Leaving my Lara behind.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: See, that's what I don't get about the drug thing. Why can't you sell the shit and walk the fuck away? You know what I mean? Everything else in this country gets sold without people shooting each other behind it.

Det. Lester Freamon: We could still go to jail. And if not, I'd expect to be back in the pawn shop unit and you, my brother, are gonna ride the boat.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: So what? It was worth it.
[pause]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Wasn't it?
Det. Lester Freamon: Depends.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [after his ex-wife hangs up on him] You know something? My ex-wife, the way she acts sometimes, the way she deals with shit... You would think a less enlightened man than myself, a cruder man than myself, a man less sensitized to the qualities and charms and value of women- a man like that, not me, but a man like that, he just might call her a 'cunt.'
Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs: You just called the mother of your children a cunt.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: The things that make me right for this job, maybe they're the same things that make me wrong for everything else.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: What, we don't have enough love in our hearts for two wars?

Det. Roland 'Prez' Pryzbylewski: [reading from a fortune cookie] "A new friend makes himself known."
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: "Himself"? If it was "herself," then you'd have a fortune.
Det. Roland 'Prez' Pryzbylewski: Shit, I'm married. With lawn furniture, man.

Jimmy: [McNulty sits on a windowsill, looking at Stringer's body. Bunk sits next to him and lights a cigar] I caught him, Bunk. On the wire, I caught him... And he doesn't fuckin' know it.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: If Snotboogie always stole the money, why'd you let him play?
Snot: Got to. This America, man.

FBI Spec. Agent Terrence 'Fitz' Fitzhugh: State your name.
[Serge says nothing]
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: No name, huh? Well, for now, we'll just call you Boris.
Sergei: Boris. Why always Boris?

[McNulty takes Bodie to lunch]
Preston: We still in the city?
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Cylburn Arboretum. Pimlico's right up the hill.
Preston: This is nice.
[pause]
Preston: I ain't no snitch.
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Didn't say you were.
Preston: Been doin' this a long time. I ain't never said nothin' to no cop.
[pause, then Bodie sighs and rubs his face]
Preston: I feel old. I been out there since I was 13. I ain't never fucked up a count, never stole off a package, never did some shit that I wasn't told to do. I been straight up. But what come back? Hm? You think if I get jammed up on some shit, they be like, "A'ight, yeah, Bodie been there, Bodie hang tough. We got his pay lawyer, we got a bail"? They want me to stand with 'em, right? So where the fuck are they at when they supposed to be standin' by us? I mean, when shit goes bad and there's hell to pay, where they at? This game is rigged, man. We like them little bitches on the chessboard.
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Pawns.
Preston: Yo, I'm not snitchin' on none of my boys. Not my corner, and not no Barksdale people, or what's left of 'em. But Marlo, this nigga, his kind, man, they... they gotta fall. They gotta.
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Well, for that to happen, somebody's gotta step up.
Preston: I'll do what I gotta. I don't give a fuck. Just don't ask me to live on my fuckin' knees, you know?
[McNulty is silent for a moment]
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: You're a soldier, Bodie.
[Bodie gives a wistful half-smile without looking at McNulty]
Preston: Hell yeah.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: So that's the cop shooter?
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Yeah, not much to it. But he did that job on the Dozerman kid last week. Gave it up on a full statement.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Before or after you knocked the shit out of him?

Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: [both investigating a crime scene] Ah, fuck.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Motherfucker.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Fuck, fuck, fucking fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: What the fuck?
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Ah fuck.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Fuck! No.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Ah,fuck.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Fuck it. how the fuck?
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Motherfuck. Aw, fuck. Aw fuck.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Fuckity, fuck fuck, fuck fuck, fucker. Ah fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Ah, fuck, fuck, fuck. Motherfucker.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Fuckin' A. Fuck.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: What's that?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Motherfucker.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Fuck me.

[repeated line]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: What the fuck did I do?

Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Think again about what the fuck you doin'.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Bunk, this can work. It can!
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Fuck you. I mean that.
[McNulty pulls out a flask of whiskey and takes a pull]
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: [disgusted] Oh, Jimmy, four in the fuckin' morning?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [looking at his watch] Oh, so it is.
[he sets the flask down, but Bunk snatches it away]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [gesturing to the open case files in front of him] All of these? Homeless murders from the last five years. Everything before that is on microfilm, but we got enough right here...
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Jimmy...
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: ...most of it open. We don't do so well with homeless killings. Transient locales, no nearest, no dearest, no one who gives a fuck. Cases stay open forever!
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: You goin' to jail behind this shit. Yes, you are. You know what they do to police in jail? Pretty police like yourself? Muthafucka, we have kids. Houses. Car payments. Furniture. Jimmy, I just bought brand-new lawn chairs and a glass patio table. Now, you don't buy no shit like that if you plannin' to lose your job and go to prison. You won't even get past the M.E.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Watch me.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: You're dumpin' murders on us that we can't solve, you're fuckin' the squad's clearance rate.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Oh, fuck the fuckin' numbers already! The fuckin' numbers destroyed this fuckin' department! Landsman and his clearance rate can suck a hairy asshole.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Marlo ain't worth it, man, nobody is.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Marlo's an asshole! He does not get to win, WE get to win! This case doesn't go away just 'cause the bosses can't find the money to pay for it! These are fuckin' murders! Ghetto murders, but still! I came back outta the Western to work this case 'cause they said it would be worked. I came back out on a promise, and they're gonna keep that promise... whether they know it or not.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: I'm gonna tell Landsman. Yeah. You keep on with it, I'm gonna rat you out.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Well, you do what you gotta do.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: [sighing] My name is nowhere in the file. I don't want fuck to do with this.
[Bunk gets up to leave]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Hey, Bunk.
[he motions with his hand; Bunk resignedly hands back the flask to McNulty and leaves]

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: The things that make me right for this job maybe they're the same things that make me wrong for everything else.

Messenger: All that God-King Xerxes requires is this: a simple offering of earth and water. A token of Sparta's submission to the will of Xerxes.
King: Submission? Well that's a bit of a problem. See, rumor has it the Athenians have already turned you down, and if those philosophers and, uh, boy-lovers have found that kind of nerve, then...
Theron: We must be diplomatic.
King: [ignoring Theron] ... and, of course, Spartans have their reputation to consider.

[last line of the series]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Let's go home.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: The quicker we bring this in and shut it down, the safer we'll all be. I mean, Landsman wants me over to fucking Quantico, have the FBI do a profile.
Det. Lester Freamon: [laughs] You might learn something about yourself.

Theron: [before raping Queen Gorgo] This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I'm not your king.

Richard: What part of "burn all my papers" did you not understand?
Lara: If I'd burned the papers, I wouldn't have found you.
Richard: I set diversions and false leads wherever I could. I watched for years as they got it wrong. And now you lead them by the hand.
Lara: So a gun-toting psychopath finds some ancient remains. So what?
Richard: If Vogel opens that tomb, Himiko's curse will be unleashed on the world.
Lara: Dad, listen...
Richard: You coming here... was a mistake.
Lara: I came here to find you.
Richard: As long as the tomb was safe, you were safe. I was trying to keep you safe. But I underestimated your...
Lara: My what? Stupidity?
Richard: No. Your bravery.
Lara: We have to get off this island.
Richard: There's no way off, Lara!
Lara: Vogel's got a satellite phone. We can get to it. We can call for help.
Richard: Vogel has an army!
Lara: You were the one who taught me to never give up.
Richard: That was a different time. When I was a different man.
[she picks up her bow and arrows]
Richard: Lara!
Lara: Well, I'm still his daughter.
[on her way]
Richard: [calls out after her] Lara!

[first lines]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: So your boy's name was what?
Snot: Snot.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: You called the guy "Snot"?
Snot: Snot Boogie, yeah.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Snot Boogie? He like the name?
Snot: What?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Snot Boogie?
[the kid does not answer]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: This kid, whose mama went to the trouble of christening him Omar Isaiah Betts... You know, he forgets his jacket, so his nose starts running, and some asshole, instead of giving him a Kleenex, calls him "Snot". So he's Snot forever. Doesn't seem fair.
Snot: Life just be that way, I guess.

Lara: I thought you'd gone.
Lord: Usually when I see you on this island, it's you who disappears.

Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Boy, them Greeks and those twisted-ass names.
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Man, lay off the Greeks. They invented civilization.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Yeah? Ass-fucking, too.

Det. Augustus Polk: Where are the fucking run sheets?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Behind the board. You all go for a taste?
Det. Patrick Mahon: Hey. We got your picture, don't you fuckin' worry, McNulty.
[he slaps an old Polaroid down on the desk. McNulty looks at it and holds it up; the photo is of an older white man]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [incredulously] This is Barksdale?
Det. Augustus Polk: [self-satisfied] Avon Barksdale.
Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs: [scoffing] I don't think so.
Det. Patrick Mahon: Read my lips: Avon fuckin' Barksdale. His name's on the form in the file.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Well, excuse me for giving a shit, but I can't help but notice this is a middle-aged white man.
Det. Patrick Mahon: Hey, you want somethin' different, you give me another name. That's the only Avon Barksdale in the Housing Department files.
[he turns to Polk]
Det. Patrick Mahon: You got your smokes?
[to McNulty and Greggs]
Det. Patrick Mahon: Have a nice fuckin' day.
[they leave; Kima examines the photo and shrugs]
Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs: Maybe he's white.
[Kima and McNulty both burst out laughing]

Statesman: My good king! My good king! The oracle has spoken.
Second: The Ephors have spoken. There must be no march!
Theron: It is the law, my lord. The Spartan army must not go to war.
King: Nor shall it. I've issued no such orders. I'm here, just taking a stroll, stretching my legs. These, uh, 300 men are my personal bodyguard.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: [about the murderer Omar testified against in court] You really seen him shoot the man?
Omar: You really asking?

Lord: [to Lara, repeated line] Daddy loves you.

Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: I listen to the shit she talks about, first time in my life I feel like a fucking doormat. Like anyone with any smarts would do something else with his life, you know, earn money or get elected. Like I'm just a breathing machine for my fucking dick.

[Bunk and McNulty are staking out Vondas' house; Vondas comes out wearing a suit]
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: A different look for our boy.
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Yeah. Perry Ellis or somethin'.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Now, how would a just-rolled-outta-bed-lookin' muthafucka like you know the designer?
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Okay, I'm guessin'.
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: It's a Joseph Abboud. He puts dark buttons instead of brass on his blazers. That's the Abboud signature.
Off. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: You know what they call a guy who pays that much attention to his clothes, don't you?
Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland: Mm-hmm. A grown-up.

Judge: Under the power vested in me by the circuit court for Baltimore city,
[makes sign of the cross]
Judge: I absolve you of all you sins, Detective McNulty.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: You are my sin, you know that?

Detective: Guy leaves two dozen bodies scattered all over the city, no one gives a fuck.
Detective: It's because who he dropped.
Detective: True that. You can go a long way in this country killin' black folk. Young males especially. Misdemeanor homicides.
Detective: If Marlo was killin' white women...
Detective: White children.
Detective: Tourists.
Detective: One white ex-cheerleader tourist missin' in Aruba.
Detective: Trouble is, this ain't Aruba, bitch.
Detective: You think that if 300 white people were killed in this city every year, they wouldn't send the 82nd Airborne? Negro, please.
Detective: There's gotta be some way to make 'em turn on the faucet.
Detective: Well, come on, Jimmy, you're the smartest boy in the room. You come up with somethin' in this broke-ass city.
[McNulty looks down the bar at a pair of women, then walks over to them and starts talking]
Detective: [leans over to Bunk] Isn't he married or some shit now?