Henry Morgan/Quotes

Notable quotes by and about Henry Morgan.

Pilot

• "My name is Henry Morgan. My story is a long one. It might sound a bit implausible. In fact, you probably won't believe me. But I'll tell you anyway, because, beyond all else, I have lots and lots of time. I've lived a full life, been madly in love. I've had my heart broken. I've fought in wars and seen more than my fair share of death. In my long life, I've experienced many ends, but only one beginning. It all started 200 years ago. You see, something happened that night. I was transformed. I still feel love, pleasure, pain. My life is just like yours...except for one small difference. It never ends. Since that night, nearly two centuries ago, every time I die, I always return in water, and I'm always naked. Lends itself to some slightly awkward situations. Now you know as much about my condition as I do. All I know for certain is that the pain is real. It's just the dying part is not." —Henry
• "I've seen a lot."
• "It's a long story." —Henry
• "Just imagine all the things you could do with eternity. See the world, speak countless languages. In fact, there's almost nothing in this life I haven't done, except leave it. Unfortunately, that's not the case for those around me. Try watching as the people you love most in this world go off to another. Only then would you know what I do. That eternity is not really a blessing, but a curse." —Henry
• "Thank you, Abe, but I assure you I look the same everyday. Although, that still may be like crap." —Henry
• "Abe, I think it's safe to say I've yet to figure out what the point of life is. Mine anyway." —Henry
• "Over the years, you could say I've become a student of death. Not out of some macabre obsession, but purely for research. You see, I need to find a way out of this -- a key to unlock my curse. I work for the New York City Medical Examiner's Office. It holds the largest collection of slightly-chilled corpses in the world. If your game is death, go where the action is." —Henry
• "Just call me a curious observer."
• "Don't worry. I'm the least judgmental person you'll ever meet."
• "I've seen a lot of death, a lot of pain, a lot of suffering. But I've also seen a lot of life...a lot of beauty, a lot of wonder. It's not the number of years we live that matters. Our lives just add up to a series of moments. We never know when or where they'll happen. But they stick with us, marking our souls forever. The problem with living for 200 years isn't the loneliness or pain or the loss. OK, sure, it is those things. But what really gets you is when life ceases to surprise you. I've spent my entire life studying the human body, but I can say with scientific certainty that what keeps us alive, more important than blood or oxygen or even love...is hope." —Henry

Look Before You Leap

• "You can learn a lot from a body -- how a life was lived, what was their pain, suffering, life experiences, even if they were loved. But what a body can't tell you is why. And for those left behind, that seems to be the only question that really matters." —Henry
• "Sorry to have ruined your evening, Detective." —Henry
• "Nothing can erase the pain of losing someone you love. You carry it with you for the rest of your life, how ever long that might be. The best you can hope for is that over time, the wound begins to heal. But no matter how strong we are, no matter how hard we fight...the scar always stays with us." —Henry

Fountain of Youth

• "There is a whole litany of things we can do to keep death at bay -- exercise, eat well, put on sunscreen. And though you might try to bargain with death, bear no delusions. It will find you. So if you spend all you time hiding from death or, in my case, searching for it, I guess the question is were you ever really alive?" —Henry
• "I don't believe in nothing. I'm a scientist, and, quick frankly, a skeptic. There's always something, so long as you know what to look for." —Henry
• "Abe's always telling me to enjoy life. I think I'm doing the same thing here. This is the most exciting city in the world. There is someone out there for all those breakfasts and dinners." —Henry
• "As sad and dreadful as death may be, it forces us to cherish every moment because the truth is...life is precious because it's finite. When you're immortal, you have to be reminded of beauty. Days stretch into years, stretch into centuries. Time looses its meaning. So however long you live, even though that may prove a very, very long time...you must tell yourself to live every day...every hour as if it could be your last." —Henry

The Art of Murder

• "When Gloria Carlyle died, 91 years of worth of memories disappear in an instant. People, places, loved ones and enemies alike, all gone, lost forever. Even one distant memory of me. We can only imagine what her final thoughts were. Fear, anger -- we'll never know. Everything is forgotten in death. I, of course, can never forget, especially Gloria and the debt I owe her." —Henry
• "I'm an M.E., Joe. I'm not sure I'm officially your partner." —Henry
• "For the dead, all is forgotten. But all is not lost because they're remembered by us. Some we think of fondly, others less so. A few are remembered by many, and some by only a few." —Henry

The Pugilist Break

• "Every generation likes to think they're improving on the last, that progress is inevitable, that the future holds less misery and suffering than the past. But the truth is, some things never change. History has a way of repeating itself. It's just most people don't live long enough to see it happen." —Henry
• "Well, that's just rude." —Henry
• "Rats have been known to carry Lassa fever, hantavirus, salmonella, and, of course, let's not forget the black death. I highly recommend that you don't get bit." —Henry to Lucas
• "Putting food in your mouth and eating are two very different things." —Henry to Jo about food
• "But some things do change. Years ago, boxers fought bare-knuckled. In 1855, one bout lasted 6 hours, 15 minutes. Back then, the so-called ring was an actual ring, made up of rowdy, bloodthirsty spectators. That's not to say that fights are fair today. The big guy's gloves are still loaded a little heavier, but it's no reason to stop fighting." —Henry

The Frustrating Thing About Psychopaths

• "Murder is never an easy thing to look at. When you examine the body of a victim, you don't see the reflection of their life, but the person who took it. You see whether the killer felt anger or betrayal...or worse...if they felt nothing at all." —Henry
• "You can tell a lot by looking in a persons eyes." —Henry to Mike
• "We may never understand those who kill so easily for spectacle. But perhaps that's why we're so fascinated with them. We read about their exploits out of curiosity. Our fascination with the macabre makes it all seem unreal. But the truth is that everyone has the capacity to kill. The real question is, how do you live with yourself afterwards?" —Henry
• "I'm glad you're feeling so awful. You must allow yourself to feel the pain, the guilt, the shame. The day when killing another person doesn't affect you, that's when you got real problems." —Henry to Jo about killing someone

New York Kids

• "Every crime, like every person, has its secrets. Some are never revealed, while others are hidden in plain sight." —Henry
• "You know, you live long enough, you learn a thing or two." —Henry
• "We can train our bodies to forget. But not our minds. And one thing living forever teaches you is that your past, your secrets, mark you always, like it or not. There are things for all of us that even all the time in the word wouldn't be able to erase." —Henry

The Ecstasy of the Agony

• "Sex, drugs, skydiving. It's strange that the things we do for a thrill, in order to make ourselves feel alive, are the same things that may kill us. The same thing is true when it comes to human relationships. The people we love the most are the ones capable of hurting us the most deeply." —Henry
• "It's a fine line between pleasure and pain." —Henry
• "Our body feels pain to warn us of danger. But it also reminds us of we're alive, that we can still feel. That's why some of us seek it out...while others choose to numb it. Solitude has always been my analgesic of choice. But what if feeling nothing is the worst pain of all? What if the sharing of pain connects us to others and reminds us that none of us is alone as long as we can feel it?" —Henry

6 A.M.

• "No matter how we live or die, we all end the same -- in silence. All of our hopes and dreams in life become mere echoes of a tale cut short. But if we're lucky enough, our stores live on. Our song finds voice in the hearts of those who remember us and loved us." —Henry
• "It has been said that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken, that we are only truly gone when we've disappear from the memories of those who loved us, meaning a great artist never dies. As long as his books are read, his paintings admired, as long as our songs are sung, may each of us live forever." —Henry

The Man in the Killer Suit

• "What we try to hide about ourselves in life is revealed in death -- our fears, our insecurities, but most of all, our secrets." —Henry
• "Does no one understand the difference between nobility and royalty?". —Henry
• "The best impostors have many gifts. They can change their voice, their look, their manner. But there's a rule every imposter learns. The one truth we cannot hide is love." —Henry

Skinny Dipper

• "It may come as a surprise, but I still fear death. Tonight my anonymous caller faced it without hesitation. I realized two things in that moment -- he IS immortal, and he's completely insane." —Henry
• "We all have secrets. There's nothing wrong with that. But we all need a confidante, a friend to share our secrets with. In a way, the shared secret tells us who our real friends are. They're the people we trust the most." —Henry

The Wolves of Deep Brooklyn

• "There is a risk anytime we venture into the unknown, whenever we are compelled for whatever reason...to push away the safety of the familiar, of family and home. And there is the notion that this impulse is, indeed, for the best, that whatever doesn't kill us makes stronger. Unless of course it does." —Henry
• "Committing fully to the protection of another can often engender a kind of paradox. In doing so, we are tempted to put ourselves at risk -- the very thing most likely to cause pain in those whom we are trying so desperately to keep pain from. Over time, however, one learns that the choices of those we love are impossible to control." —Henry

Diamonds Are Forever

• "It is often when one least expects it that fate arrives at our door. We can't foresee it any more than we can escape it. No matter how hard we run or hide, fate, like death, will always find us." —Henry
• "Must be hard. I mean, not the gum. Seeing him. Feels like it's real for a moment, like you can talk to him." —Henry
• "Silence isn't a gift that I was given. Joe, I've seen a lot of death, in all its forms -- coronary disease, gunshot wounds, blunt-force trauma, exsanguinations, strangulations. What kills you is not what causes your heart to stop beating. It's what prevents you from living. You have to deal with Sean's death someday." —Henry
• "Fate can be cruel. A minute here, a minute there, and lives can be lost. But fate also gives us moments of impossible grace...moments in time when we come together and connect in a way that is profound...chance occurrences so precious that they almost make one believe in the divine, that there is someone out there looking after us." —Henry

Hitler on the Half-Shell

• "The average person is said to apologize 12 times a day. Often, it's to atone for a past wrong, an attempt to heal an old wound. But there are some wounds that can never be healed. They run too deep." —Henry
• "Who's Indiana Jones?." —Henry
• "I can imagine you felt quite at home among the Nazis." —Henry to Adam
• "Atonement can take many forms -- a heartfelt apology, a grand gesture, a silent prayer, or something more complex, more gray, more difficult to decipher. And while it's true that no amount of atonement can ever change the past, it does have the power to heal us, to restore relationships and connections we thought were lost forever." —Henry

The King of Columbus Circle

• "Why do we feel compelled to trace our roots? Those names in the family tree are just that -- names -- and yet the kinship we feel to them is powerful. Does the fact that we're rooted in history make us feel more secure in our present. But what if our family trees are more like vines, twining aimlessly throughout the ages?" —Henry
• "The truth is each of us is related. It's just a question of how far you back you trace your family tree. Deep down, all of us have shared blood in our veins. Although, individual tastes may vary. And if we're all related, then ALL of us have royal blood. Which is why every child should be treated as a king or queen...no matter how old our children may be." —Henry

Memories of Murder

• "We are told that those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat, while those who dwell in the past would love nothing more than to repeat it over and over again. But memories, like photographs, have a way of fading with time." —Henry
• "We've braved a war together, raised a child together. I'm sure we can survive a night out in New York together. Come one. It'll be fun." —Henry to an older Abigail, 1982
• "Some memories are so powerful that they never fade...memories which become more powerful every time we remember them...thus making our present lives seem a little more faded. But let's not think about that now." —Henry

Social Engineering

• "In 1912, Guglielmo Marconi predicted his invention the radio would out end t war. No more miscommunication, no more secrets. Then 200 million people were murdered in the century following. Meanwhile, we came up with better ways to communicate. None of which, alas, put an end t lies, miscommunication, or murder." —Henry
• "You live by a code? So do I." —Henry
• "Perhaps privacy is a thing of the past. In the future, everything about us will be available with the touch of a button -- who's fallen in love, who's gotten sick, who's having an affair. Maybe it's a good thing -- a future without secrets. Of course, those of us with a few more years value our privacy. We've made our mistakes and survive them. It's not that we want to keep these secrets from others. Usually, we're keeping them from ourselves." —Henry

Dead Men Tell Long Tales

• "Every person who has lived long enough has something in their past that must be forgotten -- a moment when they failed, or when they simply went right instead of left, and that simple choice changed their life for the worse. So we cover it up and forget. But deep down, we know it will comeback to haunt us." —Henry
• "It's happened, hasn't it? I've become boring." —Henry
• "My immortality is not a condition, it's a curse." —Henry
• "I believe that 99.9% of everything can be explained scientifically. There's no fate, no magic, no curses, except for one -- my own." —Henry
• "You brought your gun on a date?" —Henry
• "A great alienist once told me that we must face those moments we chose to forget. Only by confronting our fears are we able to grow, to change, and to be able to face our next." —Henry

Punk Is Dead

• "They say memories make us who we are, that the past defines us, but we can't forget to grow, evolve, because sometimes a memory can be so powerful that we get stuck in it, frozen in a moment." —Henry
• "Yes, some memories are precious...and we need to hang on to them. But Emily Dickinson wrote, 'Forever is composed of nows,' and she's right. If we root ourselves too deeply in the past, we'll miss what's right in front of us." —Henry

Best Foot Forward

• "Every human being on this Earth knows that life is not without pain. For most of us, it's an inconvenience, a trial to be endured or avoided. But there are a select few who seek it out, who use it as a tool to create something so beautiful that it transcends this world and makes them immortal." —Henry
• "Paris is -- well, lets just say that wherever you go in the world, Paris stays with you, for Paris a moveable feast." —Henry
• "In my humble opinion, the single best thing to do in Paris is get lost." —Henry
• "Wake up, start walking in any direction, really, and get lost. Wander the streets until you're so terribly weak that you have no choice but to stop at the nearest café and order something to eat with a glass or two of whine. And then setback out into the city. And do it all over again. But know that this regimen works best only if done with someone you find very special." —Henry, about Paris
• "There are moments in all of our lives when we are compelled to ask ourselves, 'How far are we willing to go for what we want? How much are we willing to risk, to sacrifice, to endure?' Because it's one thing to yearn for something...but quite another to find the strength to achieve it." —Henry

The Night in Question

TBA

The Last Death of Henry Morgan

• "Do you think I'm afraid of death?" —Henry
• "I'm not a killer. I'm a doctor." —Henry
• "Don't worry. We'll find away out of this. We've got eternity together." —Henry
• "None of us can make it through this life without suffering some kind of pain. Having lived through my fair share, I can tell you the most difficult to endure is loneliness. Adam was right. Life is a game -- and one that we must play. No matter how careful we are, there is simply no way to go through this life unscathed. But, fortunately for us, its a game we don't have to play alone." —Henry