Top 100 Quotes From John Dutton

Kayce: It's gonna be a shit show no matter what we do. May as well do it fast. Less time for things to go wrong.
John: Your logic is so flawed, son, it... hell, it almost makes sense.

John: God gives us tragedies so we can pass along how we survived it to the next generation of sufferers, if that makes any sense. And maybe someday all that knowledge leads to no tragedies at all.

- than a parent outliving a child.
- Because it's the one failure that you just can't ever overcome.
- Ever
John: You should've gone to the sheriff, Dan.
- You ain't getting cut down next time.
- Because next time, I'm doing it myself.

John: You sure you were here?
Rip: I'm sure, sir.
- Give it to me.
- Give it to me.

John: Who's watch commander?
- Ramsey, till the end of the day.
- He retiring?
- Appointed him interim sheriff.
- Not Sam?
- Not Sam.

John: Evelyn?
Evelyn: Don't come in here.
- Ah, just give us a few minutes.
- Let the boys open a present.
- Is she okay?
[Chuckles] She's fine.

Rip: You know what's gonna happen, don't you, sir?
John: I suspect it's happening right now, Rip. I'm sick of listening to it. Let them get it out of their system.
Rip: Nothing gets out of your daughter's system, sir.

- Want me to start asking around?
John: No. No need.
- When people lose their dogs, they ask everyone if they've seen them.
- He'll show up soon enough.
- Yes, sir.
- Let me know if you need anything.

Ron: On their land, it's their river. I mean, I can't stop the river from flowing.
John: I don't want you to stop it, Ron, I want you to move it.

John: Why do all of my children have to leave to find happiness?

[John gets off his horse and walks over to Jamie sitting on the grass holding a rifle]
John: You know the thing about suicide, you don't just kill yourself. You kill every memory of you. This'll be all everyone remembers, Jamie. Every second you spent on this earth will be reduced to how you chose to leave it. No one will mourn your loss, son, because this isn't losing your life. This is quitting it.
Jamie: Yes, it's quitting. I quit, Dad.
John: I won't let you.
Jamie: Why not? What do you care?
John: Because it's selfish! It's the single most selfish thing a person can do!
Jamie: [cries] This cannot be fixed. I cannot... be fixed. I'm married to it.
[John crouches down in front of him]
John: Your grandfather used to say that you that you can't fix a broken wagon wheel. But you can use the parts to make a new one. I should have never sent you off to school. You needed more time here. I can- I can still give you that. But you need to give me that rifle, son. The old you is dead the moment you let it go.
[Jamie contemplates briefly, then gives John the rifle. John stands up and pulls Jamie up]
John: Now we start working on the new one.

Clara: He can't point to a single code or conduct violation. He talks about litigation and damages but no litigation has been filed so there's no damages to consider. His entire impeachment claim is conjecture.
John: Sometimes conjecture is all you need to get started.
Clara: Truth prevails.
John: It's not that kind of fight, Clara. Truth won't win this one.
Clara: Well if truth won't win it, I don't know what will.
John: Menace.
Clara: I don't know how to fight with menace.
John: I'll teach you.

John: I know how you feel. I wished I didn't, but I do. I buried a son right over there.
Monica: I remember.
John: Blaming yourself, aren't you? Yeah, I did that too. Still do some days. I'll tell you something I've never told anybody. I had a brother for about 18 hours. His name was Peter. He was born early, and his little heart wasn't strong enough. Not much they could do back in those days. Not a lot they can do now. So, they just gave him back to my mother. The doctors hoped and we prayed and... neither worked. And it changed my mother, it hardened her. She never... she never tried to have children again. Years later, I was grown and Lee had just been born. Both my parents are looking at him, taking turns holding him. And my father got white as a ghost, looked at my mother and said, "Peter lived a perfect life. All he saw of this planet was you and all he knew was you loved him." That boy lived a perfect life, Monica. We're the only ones who know it was brief. All he knew was you and that you loved him.
Monica: Thank you.
[sobs]

Carter: What?
- You know what we're gonna do?
- We're gonna ride the foul right out of your mouth.
Carter: Fuck! [Grunts]
- Oh, god damn it!
John: Just shut up and ride.

Kayce: You're not supposed to be ridin', neither.
John: He said, "No driving." He never mentioned nothin' about horses.
Kayce: Well, I promise you that horses are on the list of things that you shouldn't drive.
John: You got shot. You're on a horse.
Kayce: I only got shot twice.
John: Well then you win the gettin'-shot-least award, Kayce.

Jamie: I'm in a police station in Bozeman, hoping to convince a young woman to drop the aggravated assault charges she plans to file against your daughter.
John: Can I, uh, have a little more context, Jamie?
Jamie: Yeah, she mouthed off to Beth in a bar and it went about how you'd expect.

John: You know, my great-grandfather didn't build this place with the goal of impressing anyone. The goal was to... the goal was to just make it big enough that his children never had to leave.

John: [to Monica] I got something to ask Kayce, but we both know who wears the pants in you deal, so I'm just gonna cut out the middleman and ask you.

John: If you act like a thief, Thomas, I will treat you like one.

John: For a woman who's mastered the art of mad, I can't say I've ever seen her that angry.

John: You iron things out with Beth?
Carter: I'm afraid that ship has sailed, sir.
John: Yeah, you better start swimmin' after it.

Tate: I don't have a horse. I can't be a cowboy without a horse.
John: Yeah, pretty tough to cowboy without a horse. That's for sure.

John: My daughter... I, uh... I commend you, Rip. It must take a lot of courage to sleep next to that woman.
Rip: You know that old saying "don't go to sleep mad?" Well that's never truer than my marriage.

John: You never knew your grandmother, did you?
Jimmy: No, she, uh, she died when my mother was young.
John: I remember. Where's your mother now?
Jimmy: All my family's dead or in prison. Just me and my grandfather left. He used to say when his wife died, it - it killed the whole family. That sort of says something, sir, that you kept yours together.
John: Oh, it killed mine too. Just taking it longer to die.

John: If your daughter's ridin' a horse, no one's ridin' her.

John: When you say 'no', it must be the death of the question. If there's even a hint of maybe, the questions won't stop until they find something you can't say no to.

John: Okay, honey. Now go ruin someone else's day.
Beth: That's the plan, Daddy.

Tate: Do you think some day an explorer will find our bones and wonder what happened to us?
John: I think after us, the exploring's all done.

Clara: The Governor has a dinner tonight with the Montana Clean River Alliance.
John: God sakes, Clara, If it has the word "Alliance" in the name, cancel it.

John: [talking about Colby and Teeter] What happened to them?
Rip: You friend Wade Morrow is what happened to them, sir.
Kayce: He ran them down. On our side of the fence. The boys are pretty hot, they wanna go after him.
Rip: I mean, he's been goading our ass ever since he got here.
John: He's been goading me pretty good, too. That piece of shit is a bully and a coward, but he ain't stupid. His job ain't riding tourists by buffalo. This is what he was hired to do.
Rip: Well sir, what do you want to do?
Kayce: Can't call the sheriff.
John: No. They already thought about that and already have a reason or an excuse or alibi.
Kayce: We gotta do something.
John: I have more reason than anyone to go after that piece of shit.
[looks at Rip]
John: You don't send him off half-cocked. You be smart about this. You figure out a plan that works. And you take that trash to the fucking train station.
Rip: Yes, sir.
[starts to walk away]
John: Rip.
[he turns back to him]
John: That son of a bitch has something that belongs to me and I want it back.

Torry: That was a nice move.
John: Wasn't a move. I'm just meaner than you.

John: Yeah, I know.
- They're all pretty fat.
- How about we line them up in a row, and then the biggest will be easier to spot then.
- You can do that?
[Chuckling] Yeah.
- Grandson, you can...
- You can do whatever you want.

John: Line up the trucks.
Rip: They're lined up. We just need to know where they're headed.
John: Ground in Eastern Colorado and north of Panhandle in Texas.

John: Wherever you want.
- Carter, you grab a seat right here.
- You sit next to me, baby.
- Okay.
- Sir?
- On the table's fine.
- It looks formal, rip. But it's not.
- It's just supper.

John: You and I are going to have a long talk later.
Beth: Yeah, well, I'm going to sleep later.
John: We'll have a short one now then. Impulse control. Find some.

- He's in the other room.
- Babysitting is where I draw the line.
- God damn it, Beth, I'm not...
- I'm not asking.
- Are you okay?
John: He's in the kitchen.

John: Can't have him killed just because he doesn't want to be ridden. Hell, I don't want to be ridden either.

John: No one has a right. You have to take the right. Or stop it from being taken from you.

John: This is America. We don't share land here.

John: Thank you.
- Dan Jenkins' office?
- Uh, do you have an appointment?
- Not what I asked...

John: Got a flat?
Woman: Yeah,
- I'm trying to call a tow truck, but I don't have any signal.

John: Where's your dad now?
Carter: Polluting the dirt they buried him in.
John: Shit. Just like you, huh?
Rip: Yessir.

- You've horse traded me enough, Travis.
- Time I horse traded you.
- Oh, you think that's funny?
- Boy, if this don't pucker your red eye,
- I guess nothing will, huh?
- Here we go.
John: All right, nobody be a hero.
- We'|I turn 'em together.
Lloyd: Let's go.

- Just like that.
- Take this real slow.
[Grunts] God...
- That is some gift.
John: God damn that boy.
- Easy, easy. There you go.

John: I sure hope you outlive me, Beth. I'm not sure I could tolerate the world without you in it.
Beth: Worry not, Daddy. Only the good die young. If a meteor strikes Earth tonight, it is me and the cockroaches runnin' this motherfucker tomorrow.

[John is in a conversation with Kayce]
John: It's the one constant in life... .You build something worth having, someone's gonna try and take it.

Governor: Gewürztraminer, a variety originating in Tramin, a German-speaking village, in northern Italy.
John: My father fought those bastards. Now we're drinking their wine.

John: Yep, but you can't sell this.
- You gotta earn it.
- You gotta live it. And that's what they'll never understand.
- But they only want to sell it.
- And they could care less about the dream coming true.
- That's what you've got to understand.

Rip: Sweetheart... Don't bite my head off for asking this question.
Beth: Ii don't like the way this is starting.
Rip: Me either... Um... Would you like to come to the fair with me?
Beth: Sure, when?
Rip: Yes? Really?
Beth: Yeah, why wouldn't I want to go to the fair?
John: Is "fair" some sort of metaphor for something a father shouldn't be hearing?
Rip: No, no. It's the fair. It's the county fair.

John: What do we got here?
- Be right back.

Rip: What happened, sir?
John: He didn't wake up. He just... died on the trail. Like every cowboy dreams it.

- The soldier.
Rip: Whoa, easy.
John: Pull him down.
Rip: Easy. Easy.
- There you go.
- Come on.

Kayce: They came after all of us. But we beat 'em.
John: All of 'em?
Kayce: Every one they sent.
John: Well, you haven't got anything until you get the sender, son.

John: Leverage is knowing if someone had all the money in the world, this is what they would buy.

John: If he calls dispatch for support, I expect you to give it to him. Did you hear me, Donnie?
Sheriff: I heard you, John. The whole goddamn valley heard you.

Carl: I hope I never meet the first man who thought it was a good idea to ride a bull.
John: I dunno, Carl... First man might be worth meeting. It's the 2nd man I wonder about.

John: F--- it!

John: Is this about Summer?
Beth: When you say Summer, are you referring to the season or that hairy hippie giving syphilis to our sofa?

John: These problems have to go away before I do.
Rip: How far away do you want 'em to go?
John: When they go away, they never come back, ever.

John: [to Rip] You know, I always thought Beth would calm down as she got older. But every year it seems like she gets wilder. I've never seen anything like it. What it must feel like to be that free. You know I've got one child I miss, one child I pity, one I regret... But that girl... That child I envy.

John: My dad used to say, "If you can't sleep through a man's snoring, then you ain't tired enough."

Malcolm: Don't you want to have your lawyer present?
John: This don't feel like a lawyer meeting.
Teal: I saw your son go against Peabody Coal before the Senate. He's one hell of a litigator.
John: Yeah, he can argue with the best of them. So, what's this problem?
Malcolm: A casino in this valley will have a negative affect on our business. Your ranch and the others.
Teal: In five years, how many ranches like this can afford to exist?
Malcolm: Wanna hear our guess. Soon as that casino opens, they'll approach the Forest Service for land lease. And they'll build a ski resort.
Teal: And you know as well as anyone, ski resorts are daggers to the heart for places like this.
Malcolm: It'll be an ocean of second homes in ten years.
John: I'm aware.
Malcolm: I'm sure you are. Look, my office has no authority over an Indian casino.
Teal: And yours has no authority over the land. And your new AG can't restrict them. That's why we need to fight this outside the lines, Mr. Dutton. And we just don't think they got the stomach for that.
John: Yeah, well they have the stomach for it. I don't need partners, fellas.
Teal: Dan Jenkins has a partner. A big one.
Malcolm: Think of us as allies. We'd be the perfect allies for each other, John. Because there is no part of your business that benefits ours. And vice versa.
Teal: And when we fight, it's a zero-sum game. We will win. At any cost.
John: Yeah.
Malcolm: John... we just want you to consider it.
John: I consider every option, Malcolm. And I choose the one that's best for my family. If it helps you, it's a coincidence.
Rip: That's not the way you wear one of those.
Jamie: Working with them is a deal with the devil, Dad.
John: All the angels are gone, son. There's only devils left.

Rip: Here you go.
John: You were standing?
- No. No, I was kneeling.

Rip: You ought to listen to this. They're building a casino with a 400-room hotel with a housing development around it. Right up against your fence.
John: Rainwater and Jenkins are working together? When I'm gone, they will gobble this place up. Rainwater will annex that land into the reservation. I don't have a child who could fight for this. I'm running out of time, Rip, and they aren't ready. My children aren't ready to protect this place.
Rip: What do you want me to do?
John: These problems have to go away before I do.
Rip: Well, how far away do you want them to go?
John: When they go away they never come back. Ever.

- Lawyer: We're going to appeal this in the morning.
John: Hey.
Bailiff: Sir, you can't touch the inmate.
- It's her last fucking hug.
- Let her have it.
- Get your mind right.
- It's a long fight and it starts now.

John: Hey, if you uh, you hire another girl, she needs to be mean or ugly, one of the two. Last thing I need is a love-struck cowboy climbin' into the wrong bunk. You know what I mean?
Rip: Mean or ugly. Yes sir.

John: [Looking at the impressive landscape] And they wonder why we fight so hard. You see what you been missing?
Beth: Did anyone think to pack any vodka?
John: Beth, just... look at the horizon.
Beth: Yeah, I see it, Dad, it's very pretty.
[He chuckles]
Beth: What, I said it's pretty. Don't make a thing out of it.
John: You two drop in here. I wanna go down a hundred yards where she can't ruin this for me.
Beth: It's the same view from the porch. Just a different angle.
Rip: Honey, you got a mean streak as big as this damn valley.
Beth: Well, it's a woman's job to give a man perspective, baby.

- Just gotta be careful we don't start a fucking forest fire.
John: We'll bring up water trucks.
- I'll have the fire department out, just in case.
- I don't see any other way.
- Burn it.
Rip: Yes, sir.

John: It's the trash can for everyone who's attacked us. It lays in a jurisdictional dead zone in a county with a population of exactly zero. Hence, no jury of your peers, and no court for a change in venue. Why are you so surprised? Where did you think the men who attacked you in your office and attacked our ranch went?

John: You could sell it, son. You could bottle it up and sell it.
Beth: I don't think there's anyone to sell it to, Dad. Anyone who knows what it's worth are already doing it.

- Lynelle: John?
John: Um...
- A little later this morning.
- Understood.
- I'll see you in...
- Yeah.
- You know.

- 'Cause I've never seen a shred of proof that you can, but I guess you see something I don't.
John: He's my son.
- That's what I see.
- Jamie's your son, too, sir.
- What did you see in him?

- I bet that's the cause behind every problem you got.
- If I was you I'd find a way to get ugly.
- Ugly?
John: And how.
- Why ugly?
- Handsome's the only thing
- I got going for me.
- That's why.

John: You know, our cemetery may be by the river son, but make no mistake: this is our graveyard.

Maggie: Oh, Mr. Dutton! No no no no. Go back to your room!
John: Maggie, you're fired.

Ella: How?
John: Like a cowboy should. Head resting against the saddle, staring at the stars. His eyes closed. He didn't open them.

John: We're gonna mark a little territory, grandson. Get to it.
Tate: Just in one spot?
John: Everywhere you can. Let 'er rip... Whoa, hey, don't mark me!

John: If it's progress you want, then don't vote for me. I am the opposite of progress. I am the wall it bashes against, and I will not be the one who breaks.

Jamie: What do you want me to become?
John: A lawyer.
Jamie: You always say that you don't respect lawyers.
John: Well, become one that I can.
Jamie: Why a lawyer?
John: Lawyers are the swords of this century. Words are weapons now. I need you to learn how to use 'em.

John: When you look at that calf, what do you see?
Lee: I see a life I got to feed and defend until it grows up and feeds me.
John: That's what a cowboy should see. But a cattleman sees a $293 investment worth $1100 in 7 months, whether it feeds anyone or not.

Lynelle: You could be a really good leader, John, but you're a shitty politician because you won't play the game. But if you don't play the game, the game plays you. I'm here for another month. Use me.
John: That's a refreshing thought.
Lynelle: That's not what I meant.

Summer: Don't get me wrong, I'm not ordering a steak for dinner any time soon. But I understand now. I understand why you brand and why you vaccinate and why you move them from one pasture to another. Twelve million tourists a year come to Montana from cities. You might wanna think about inviting a few of them over so they understand who you really are and what you really do, because they have you pegged as a bunch of misogynist bigots who are ruining the environment. And that is not who you are.
John: You're a smart woman, Summer. Very, very, very smart woman.
Summer: I'm a smart person.
John: Well, women are smarter than men to begin with so I'm just judging you against your peers.

John: You can go on home, sonny. I'll come back when I'm God damn good and ready. And if I don't, you just bury me where you find me.

Tate: I need to talk to you first, Grandpa. It's very serious.
John: All right.
Kayce: Do I need to be part of this conversation?
Tate: You ain't got any money. Gotta be him.
John: This should be good.

John: Only reason to ride a bull, meet a nurse.

John: You're gonna grow up and I'm gonna grow old. I'll just be this old shriveled raisin in the corner telling you stories you don't want to hear.

John: I'm gonna leave these holes just like this, right here in the middle of my field. And if you ever come back here again, I'm gonna fill 'em. Understand?

John: You have a grade 3 concussion. We're supposed to bring you back to the hospital if you experience nausea or confusion. I asked if there's other symptoms since nauseous and confused is your natural state of being.

[last lines]
Kayce: What are we going to do about these Beck brothers?
John: We're gonna kill 'em, son.

Rip: You know why, uh, people don't come and talk to you? 'Cause they're scared they're gonna let you down. I know I am.
John: Well, if you're marrying Beth, you've already proved you're not scared of anything.

Beth: I don't think they want us here.
John: Even if they don't want us, they need to know we care enough to stay.

John: Got tiger stripes on his legs. You know what that means, don't you?
Kayce: Spanish blood - pure.
John: One of his ancestors probably bucked a conquistador and took to the hills.

John: Progress. It's, uh... seems that's all I ever talk about. But I never talk about what the word actually means - it means "to proceed," "to move forward," that's all. Typically we interpret moving forward as better, better for us as a people, better for the planet, which is usually better for us as a people. And if we use it in that manner, I agree. But when something benefits one group over another group you can't use that word anymore. You must use another word. You must use "bias," you must use "favouritism." Running a pipeline beneath the drinking water of an already strained and impoverished community maybe progress for the owners of the pipeline or owners of whatever runs through the pipeline or for those receiving it, but it could lead to disastrous effects, to the land and the people this pipeline runs beneath. Which is not progress at all. And for that reason, as governor of Montana, I cannot support that endeavour and will use the full weight of my office to prevent it from happening.

Jimmy: What happened to my arm?
John: They didn't mention your arm, so it must be fine.
Jimmy: Doesn't look fine.
John: Well, compared to the rest of this shit, it's fine.

John: [in Jimmy's hospital room] Every road from the rodeo leads right here.
Jimmy: What day is it?
John: Well, it's payday for the hospital. They won the lottery with you.

John: Know what dreams are? It's your memories and your imagination all mixed together into this soup of what's real and what's made up. But the thing about this soup is: you can change the ingredients, Tate.

John: "Damn right, I did it" is gonna be my campaign slogan.

- we got to get out of here.
John: I said wheel us around!
- We've still got men down there.
- Drop us down and push those bastards back.
- Yes, sir.
- Closer.
- Hang on.

Lloyd: Makes you wonder... who's gonna feed this world when there's none of us left?
John: Nobody, Lloyd. The world's just gonna go hungry.

John: Kayce.
- Shit.
Monica: Well, then there's the downside of having three generations on the same ranch.
John: Kayce.
- Get dressed.