The Dark Knight

I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... These civilized people... they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.

— He must have friends.
— Friends? Have you met this guy?

Let me get this straight. You think that your client... one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante... who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands... and your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck.

Can't rely on anyone these days. You gotta do everything yourself.

You wanna know how I got these scars? My father was... a drinker... and a fiend. And one night, he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that... not one bit. So, me watching... he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me and he says: "Why so serious?" He comes at me with the knife. "Why so serious?" He sticks the blade in my mouth. "Let's put a smile on that face." And... Why so serious?

— Today you get to say "I told you so."
— Today, I don't want to. But I did bloody tell you.

— Whenever you stitch yourself up, you do make a bloody mess.
— Yeah. It makes me learn from my mistakes.
— You ought to be pretty knowledgeable by now, then.

Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.

Either you die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Does it depress you, commissioner... to know just how alone you really are?

— A long time ago, I was in Burma... and my friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders... by bribing them with precious stones... but their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never met anyone who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby... the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away.
— So why steal them?
— Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just wanna watch the world burn.

The mob has plans. The cops have plans. Gordon's got plans. Y'know they're schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are.

Killing is making a choice.

You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me. Set the dogs on me.

I don't wanna kill you. What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off Mob dealers? No, no. No. No, you... You complete me.