2012 - The Challenge of Human Civilization
Adrian Helmsley:
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Dr. Adrian Helmsley, chief science adviser to the late President Wilson.
German Chancellor:
Could you please turn up the volume, Mr. Hoffmann?
Helmsley:
I know we've all been forced to make difficult decisions to save our human civilization, but to be human means to care for each other and civilization means to work together to create a better life. If that's true, then there's nothing human and nothing civilized about what we're doing here.
Carl Anheuser:
Dr. Helmsley's passion is admirable, but I will remind you that we have very limited resources and extremely limited time.
Helmsley: [glares at Anheuser]
Ask yourselves, can we really stand by and watch these people die? I read a quote two days ago. The author is probably dead by now, but he said: "The moment we stop fighting for each other, that's the moment that we lose our humanity.
Anheuser:
And in order to save the human race, we have an obligation to stick to this plan, which every nation on this flotilla has signed up for.
Helmsley:
We have to let these people in-
Anheuser: [to comms officer]
They're in God's hands now! Officer, you turn that off. That is an order, sailor! TURN IT OFF!
Professor West: [aims cane]
Don't you dare touch that button, young man!
Anheuser: [points to countdown]
Have you completely lost your mind?! LOOK AT THE CLOCK! WE HAVE BARELY 15 MINUTES LEFT! Do you wanna be responsible for the extinction of the human race? Can you handle that, Adrian?
Helmsley:
There's a young astrophysicist from India who's the reason we're all here.
Anheuser:
Oh, for God's sake.
Helmsley: [gets more emotional]
He's the one who discovered it all. He connected all the dots. We all owe him our lives. I just learned that he was killed with his family in a tsunami in eastern India. He was my friend, and he died in vain. Everybody out there has died in vain if we start our future with an act of cruelty. What would you tell your children? What will they tell theirs?
Laura Wilson:
If my father were here, he would open the gates.
Russian President: [looks to fellow heads of state]
The people of Russia along with China and Japan, agree... to open the gates.
German Chancellor:
The United Kingdom, Spain, France, Canada, Germany and I believe I may also speak for the Italian prime minister, we vote to let these people come in.
Helmsley:
Captain Michaels. Please.
Capt. Michaels: [contemplates, then reaches for radio mike; crowd cheers]
This is the captain. In a few moments, we will open the gates and get you people in. Please step back and clear the platform.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.