Memorable Quotes from Stephen Boyd
6 quotesConfrontation of Victory and Loss
Messala
Triumph complete, Judah. The race won. The enemy destroyed.
Judah
I see no enemy.
Messala
What do you think you see? The smashed body of a wretched animal! Is enough of a man still left here for you to hate? Let me help you... You think they're dead. Your mother and sister. Dead. And the race over. It isn't over, Judah. They're not dead.
[convulses with pain]
Judah
Where are they? Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY?!
Messala
Look for them in the Valley of the Lepers, if you can recognize them. It goes on. It goes on, Judah. The race... the race is not over!
[last words; Judah doubles over with grief; dies]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Fighting Ideas with Ideas
Sextus
You can break a man's skull. You can arrest him. You can throw him into a dungeon. But how do you fight an idea?
Messala
Sextus, you ask how to fight an idea. Well, I'll tell you how... with another idea!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Influence of Roman Civilization
Messala
Be wise, Judah. It's a Roman world. If you want to live in it, you must become part of it...I tell you, Judah, it's no accident that one small village on the Tiber was chosen to rule the world...It wasn't just our legions...No, it was fate that chose us to civilize the world - and we have. Our roads and our ships connect every corner of the earth, Roman law, architecture, literature are the glory of the human race.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Sanity of Loyalty in an Insane World
Messala
It's an insane world, but in it there's one sanity, the loyalty of old friends. Judah, we must believe in one another.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Loyalty Amidst Conflict and Betrayal
Judah
I would do anything for you, Messala... except betray my own people.
Messala
In the name of all the gods, Judah, what do the lives of a few Jews mean to you?
Judah
If I cannot persuade them, that does not mean I will help you... murder them. Besides, you must understand this, Messala. I believe in the past of my people, and in their future.
Messala
Future? You are a conquered people.
Judah
You may conquer the land; you may slaughter the people. But that is not the end; we will rise again.
Messala
You live on dead dreams; you live on the myths of the past. The glory of Solomon is gone and you think it will return?. Joshua will not rise again to save you nor David. There is only one reality in the world today. Look to the West, Judah! Don't be a fool, look to Rome!
Judah
I would rather be a fool than a traitor... or a killer!
Messala
I am a soldier!
Judah
Yes! Who kills! For Rome! And Rome is evil!
Messala
I warn you...
Judah
No! I warn you! Rome is an affront to God! Rome is strangling my people and my country, the whole Earth! But not forever. And I tell you the day Rome falls there will be a shout of freedom such as the world has never heard before!
Messala
Judah, either you help me or you oppose me, you have no other choice. You're either for me or against me!
Judah
If that is the choice, then I am against you.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Fear as a Tool for Control
Messala
I wanted your help. Now you have given it to me. By making this example of you, I discourage treason. By condemning, without hesitation, an old friend, I shall be feared.
[to Judah]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.