29 quotes
The Key to Breaking Enigma
Alan Turing
Heil Hitler. Turns out that's the only German you need to know to break Enigma.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Power of Knowledge Against Nazism
Hugh Alexander
My God, you did it. You just defeated Nazism with a crossword puzzle.
John Cairncross
There are five people in the world who know the position of every ship in the Atlantic. They are all in this room.
Joan Clarke
Oh, good God.
Hugh Alexander
Oh, I don't think even He has the power that we do right now.
Joan Clarke
No. There's going to be an attack on a British passenger convoy. Right there.
[getting closer to map]
John Cairncross
God, you're right. Those U-boats are only twenty, thirty minutes away.
Joan Clark
Civilians. Hundreds of them. We can save their lives.
John Cairncross
And knock out a whole German fleet in the process.
Hugh Alexander
I'll phone Denniston's office so that he can alert the Admiralty.
Alan Turing
No.
Joan Clarke
Do you think there's enough time to save them?
John Cairncross
There should be. If we can get a message to that convoy—
Hugh Alexander
Commander Denniston's office please, it's urgent—
[into phone]
Alan Turing
No, no!
[grabs and hangs up phone]
Hugh Alexander
What the hell are you doing?
Alan Turing
You-you can't call Denniston. You-you can't tell him about the attack.
Hugh Alexander
What are you talking about?
John Cairncross
We can have air support over that convoy in ten minutes.
Alan Turing
Let the U-boats sink the convoy.
John Cairncross
Look, it's been a big day, maybe you're suffering from—
Alan Turing
Oh, shut up—
Hugh Alexander
We don't have time—
[tries to grab phone back]
Alan Turing
No!
Joan Clarke
Oh, Hugh! Hugh! Stop! That's enough!
John Cairncross
Stop, Hugh!
Peter Hilton
John, the attack is in minutes.
Joan Clarke
Are you all right?
[rushes to Alan's side]
Alan Turing
Yes, no, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm fine. Do you know why people like violence, Hugh? It's because it feels good. Sometimes we can't do what feels good. We have to do what is logical.
[to Hugh]
John Cairncross
What's logical?
Alan Turing
The hardest time to lie is when the other person is expecting to be lied to.
Joan Clarke
Oh, God.
[getting it]
John Cairncross
What?
Alan Turing
If someone's waiting for a lie, you can't just, uh, give them one.
Joan Clarke
Damn it, Alan's right.
Peter Hilton
What?
Alan Turing
What would the Germans think if we destroy their U-boats?
Peter Hilton
Nothing. They'll be dead.
John Cairncross
No. No, you can't be right.
Alan Turing
So our convoy suddenly veers off course... a squadron of our air bombers miraculously descends on the coordinates of the U-boats... what will the Germans think?
Hugh Alexander
The Germans will know that we have broken Enigma.
Joan Clarke
They'll stop all radio communications by midday, and they'll have changed the design of Enigma by the weekend.
Hugh Alexander
Yes.
Alan Turing
Two years work. Everything we've done here will all be for nothing.
John Cairncross
There are 500 people in that convoy. Women. Children. We're about to let them die.
Alan Turing
Our job isn't to save one passenger convoy, it is to win the war.
Hugh Alexander
Our job was to crack Enigma.
Alan Turing
Oh, we've done that. Now for the hard part. Keeping it a secret.
Peter Hilton
Carlisle.
Joan Clarke
What?
Peter Hilton
The convoy you're about to... it's, uh... The HMS Carlisle is one of the ships. We can't act on every piece of intelligence? So fine, we won't. Just this one.
[points to the map]
Joan Clarke
Peter, what's the matter with you?
Peter
My brother's... well, he's on the Carlisle. A gunnery ensign.
Alan Turing
I'm... I'm so sorry.
Peter Hilton
Who the hell do you think you are? This is my brother. He's my big brother, alright, and you have a few minutes to call off his murder.
Alan Turing
We can't.
John Cairncross
He's right.
Peter Hilton
Alan. Joan. Hugh. John. Please, I... the Germans, they won't get suspicious just because we stopped one attack. No one will know. I'm asking you. As your friend. Please.
Alan Turing
I'm so sorry.
Peter Hilton
You're not God, Alan. You don't get to decide who lives and who dies.
Alan Turing
Yes, we do.
Peter Hilton
Why?
Alan Turing
Because no one else can.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Innovative Solutions in Codebreaking
Hugh Alexander
If you run the wires across the plugboard matrix diagonally, you'll eliminate rotor positions 500 times faster.
Alan Turing
This is actually not an entirely terrible idea.
Joan Clarke
That's Alan for "thank you.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unlikely Heroes Achieve Extraordinary Things
Taglines
Sometimes it’s the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Man Behind the Code's Solution
Taglines
The true enigma was the man who cracked the code.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unlocking Secrets to Achieve Victory
Taglines
Unlock the secret. Win the war.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Impact of an Unknown Man
Taglines
You do not know this man. Yet he has changed our lives.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Miscommunication in Human Interaction
Alan Turing
When people talk to each other, they never say what they mean. They say something else and you're expected to just know what they mean.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Embracing Unconventional Love
Joan Clarke
I know it's not ordinary. But who ever loved ordinary?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Human Achievement in Wartime Efforts
Alan Turing
Was I God? No. Because God didn't win the war. We did.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Living a Secret Life in Silence
Taglines
A top-secret life.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Conversation About The Imitation Game
Alan Turing
The Imitation Game.
[explaining the [[w:Turing test#Imitation Game|Turing Test]
Detective Nock
Right, that's... that's what it's about?
Alan Turing
Would you like to play?
Detective Nock
Play?
Alan Turing
It's a game. A test of sorts. For determining whether something is a... a machine or a human being.
Detective Nock
How do I play?
Alan Turing
Well, there's a judge and a subject, and... the judge asks questions and, depending on the subject's answers, determines who he is talking with... what he is talking with, and, um... All you have to do is ask me a question.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Importance of Attention and Commitment
Alan Turing
Are you paying attention? Good. If you are not listening carefully, you will miss things. Important things. I will not pause, I will not repeat myself, and you will not interrupt me. You think that because you're sitting where you are, and I am sitting where I am, that you are in control of what is about to happen. You're mistaken. I am in control because I know things that you do not know. What I will need from you now is a commitment. You will listen closely, and you will not judge me until I am finished. If you cannot commit to this, then please leave the room. But if you choose to stay, remember you chose to be here. What happens from this moment forward is not my responsibility. It's yours. Pay attention.
[pause]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Struggles with Identity and Relationships
John Cairncross
What's wrong?
Alan Turing
What if... what if I don't fancy being with Joan in that way?
John Cairncross
Because you're a homosexual? I suspected.
Alan Turing
Sh-should I tell her that I've had affairs with men?
John Cairncross
You know, in my admittedly limited experience, women tend to be a bit touchy about accidentally marrying homosexuals. Perhaps not spreading this information about might be in your best interest.
Alan Turing
I care for her, I truly do, but... I-I just don't know if I can pretend...
John Cairncross
You can't tell anyone, Alan. It's illegal. And Denniston is looking for any excuse he can to put you away.
Alan Turing
I know.
John Cairncross
This has to stay a secret.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Challenging the Limits of Problem-Solving
Alan Turing
I like solving problems, Commander. And Enigma is the most difficult problem in the world.
Commander Denniston
Enigma isn't difficult, it's impossible. The Americans, the Russians, the French, the Germans, everyone thinks Enigma is unbreakable.
Alan Turing
Good. Let me try and we'll know for sure, won't we?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Consequences of Being Different
Alan Turing
They only beat me up because I'm smarter than they are.
Christopher Morcom
No, they beat you up because you're different.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Debate on Agreement Among Colleagues
Hugh Alexander
So who do you agree with? Alan or myself?
Helen
Well, Alan, of course.
Alan Turing
I'm very flattered really, but I... I don't think that...
[stammering; Joan kicks him under the table]
Hugh Alexander
Rubbish.
Helen
Well, I work beside a man every day, and I can't help but have developed a bit of a crush on him.
Hugh Alexander
Well, who is this man? So I can kick his arse.
Helen
Oh, there's no need to worry, it's been chaste. We've never even met. He's a German.
Hugh Alexander
Now I really want to kill him.
Alan Turing
Er... How... How do you mean you work alongside a German?
Helen
Well, each of us intercepts messages from a specific German radio tower. So we have a counterpart on the other side, who's tip-tapping out the messages. Everyone types a touch differently, so you get to know the rhythm of your counterpart. It's strangely intimate. I feel as if I know him so well. It's a pity he has a girlfriend, but that's why I disagree with you, Mr. Alexander, because I'm in love with a coworker of sorts and we've never even met.
Hugh Alexander
Well, allow me to buy you another pint and I'll tell you why you're wrong.
Helen
Let's.
Hugh Alexander
Excellent.
Joan Clarke
In case you were wondering, that's what flirting looks like.
Alan Turing
HELEN!
[loudly]
Joan Clarke
Alan!
[slightly embarrassed, as his shout has drawn attention to them]
Helen
Yes, Alan?
Alan Turing
Why do you think your German counterpart has a girlfriend?
[gets up and faces her]
Helen
It's just a stupid joke. Don't worry about it.
Alan Turing
No, no, no, no, no, tell me.
Helen
Well, each of his messages begins with the same five letters. C-I-L-L-Y. So I suspect that Cilly must be the name of his amore.
Alan Turing
But that's impossible. The Germans are instructed to use five random letters at the start of every message.
Helen
Well, this bloke doesn't.
Hugh Alexander
Love will make a man do strange things, I suppose.
Alan Turing
In this case.... love just lost Germany the whole bloody war!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Envisioning the Future of Computing
Alan Turing
Think of it. A digital computer. Electrical brain.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Time Constraints in Problem Solving
Stewart Menzies
Six minutes... is that even possible?
[candidates are taking a timed test]
Alan Turing
No, it takes me eight.
Alan Turing
You're finished?... Five minutes forty-eight seconds.
Joan Clarke
You said to finish under six minutes.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Lunch Plans Among Colleagues
John Cairncross
The boys, we're going to get some lunch.
John Cairncross
Alan?
Alan Turing
Yes?
John Cairncross
I said we're going to get some lunch.
John Cairncross
Alan?
Alan Turing
Yes?
John Cairncross
Can you hear me?
Alan Turing
Yes.
John Cairncross
I said we're off to get some lu- This is starting to get a little bit repetitive.
[pause]
Alan Turing
What is?
John Cairncross
I had asked if you wanted to come have lunch with us.
Alan Turing
Uhm, no you didn't, you said you were going to get some lunch.
John Cairncross
Have I offended you in some way?
Alan Turing
Why would you think that?
John Cairncross
Would you like to come to lunch with us?
Alan Turing
What time's lunch time?
Hugh Alexander
Christ Alan, it's a bleeding sandwich.
[frustrated]
Alan Turing
What is?
Hugh Alexander
Lunch.
Alan Turing
Oh, I don't like sandwiches.
John Cairncross
Never mind.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Value of Uniqueness in Humanity
Joan Clarke
No one normal could have done that. Do you know, this morning... I was on a train that went through a city that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for you. I bought a ticket from a man who would likely be dead if it wasn't for you. I read up on my work... a whole field of scientific inquiry that only exists because of you. Now, if you wish you could have been normal... I can promise you I do not. The world is an infinitely better place precisely because you weren't.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Appeal of Violence and Its Consequences
Alan Turing
Do you know why people like violence? It is because it feels good. Humans find violence deeply satisfying. But remove the satisfaction, and the act becomes... hollow.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Secrecy Surrounds Enigma's Breakthrough
Stewart Menzies
Why are you telling me this?
Alan Turing
We need your help, to keep this a secret from Admiralty, Army, RAF, uh...as no one can know that we've broken Enigma, not even Dennison.
Stewart Menzies
Who's in the process of having you fired.
Joan Clarke
You can take care of that.
Alan Turing
While we develop a system to help you determine how much intelligence to act on. Which, uh, attacks to stop, which to let through. Statistical analysis: the minimum number of actions it will take for us to win the war, but the maximum number we can take before the Germans get suspicious.
Stewart Menzies
And you're going to trust of this all to statistics, to maths?
Alan Turing
Correct.
Joan Clarke
And then MI6 can come up with the lies we will tell everyone else.
Alan Turing
You'll need a believable alternative source for all the pieces of information that you use.
Joan Clarke
A false story, so that we can explain how we got our information, that has nothing to do with Enigma, and then you can leak those stories to the Germans.
Alan Turing
And then to our own military.
Stewart Menzies
Maintain a conspiracy of lies at the very highest levels of government. ...Sounds right up my alley.
[Lights a cigarette]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Imagined Potential and Unlikely Alliances
Headmaster
You and your friend solve maths problems during maths class because the maths class is too dull?
[to a young Alan, about his note-passing]
Christopher Morcom
Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine.
Alastair Denniston
Double agents are such bastards. Isolated loners. No attachments to friends or family. Arrogant. Know anybody like that?
Stewart Menzies
Oh, Alan... we're gonna have such a wonderful war together.
End titles
His machine was never perfected, though it generated a whole field of research into what became known as "Turing Machines". Today we call them "computers" (Above quote corrected): Historians estimate that breaking enigma shortened the war by more than two years saving over 14 million lives. It remained a government-held secret for more than 50 years. Turing's work inspired generations of research into what scientists called "TURING MACHINES," Today we call them computers.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unraveling Codes and Enigmas
Taglines
Behind every code is an enigma.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Nature of Machine Thinking
Alan Turing
Of course machines can't think as people do. A machine is different from a person. Hence, they think differently. The interesting question is, just because something thinks differently from you, does that mean it's not thinking?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
War Against Time and Scarcity
Alan Turing
Some people thought we were at war with the Germans— incorrect. We were at war with the clock. Britain was literally starving to death. The Americans sent over 100,000 pounds of food each week, and every week the Germans would send our desperately needed bread to the bottom of the ocean. Our daily failure was announced at the chimes of midnight. And the sound would haunt our unwelcome dreams.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unseen Potential of the Underdogs
Alan Turing
Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Understanding Love Beyond Societal Norms
Alan Turing
I have something to tell you... I'm a homosexual...
[long pause]
Joan Clarke
Alright.
[not surprised]
Alan Turing
No no, men Joan! Not women!
Joan Clarke
So what? I had my suspicions. I always did. But we're not like other people. We love each other in our own way, and we can have the life together that we want. You won't be the perfect husband? I can promise you I harbored no intention of being the perfect wife. I'll not be fixing your lamb all day, while you come home from the office, will I? I'll work. You'll work. And we'll have each other's company. We'll have each other's minds. Sounds like a better marriage than most. Because I care for you. And you care for me. And we understand one another more than anyone else ever has.
Alan Turing
...I don't.
Joan Clarke
What?
Alan Turing
Care for you. I never did. I just needed you to break Enigma. I've done that now, so you can go.
Joan Clarke
I am not going anywhere. I have spent entirely too much of my life worried about what you think of me, or what my parents think of me, or what the boys in Hut 8 or the girls in Hut 3 think, and you know I am done. This work is the most important thing I will ever do. And no one will stop me. Least of all you. You know what? They were right. Peter. Hugh. John. You really are a monster.
[slaps him; pause]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.