The West Wing Quotes

Donna: Vinick has a cold!
Annabeth: Oh, that's precious.
Josh: I'm going to send him some Vick's Vapo-Rub and a big German nurse!

TV Show: The West Wing
Debbie: [As Vinick and staff sit down in the Mural room] Make yourselves comfortable. The President will be right with you.
Vinick: Thank you.
Debbie: [quietly] Not too comfortable.
Vinick: What?
Debbie: [acting confused] What?

TV Show: The West Wing
Vinick: We lost independents because a nuclear power plant almost had a meltdown after I said nuclear power was completely safe.
Bruno: That is water under the bridge. Now we’ve got to...
Vinick: If it’s water under the bridge, how come I’m still ducking reporters on the campaign trail?

TV Show: The West Wing
Lou: Hey Josh?
Josh: Yeah?
Lou: The congressman's briefcase: what's inside there?
Josh: Road stuff...toothbrush, electric razor, sometimes a wallet. Why?
Lou: We seem to have lost it, and he seems kinda worried.
Josh: The guy's running a tie for the presidency and he's got two weeks left, so you can expect him to look worried once in a while.
Lou: So there's nothing... bad in there.
Josh: Like?
Lou: I don't know! Heroin, porn...
Josh: No, that's all mine.
Lou: I'm going to go now.

TV Show: The West Wing
Vinick: If Santos takes California, game over.
Jane: A Republican can win the Presidency without winning California.
Vinick: And a Democrat can't. This isn't some sentimental, home-state thing. This is about winning. I don't have a 50-state strategy anymore. I have a one-state strategy: the one state that has everything: big cities, small towns, mountains, deserts, farms, factories, fishermen, surfers, all races, all religions, gay, straight, everything this country has. There's more real America in California than anywhere else. If I can win California I can win the country.
Jane: That's a nice speech; just don't say it into any microphones. Because everyone else in the 49 other states thinks that California is a giant psycho ward.

TV Show: The West Wing
Vinick: Over a 26-year career in public service, I'd probably do a lot of things differently if I could do them over again. But my job is to make the best decision I can with the information at the time. You know, if you do something for 26 years you should keep getting better at it. I'm better than I used to be because I have better information. I have more experience making tough decisions. And I have more mature judgment. And that's what I think this country needs now, more than ever. We have troops on the ground in Kazakhstan and more on the way. That's the choice that President Bartlet made to try and keep Russia and China from slipping into war there. Now, the next President is going to have to take over that situation the first hour on the job. That's the most important issue that's facing the country in this campaign. Not who said what about nuclear power 25 years ago. Or did one of us use too strong a word in a debate. The real decision Americans are going to have to make is who do they want as their next Commander-In-Chief.

TV Show: The West Wing
Santos: We need to start addressing real issues and stop wasting time on beauty pageant ephemera.

TV Show: The West Wing
[After the various couples of the campaign retire for the night, Josh and Donna are sitting alone in a bar]
Josh: Did you ever ... "come onboard"?
Donna: No.
Josh: Never had a campaign fling?
Donna: No. [sits next to Josh]
Josh: Do you want another drink?
Donna: No. [gets up, glances one last time at Josh, and slowly heads to her room.]

TV Show: The West Wing
Will: You spend the night at my house more often then not.
Kate: Which makes me...?
Will: A really good date.

TV Show: The West Wing
Bruno: [moves his watch from his left wrist to his right] Superstitious. One of my election day good luck routines.
Jane: One of?
Bruno: You met Carrie already.

TV Show: The West Wing
Charlie: [to CJ] You're a smart savvy woman who could easily consider world domination for a next career move.

TV Show: The West Wing
Josh: [to Donna] Hey, what happened to you? Two minutes. 120 seconds - I was stuck in there with Dull and Duller, counting beads in my imaginary abacus. [he notices her expression] Ohio? Texas - we won? We lost? We need a good lawyer, what?
Donna: Leo was unconscious. In his room. Annabeth found him. He wasn't... he wasn't breathing. They're taking him to the hospital in an ambulance now.
[Josh looks horrified]

TV Show: The West Wing
Santos: America has lost a giant tonight. And I have lost a friend. Leo McGarry devoted his life to public service, to the notion that every citizen is responsible for making this country a better place. That we have a sacred duty to participate in our democracy, to leave America stronger for the next generation. If I win this election, the country will be worse off because Leo McGarry will not be there to help me run it. But, I don't want anyone to vote for, or against me, because of Leo McGarry. This race wasn't about him, and it isn't about me. It's a vision for America that will outlast Leo, and outlast me. There's an America that's bigger than any of us, and, for those of you who have not yet voted, it is the only thing that should matter when you go to the polls tonight.

TV Show: The West Wing
Bartlet: The first time I met Leo, we argued.
CJ: About what?
Bartlet: Monetary... something, role of the Fed...
CJ: Who won?
Bartlet: I did. I'm sure if you could ask him, he'd say he did. [beat] We almost lost him fifteen years ago, did you know that? Abby and I used to talk about it. I was prepared then. Not today.

TV Show: The West Wing
Donna: [to Josh] You've done a remarkable thing. Win or lose. An extraordinary thing.
Josh: [tearful] I talked him into this, into joining the ticket.
Donna: Nobody ever talked Leo into doing anything he didn't want to do. And he'd want you upstairs [in the campaign suite], not down here. You belong up there, it's your night. He was so proud of you, Josh.
[Josh breaks down crying]

TV Show: The West Wing
Santos: Thank you all so very much. Thanks for sticking around. You know, if you haven't left this room in a while, the sun is coming up! First, I want to say a special word of thanks to Senator Vinick, and I ask you all to join me in applauding his lifetime of service. Arnie Vinick made this a better campaign, and he's made this a better country for all of us. [beat] My father was a barber, my mother a domestic servant, and I never dreamed that I'd have this chance to serve so many people in so many ways. It would be easy for me to stand here and claim a sweeping mandate for the next four years. I can't do that. This was a razor-thin election. My intention is to be the President of everyone - black or brown, yellow or white, Republican or Democrat. I've got a lot of reaching out to do. America has become more polarized - you can't run for President and not see that. Our votes may have been divided, but our country will not be divided. Because, ultimately, it's not about left or right, it's about doing right. Together, we are going to lift up those who have been let down. We are going to ensure that the promise of America is not the privilege of the few, but the birthright of all Americans. I am more grateful than I can say, you have given me an opportunity that comes to few people. Perhaps fewer are worthy of it. God bless you, and God bless America.

TV Show: The West Wing
Charlie: [to Toby, at Leo's funeral] I'll walk out with you. I don't think a picture of you and me makes the New York Times. Do you?

TV Show: The West Wing
Josh: This guy is the real deal.
Sam: You said that last time.
Josh: Yeah, and look how right I was.

TV Show: The West Wing
[Josh just offered Sam the job as Deputy Chief of Staff.]
Sam: I'm going to need time to think about this
Josh: Fine... You done yet?
Sam: Josh...
Josh: What's there to think about?
Sam: Well, for one thing, whether I want to end up looking like you.

TV Show: The West Wing
Josh: When I said we needed to talk, I wasn't necessarily thinking about tonight. I'm kind of fried.
Donna: Who said anything about talking?
[Before he can answer, she kisses him.]

TV Show: The West Wing
Josh: So last night was nice. Nice. It was really nice. On the nice scale it was way up there in terms of... you know, niceness.
Donna: Be still and listen to me. I don't know what this is. And you don't, either, which is perfectly fine and understandable. Whatever the buildup, it's all happened amid absurdly heightened emotional circumstances: the election, Leo's death. There's been... not a moment to so much as... take a breath, much less figure any of this out. And now this roller coaster's plunging into the transition, with its time-pressure demands and then the inauguration, and it's hit the ground running, and the first hundred days and, before you know it, the midterms and the new Congress, and then we're running again and four years becomes eight, and... we've never had the talk. And you can lose that look of panic in your eyes. We're not going to have it now; we don't ever have to have it. But there's a window. I'd say four weeks. If we can't get it together in that time to figure out what we want from each other, then clearly it's not worth the trouble. While last night was lovely, I've already called a cab. You should put on some coffee, and I'll see you at the office.

TV Show: The West Wing
Donna: Not everyone's like you, so...
Josh: Dedicated?
Donna: Monomaniacal.

TV Show: The West Wing
Doctor: Your hand healed faster than I expected.
Vinick: That's 'cause I went from 1,000 handshakes a day to none.

TV Show: The West Wing
Vinick: What do you have in California?
Lawyer: You don't want to be the official greeter at a vineyard, do you?

TV Show: The West Wing
Lawyer: [about Vinick] He'll be bored to death and won't be able to afford the Republican lifestyle he deserves.

TV Show: The West Wing
Gaile Addison: As you know, we have very little in the budget for redecorating.
Helen: Oh? How much is very little?
Gaile Addison: $200,000. You might want to establish a fund raising committee to raise a few million dollars and do it right. There really is a lot to do, especially in this room. I've never really liked the color of this rug but the Bartlets ... Well. It's up to you now.

TV Show: The West Wing
Danny: [to CJ] We keep shoving this conversation downstream. At some point you have to choose to have a relationship. We're not 25 any more. At our age you can't date a little and screw a little and wait around to see if you get sentimental at Christmas. You have to decide if you're gonna make another person a part of your life. A partner.

TV Show: The West Wing
CJ: [to Toby] You don't need a pardon, You need a frying pan to the side of your head.

TV Show: The West Wing
Danny: [to CJ] I want you to do what you want to do. Take the job at the White House. I just want you to talk to me about it. I want us to talk about what it will mean and how we'll make it work. I want us to talk like we're gonna figure it out together. I want us to talk...because I like the sound of your voice. I just want to talk.

TV Show: The West Wing
Debbie: Good morning Mr. President.
Bartlet: Morning.
Debbie: How are you feeling this morning?
Bartlet: Unemployed.
Debbie: A lot of that going around the building.

TV Show: The West Wing