"I spared her life."

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"You let one of them go ... but that’s nothing new. Every now and then a little victim is spared. Because she smiled. Because he’s got freckles. Because they begged. And that’s how you live with yourself. That’s how you slaughter millions. Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind’s in the right direction ... you happen to be kind."

Conversation between Margaret Blaine (Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen) and the Doctor in the Doctor Who episode 'Boomtown'.

Image nabbed from here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
awww...thats wonderful...

i am quotes and lines sucker :)

wow,Richard,youre posting everyday,i cant catch up :)

Have a great week ahead!!
ghee
November 19, 2007 8:33 AM
Richard said…
ghee: that is because I signed up for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). The idea is to post an entry every day during the month of November. Sometimes, my posts are a little less than inspirational.
November 19, 2007 11:45 AM
B said…
"That's how you slaughter millions.... Because once in a while, on a whim, if the wind's in the right direction... you happen to be kind." Wow...that part has my overactive mind over engaged (not surprising). Do you see a link between this and your earlier post on the "random acts of kindness?"
November 19, 2007 5:47 PM
Richard said…
breal: I tend to try for short posts, which mean I want to capture a single essence. I had this quote in mind when I wrote my post on Random Acts of Kindness. This and RAoK are also linked with "Ignorance is Not the Problem" (in my mind at least). They all stem from the same thought train.

The whole dialogue is quite good - this is an unnecessarily short snippet. The Doctor intends to bring Margaret to her home planet to stand for her crimes, for which she will be executed. In this particular scene, she is really begging with him to mercy. Her response to his polemic is "Only a killer would know that."
November 19, 2007 6:16 PM
Barbara said…
Is this television or a movie? Sounds like serious drama!
November 19, 2007 10:19 PM
Richard said…
barbara: television. Doctor Who was the longest running science fiction serial in the world. Running from 1963 until 1989. It was revived in 2005. This quote is from the first season of the revived series.
November 19, 2007 10:39 PM
B said…
Ah, I see. The context always helps, doesn't it? I think I recall watching some Dr. Who episodes when I was in high school late at night/early morning.
November 19, 2007 11:21 PM
Tena Russ said…
what a chilling quote!
November 20, 2007 7:40 PM
Richard said…
breal: I am still narrowing the context considerably, but the whole dialogue is very powerful.

tena: goes to show the power of good writing.
November 21, 2007 12:00 AM
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