Quotes

Sydney: I thought you sold airplane parts!
Jack: I don't sell airplane parts. I never sold airplane parts.

Sydney: Since I've known the truth about you, I've asked myself questions. Thousands of questions. But this one I have to ask you now. When Danny was killed... Dad... did you know? Did you know that's what they were going to do?
Jack: Yes.
(Sydney slaps him.)
Sydney: Don't you ever speak to me again.

Sydney: I know about you! That you were hunted by the F.B.I.! And I know that mom died because they went after you.
Jack: Sydney...
Sydney: Every time I think I know just how awful you are, I learn something worse.

Vaughn: Sydney's life is worth the risk!
Jack: Not to Sydney! Taking them down is what gets her up in the morning. Or... did you think it was those meetings she has with you?

Sydney: Dad, can I ask you something? When you started with SD-6, you knew that they were a mercenary group and that they had no connection with the C.I.A. But I didn't. When I joined, I thought I was going to be saving the world and not making it more dangerous.
Jack: What's the question?
Sydney: Why didn't you say something? I mean, you could have told me what I was really doing - damage instead of good - but you kept quiet.
Jack: (sighs) Revealing the truth about what you were doing would have required revealing the truth about what I was doing.

Sydney: What happens when someone you care about is in trouble. What you said, that nothing else matters. It all just goes away. Last week when I learned what my father did for me, sacrificing Russek, it made me sick. But now, I know I would have done the exact same thing. You should have seen him.
Vaughn: Your father?
Sydney: Yeah, he was like ... he was like a pro. He was good. I mean, the way you talked about him once, what his reputation was, I could see it in action. He was ... impressive.

Jack: I know how this feels.
Sydney: Not exactly. You've had a lot longer to make sense of this than I have.
Jack: There was a time when this was news to me, too. Your mother was sent to the United States to steal secrets from a ranking officer of the C.I.A. How she and I happened to meet, how she supposedly fell in love, I thought it was all true. But it was just a set-up.

Jack: When you asked me the other day about school, I couldn't help you. I... I'm out of practice when it comes to, uh... personal matters.
Sydney: Dad, I'm in no rush.
Jack: Believing your mother was a professor may have influenced you somewhat but the decision to go back to school was yours. And I'd trust that. I think that, uh, if you stick with it... you could become the kind of teacher your students will always remember.
Sydney: Thank you.

Jack: Tippin didn't turn out to be a problem, did he?
Sloane: Sydney wasn't intimate with Tippin. She is with Hicks.
Jack: I'm not sure that's my business, and I know it isn't yours.

Jack: He only told you my name so you would realize that my threat to you was a bluff. That I would never hurt Sydney, even if you continue your investigation. He didn't expect you'd have the guts to contact me.
Will: Oh, well, I'll assume that's a compliment.

Sydney: I've seen the footage. Mom's briefing with her KGB handler. She was sent here for one specific purpose, to steal information from you about a project you were developing for the CIA. An operation to train children to be American spies. Project Christmas. Ever since Mom came back, you were afraid she'd figure out what you did to me. You weren't trying to protect me from her, you were trying to protect your secret. So the first opportunity you had, you set her up ... in Madagascar.
Jack: Sydney, understand something -
Sydney: No, Dad, you understand something. You took away my choices in life. You programmed me to be a spy. I will never forgive you for this.

Jack: Please try to understand what I'm about to tell you, Sydney. After your mother left, I tested Project Christmas on you because I didn't want you to be a victim. I thought it was my responsibility to teach you how to think strategically, to see through people's lies, to be as strong as you could be in an environment where one mistake could cost you your life.
Sydney: Then you should've told me the truth before I ended up here.
Jack: Yes, you're right! I never intended you to lead a double life. I imagined recruiting you into the CIA after you finished college. But Sloane got to you first, and that is a mistake I will never live down.
Sydney: I'd like to believe you, but I don't trust anything you say.

Jack: I spent a decade with this woman and another twenty years analyzing how she could have deceived me for so long. Trust me when I tell you, I am protecting you.
Sydney: No, you're not. I think you loved Mom so much that when she left you, you lost your soul. You know what else I think? I think the kind of man who'd use his own daughter to frame her mother, who'd test psych experiments when she was six-years-old is the kind of man who looks at his daughter and sees his greatest mistake.
Jack: You can't honestly believe that.
Sydney: It's true, isn't it? If Mom hadn't fooled you, if you hadn't been so gullible, I never would have been born. I'm going to finish reviewing the mission now.

Jack (talking about Syd at a hearing): When I look at her, when I look at the little girl who raised herself to become one of the most extraordinary human beings and one of the finest agents I've ever had the privilege of knowing, I see only the promise of my own redemption. Turning myself in was the only way I could think of to make that clear to her, to prove that despite... my limited abilities as a father, I love her more than I could ever say.

Jack: Your mother betrayed us. Betrayed the CIA. Her meeting with Sloane was staged to secure her escape.
Sydney: You don't know that. Sloane could've set up the meet to abduct her.
Jack: Before the operation, she swapped the Rambaldi manuscript. She left us with a fake. She and Sloane are now in possession of the original. Sydney, they planned this.

Jack: Vaughn what?
Sydney: He got married.
Jack: Michael Vaughn is just a boy who was never good enough for you.

Jack (to Sloane): Personally I would have found it anti-climactic that after expecting to assemble a weapon of ultimate power you found a revelation you could have acquired from a fortune cookie.

Sloane: I know that you were imprisoned for making contact with your ex-wife. You went to Irina Derevko for help to find Sydney. Now I wouldn't have believed that you would ally yourself with a woman you vowed you'd never trust again. So, if you're capable of having such a change of heart, why is it so hard to believe that I am as well?
Jack: Because every morally questionable thing I have done has been to protect Sydney. You don't have the same excuse.

Jack: Vaughn's been quizzing me about "Julia." I tried shutting down his inquiry, but apparently something you said has made that impossible.
Sydney: All I said was that I couldn't talk about it.
Jack: Which, of course, has only piqued his interest.

Sydney: The last thing I want is to be responsible for driving a wedge between Vaughn and Lauren.
Jack: That is a concern I do not share.

Vaughn: If you ever put my wife's life in danger again, I will kill you!
Jack: Then perhaps you finally understand the moral compromises you'll make when someone you love is in danger.

Vaughn: The fact that you're letting me see this place means: it's not your only one, is it?
Jack: You're smarter than you look.

Vaughn: I didn't know you wore glasses.
Jack: Only during surgery.

Vaughn (to Jack): You're starting to like me again.

Jack: I've been trying to think of a single reason why you saved my life. The only conclusion I've come to is that it would incur some feeling of debt on my part.
Sloane: As usual, Jack, you're in danger of outsmarting yourself.

Sydney: What happens if what we're looking for isn't metal?
Jack: Then we're screwed; it isn't an unfamiliar situation.

Jack: I used to think you didn't have much of a spine.
Vaughn: And has that assessment changed?
Jack: No.
At this, Jack smiles ever so slightly.

Jack: You and I have something in common. We both suffered through the death of the woman we loved only to discover that she was still alive. I know, it's hard. But this isn't about you. And I will not allow my daughter to become your mistress.
Vaughn: If that's where you think my concern for Sydney is headed, then you are even more cynical than I thought.

Jack (to Vaughn): If you care about my daughter as you claim to, then push her away. Be cruel if you have to - make her despise you. Because your kindness tortures her. I can see it, what it does to her. And I won't have it.

Jack: Do you mind if I ask who you are?
Katya: What you should ask is what I'll need you to do in return for my assistance.
Jack: I was going to get to that.

Ryan: Don't tell me. We've come to the point where you coerce me into cooperating.
Jack: Not exactly.
(Jack seizes Ryan by the neck and starts to strangle him.)

Sydney: We should talk to Dixon and figure out a way to handle this.
Vaughn: Oh, I know how to handle this.
Jack: You will act like nothing has changed.
Vaughn: Okay, what's Plan B 'cause that's not going to happen.

Vaughn: My wife betrayed me. She betrayed all of us. You can't expect me to pretend that never happened.
Jack: I'm not sure you have a choice.
Vaughn: Why is that?
Jack: Because you're the one that married her.

Jack (to Sloane): You're right: I'm not going to help you. Since this is the last conversation we will ever have, I want to make this perfectly clear. What you have done to my daughter is nothing compared to what I will do when I find yours. Salut.

Jack: Sydney, there's something you should know. When I first learned of Sloane's affair with your mother, I was forced to consider the possibility that I wasn't in fact your biological father.
Sydney: You don't even--
Jack: It's not the case. I had our medical files examined. Our relationship is clear. But I wanted you to know, during that brief time before I was reassured my feelings for you never changed.

Jack: I suggest you focus your energy into achieving closure on this matter.
Vaughn: No one wants Lauren in custody more than I do!
Jack: That's not the kind of closure I'm referring to.

Jack: Sydney, get in. Get in now - you can be stubborn later.

Huge Goon: You don't frighten me.
Jack: Then clearly you're an *idiot.*

Nadia: Mr. Bristow, I don't mean to seem impatient, but I've never done *anything* that's lasted as long as this.
Jack: How sad for you.

Sydney: You manipulated Nadia.
Jack: I gave your sister closure.
Sydney: But not the truth.
Jack: Sometimes a satisfying lie, Sydney, can do more good than the awful truth.

Vaughn: I thought I saw her. In the market at Algeria. That ever happen to you?
Jack: Do I have visions of Lauren?
Vaughn: I don't know that many people who killed the woman they were married to; I was just wondering if that's what happens.
Jack: It did. Now it doesn't.

Jack: You would have my gratitude for any assistance rendered.
Alexei: While that does warm my heart, I'm afraid the reward does not outweigh the risk.

Jack: There was a small bookstore in Prague that stocked rare first editions. Whenever I was in town, I'd buy one for her as a gift.
Marshall: Oh, that's sweet.
Jack: The KGB encoded assassination orders in these pages.
Marshall: Oh . . . well . . . that's . . . not as sweet.

Sydney: She's supposed to be dead.
Jack: So are a lot of people.

Marshall: I got a . . . spork.
Jack: What's a spork?

Jack: Weiss, make sure the jet is on standby. Coordinate an in-country rendezvous with Sloane at twelve hundred hours.
Weiss: "Twelve hundred"? Jack, it's me; you can say "noon."

Fake Sloane: Jack, please, are you really wasting our time with this? After all, it was you who taught me how to endure torture. It was your training that enabled me to get through MacKenas Cole and the needles of fire.
Jack: Listen to me, you pathetic freak. Even if what you're saying was true, you can be sure that I kept a few things to myself.

Katya: Is that look on your face supposed to be intimidating? You forget, Jack. I've seen your tender side.

Katya: Do you intend to torture me?
Jack: If I have to.
Katya: While I *know* that would be enjoyable for both of us . . . I should warn you, I have quite a bit of stamina - but you already knew that about me.

Jack: I was set up. Elena put a hit out on Sydney, framed Irina for it.
Katya: Oh, I see. So, you executed my sister on *misunderstanding.* Well, then. All is forgiven. Don't stand there pretending you are a patsy; you're too good at what you do. If you pulled the trigger, part of you wanted to be manipulated.

Sydney: Did you have any idea she and Dixon ...?
Jack: No. But then, I tend to miss those kinds of details.
Sydney: What are you talking about? You're the *master* of details.

Irina: I understand why you believed you had to kill me, but the truth is, if the situation had been reversed . . . I would've found another way.
Jack: I can imagine this will give you any comfort, considering what you've been through, but . . . the truth is, there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't regret what I did.
Irina: And about my . . . indiscretion with Sloane, I can only hope you'll accept my apology.
Jack: Of all the things you've done, *that's* what you're going to apologize for?

[Irina smiles, and Jack smiles back - they are ADORABLE!]

Sloane: These are Elena's men. Sent here to kill you.
Jack: I suppose you're expecting a thank you.
Sloane: There's no time for sarcasm, Jack.

Irina: I'm not gonna torture you. I'm gonna let him do it. And he really doesn't care for you, especially after you tricked him into killing me. One thing you should know about Jack: he hates being anybody's puppet.
Jack: I'm actually hoping that you don't tell us what we need to know . . . There's a fifty-fifty chance Sydney cuts the right wire. I'm willing to take those odds if it means I can stand here and watch you turn into an animal.
Elena: You're not a gambling man, Jack.
Jack: I didn't use to be, but it's been a rather interesting year for me. It's made me reevaluate certain parts of my life. I'm trying to have more fun these days.

Elena: How do I know you won't inject me anyway?
Jack: You don't.

[Jack watches Tom at the firing range.]
Jack: I think you got him.
Tom: My mother always said, if somebody was worth shootin' once, they're worth shootin' twice.
Jack: I'm sorry I never met her. She sounds like my kind of woman.

Elizabeth: Unless she's wearing a very convincing disguise--
Jack: --I'm going to be a grandfather. A very *young* grandfather.

Dr. Desantis: So *this* is how you do it. Bring in a man in a suit to scare me into talking.
Jack: You're right. The *suit* shouldn't scare you. What should scare you . . . is that I'm a very concerned father.
[A blade pops up from the knife in Jack's hand.]