West Wing Quotes

I found the imdb quotes page for the West Wing by Aaron Sorkin. I should mention that the internet movie database which I would think most people have found by now is a fantastic encyclopaedic reference site for anything film or tv related.

Anyway here are a few of my favourite quotes:

[Charlie seeks and obtains the President's permission to date his daughter]
President Josiah Bartlet: Just remember these two things: she's nineteen years old, and the 82nd Airborne works for me.

Charlie is the young bagman to the president for those that have never caught the show.

[the President neglected a formality transferring executive power before going into surgery]
Margaret: Can I just say something for the future? *I* can sign the president's name. I've got his signature down pretty good.
Leo McGarry: You can sign the president's name?
Margaret: Yeah.
Leo McGarry: On a document removing him from power and giving it to someone else?
Margaret: Yeah. Or do you think the White House Counsel would say that's a bad idea?
Leo McGarry: I think the White House Counsel would say that's a Coup D'Etat.
Margaret: I'd probably end up doing some time for that.
Leo McGarry: I would think. And what the hell are you doing practicing the president's signature?
Margaret: It's just for fun.
Leo McGarry: We've got separation of powers, checks and balances, and Margaret, vetoing things and sending them back to the hill.

Leo McGarry is Chief of Staff and Margaret is his secretary.

Sam Seaborn: Toby, do you really think it's a good idea to invite people to dinner and then to tell them exactly what they're doing wrong with their lives?
Toby Ziegler: Absolutely, otherwise it's just a waste of food.

Sam and Toby are the speech writers

Mandy Hampton: You guys are idiots, did you know that?
C.J. Cregg: You know, in our defense, we actually did know that.

CJ Cregg is the fantastic Press Secretary, can't remember who Mandy Hampton was.

I could go on, as there literally are 100's of quotes on the page.

I have to say it is difficult to pick favourite characters from the show as they are all damn good actors but I would also like to give special mention to the character Donna Moss who is not mentioned here, I could fall in love very easily with a girl like her.

Quo Vadimus – Where are we going?

Aaron Sorkin the writer and producer is known for his fast paced scripts such as Sportsnight and the West Wing. Workplaces like that are where I feel most at home and I would hope that any place I work can be a bit like that.

Aaron often builds in thought provoking almost philosophic lines into his plots. Quo Vademus is one of them from Sportsnight a behind the scenes comedy based around a third place cable sports show.

Quo Vadimus simply means, “Where are we going?” The character who is an entrepreneur states that his career he has had more failures than success but what matters is that when he fails he gathers his team round and asks “Where are we going?” and after things start to look up.

We all need to know where we are going, once you know that, it is easy to work out how to get there. The other thing to accept is that failure is part of the path to success, failing sometimes can mean your doing things right.

Quo Vadimus?

Links:

Aaron Sorkin imdb biography

Tags: Aaron Sorkin, Philosophy, Quo Vadimus