Rust Cohle Quotes

Time is a flat circle.

I think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in evolution.

We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self.

The world needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door.

I think that the honorable thing for our species to do is to deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight, brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal.

We live in a world that has walls, and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns.

We are creatures that should not exist by natural law.

I’m a pessimist, but that doesn’t mean I’m not here.

The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that’s also a hypocrite.

We are not alive. We are not dead.

People incapable of guilt usually do have a good time.

If you ask me, the light’s winning.

I think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware. Nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself. We are creatures that should not exist by natural law.

Look, this is a world where nothing is solved. Someone once told me, ‘Time is a flat circle.’ Everything we’ve ever done or will do, we’re gonna do over and over and over again.

The detective’s curse: we see the world as it really is. To see the world as it really is, is to be crushed beneath its wheel.

My life’s been a circle of violence and degradation.

The ontological fallacy of expecting a light at the end of the tunnel, well, that’s what the preacher sells.

The only way to save yourself is to save one another.

I consider myself a realist, but in philosophical terms, I’m what is called a pessimist.

This place is like somebody’s memory of a town, and the memory is fading.

I know who I am. After all these years, there’s a victory in that.

If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, then, brother, that person is a piece of shit.

You are the Michael Jordan of being a son of a bitch.

I can see your soul at the edges of your eyes. It’s corrosive, like acid. You got a demon, little man.

What’s the point of surviving if you don’t have a soul?

I don’t sleep, I just dream.

I’m bad at parties, but I can hold my own at a crime scene.

Human beings are the true monsters of the world.

The world needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door.

I think we chose our paths long before we were born.

I’m the wrong guy to judge cops.

There’s nothing wrong with a little chaos.

Time is a circle. I’ve already seen this.

I’m not playing on anyone’s side.

The world needs bad men. We need those who can do what others cannot.

Sometimes a detective’s more effective if he’s a little deceptively guileless.

The future is behind you, now.

I’m a small-town cop from a small town you can’t even imagine.

People out here, it’s like they’re in a dream.

I live to change my mind.

We were led astray, and we led ourselves astray.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

There is a vast and insidious conspiracy at play. I’m sorry to have drawn you into it.

I change my opinion when the facts change. What do you do, sir?

Can’t remember if I dreamed it or I lived it.

Given how long it’s taken for me to reconcile my nature, I can’t figure I’d forgo it on your account, Marty.

Once there was only dark. If you ask me, the light’s winning.

I don’t wonder if you’re a bad man. I wonder if you want to be.

The world needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door.