List of all notable quotes by or about Matthew Murdock (Earth-616). (Please add any important quotations that may be missing, ensuring to cite the original source. Pages with a quote from this character will automatically be added here along with the quote.) Appearances · Minor Appearances · Mentions · Invocations · Items · Quotes · Images · Gallery · Victims
Rompin' around town in a costume may not be the safest job of all -- but it has its good points -- at least, I don't have to squander my hard-earned shekels on cab fare! -- or worry about getting caught in traffic jams!
No police sirens! No cries for help!...nothing! Not even some little kid blowing his Dick Tracy whistle! If this keeps up, I may end up chasing up a litterbug... if I'm lucky!
Did anyone ever tell you that you have a hostility syndrome? I'd better show you what happens to people who talk so nasty! For your own good, of course!
I'm afraid I out-smarted myself when I took on a third identity -- that of my own "twin brother", Mike! I never dreamed it would lead to such embarrassing complications! Now, my partner and best friend thinks I'm a coward and the girl I love has lost all respect for me! It's lucky I can make it as a super-swinger -- 'cause as a diplomat, I'm one big washout!
My problem isn't Daredevil -- and never was! It was always Matt -- the blind lawyer -- the hapless, helpless invalid! He's been my plague... since the day I first donned a costume! Then, let Matt Murdock no longer exist!!
Taste... touch... smell... hearing... all my senses were heightened! Except perhaps for that secret ingredient called... common sense! Why else would I never have told you before... that I love you?
Rain! Let's hope it'll cleanse you of your memories and your fears, Matthew. Fat chance! Right? Memories of lost-love and a girl named Karen Page will never leave---never!
I can't voucher for the accuracy of tv news reporting, Wally, but at least the news won't be altered by criminals. Though, I think all people should learn to get their news from many sources -- tv, radio, newspapers, magazines -- to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.
We're only human, Billy. We can be weak. We can be evil. The only way to stop us from killing each other is to make rules, laws. And stick to them. They don't always work. But mostly, they do. And they're all we've got.
The longer I have my sight back, the plainer it is that I value it too much. Maybe enough that I'd do anything to keep it. And that worries me... Because that "profound sense of justice"of mine is even more important to me. There is no place for anything which compromises it. No room for any doubt.
So you know. So that's why. I never would have connected it to you. nothing about it said gangster--until this. It was a nice piece of work, Kingpin. You shouldn't have signed it.
My life would be a lot easier without us locking horns! But I'm not trying to do the easy thing but the right thing! And that's why the Kingpin must be allowed to return.
As a physician you save lives one at a time, but -- and I don't mean this in a boastul way -- I've saved this entire city in one fell swoop before. Thousands of lives in a heartbeat. Something to consider.
I'm trying to be civil about this. Trying to remain calm. But I'm giving you 'til the count of five to stand back and stop all this ninja nonsense. 1... 2... 5...
Vision... It's something I speak of in the abstract. It's something I have only when I'm dreaming... ...or when I'm playing music... ...or when I'm listening to it. Vision is something that I have only in the eye of my mind. Her laughter... Her scent...it moves through me...invisible... ...like the wind. Will I see her again? Or will she remain... ...an echo?
The Punisher is my nemisis. My opposite number. I was wrong to bring others into the hunt. I wasn't meant to lead. I was meant to work alone. It's better this way. This way I'm the one taking the risk. The only one who gets hurt.
Obviously, anyone can put on a Daredevil costume and pretend to be Daredevil. But the question we must all address is... how can we be sure that he's the real Daredevil?
Sometimes, I think I accomplish more with my fists than with my law firm. Sometimes, I don't really care. All I know is that the Kitchen's quiet tonight......and that's good. Thanks, Pop. Happy father's day.
Maybe that's my problem. I've always been running after something......when I should have had the good sense to run away. Ah well. No use crying over spilled toxic waste.
My father was a good man. A good man caught up in a bad situation. A bad situation that eventually brought him loneliness. Loneliness that introduced him to the bottle. Which made him do bad things. Which brought him right back to the bottle. This place, this place was a turning point for both of us. My father, my hero, beating on the local butcher, extorting money for the neighborhood wise guy. It was the first time my father ever saw himself through my eyes. It was the beginning of my seeing the world through his.
Battlin' Jack Murdock was my father. Battlin' Jack wasn't perfect. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Battlin' Jack did some terrible things for some very bad men. But when push came to shove......Jack gave the middle finger to those bad men. Perhaps he'd grown sick of the scum he had kowtowed to. Or perhaps he just couldn't stand the sight of his own reflection in his little boy's eyes. But one day Jack Murdock dug deep and found that part of himself that used to be noble and good and uncompromised by the world. He found his soul. And with that......he saved mine.
I've got a coat that still smells exactly like my father. Have to keep it in a box in my attic. If I smell it--up close--it's like he's still here...just for a minute.
I should live in a cave. I should live in a cave and have no friends. No family. I should care about no one. Just live in a cave and go out at night to break bones and teeth... ...but then...I'd probably be even more crazy than I already am...
The time for waiting is over! From this day forth, The Hand will no longer hide in the shadows! We will take back the streets! Starting here -- in Hell's Kitchen!
PEOPLE OF NEW YORK! HEAR THIS! Hell's Kitchen is now under protection of The Hand! Any and all criminals will be dealt with ruthlessly -- by they citizen, police, or H.A.M.M.E.R.!
Been walking a while now. Weeks, maybe. Always south, southwest, orienting by the feel of the sun on my face. Took the bus for as long as I could stand it. The noise, the stench--too much. But out here in the badlands there's nothing. It's what I need. Nothing. Nothing but the hiss of the wind in the needlegrass and the endless, hypnotic tread of boot heels on dusty asphalt. Nothing to fear. I don't think about what I'm walking away from. I don't think about anything at all. I just walk.
You think you can...turn me into a blubbering wreck...by preying on my fears...But I've already faced them--and come out the other side! You understand me, Calavera? I know what I am...Who I am...And I am not afraid!
It has been a miserable last few years. And every time I thought I'd finally hit bottom, God somehow found me a bigger shovel. All this pain and all this loss and... and I just can't bear the weight of it anymore and stay sane. I know that. So this is the way I've decided to be. You can say I'm in denial. You can decide I'm not dealing or that I'm a jerk... That's up to you. No offense, but I don't care. This is how I choose to cope.
Here's why I never make dinner reservations. Or buy theater tickets. Or, basically, make any social commitments that require me to be punctual. Because 24/7, no sooner do I step out onto the street -- than the calls start coming in.
The best is how proud I am of these miracle kids. For right now, all I want to do is get them back where they belong at Christmas. Home. To be with their parents.
Information is power, Frank. The drive holds more power than any one person should command. You don't know what damage you could do, even unintentionally. You've always targeted those you perceive as guilty. This would claim innocents as well. The answer is the same. The answer is no.
The gas. It's dulling my senses -- no -- eliminating them. Taste and smell are gone...and judging by the growing numbness around a broken rib that should be agonizing, touch is fading, too.
Even I can't find the words to express my rage and disgust, and I am very good at that. Every victim in the room is screaming as if caught in the fires of hell itself. And if they're looking to me for any sort of relief at all, I wish I could tell them...that it's coming.
Wait. That stench. It's positively rancid on these guys and while I smelled it only once, over twenty years ago there's no way I could ever forget it. My God. Oh, my God. It's the toxin that BLINDED ME. No wonder they're berserk. Whoever did this to these poor bastards must have set them loose in the city--where their hypersenses would drive them insane!
Bullseye, the world's deadliest man. An invalid kept alive by machines. If all that's left of you is your sick twisted mind, I can imagine no more fitting punishment. I'd call that a victory. Wouldn't you?
I don't owe you after yesterday. I can't be sure I ever owed you anything. I'm not racking up medical debt to settle some imaginary obligation. No, we're going to get you upand about so that I can pick you clean of absolutely anything else you may have picked up about the Sons of the Serpent. Because if they really have infested the institutions of this city... Then I'm going to clean house.
Listen to me. Something's happening in this city. We all feel it. No one is certain of anything anymore and I think a little trust would go a long way here.
This is not New York. I'm not a stranger to San Francisco. I actually lived here for about a year. But that was a long time ago, and it's changed. A lot. I really need to reacclimate myself since it's my new home and all but now isn't the time.
I can't read your heartbeat-- And I don't know if that means you've perfected lying-- Or if you just don't know the difference anymore. Please leave while I'm unsure.
Shut up. I am quite the expert on self-destructive despair. I know exactly what it's like to have nothing. To have taken from me all the light there is. I can spend the rest of the night going, for your benefit, through the impossibly long list of tragedies I have faced. All the loves I have lost. All the hopeless moments.
Logan -- most people, when they talk the way you've been talking... look, I've lost more loved ones than I can count. I've been there. I've seen this. You can't live in fear.
I try to. I've been trying to. I thought I could. But it's impossible. I'm not strong enough. Happy Matt is just an act. That's all it ever was. And I can't pull it off anymore.
Villains have come and gone... But there were some battles that never ended. So we rush on. And remind ourselves to be fearless when you're fighting justice.
Dammit -- they're doing their disappearing act. They're getting awa-- Wait. What the Hell am I thinking? They're doing their disappearing act. Thank God.
Done? My friend, there's no such thing. You think this is the last time Chinatown will need your help? No. This job doesn't end. That's the best thing about it.
That's Castle's justification. Kill people for what they've done, and for what they might do. It's easier for him. Simpler. But there's another way. It's harder, but it's better.
The reason you feel like there's a hole in your memories is because there is. Everyone used to know my identity, and I did something to change that. I'm still the man you trusted. The only difference is now you don't know my name.
That's Castle's justification. Kill people for what they've done, and for what they might do. It's easier for him. Simpler. But there's another way. It's harder, but it's better.
Not purple children. ThePurple Children. Two of them. Two out of five. But you can't talk about the Purple Children... until you talk about the Purple Man
I get it now, by the way. What you were saying before. I'm my own worse enemy. Maybe. I don't know. It's hard to tell sometimes. I don't see myself the way other people do. To me, a mirror's just a piece of glass. To me, Daredevil's one of the very best parts of my life. To you... he's the obsession that ruined it. We're both right, I think. I am my own worst enemy. That's why I could use a friend.
Listen -- revenge can feel like the only thing that matters, but I've been down that road. It's empty. Even if you get what you think you want, it doesn't change anything. The past is still the past.
The Owl and the others aren't crime bosses, Foggy. Not right now. Right now, we're at war. And they're generals. Besides, I'm not planning to run for re-election.
You worked for Hydra, Frank. Hydra. Maybe they tricked you or offed you something you needed, but that doesn't change it. You backed the bad guys. That's not something we can just move past. Even by your crazy %$!@ rule book that has to have consequences. Right?
Unbelievable. I've fought the Hulk. Ultron.Armies of ninjas. And my obituary almost read, "Daredevil killed by three robbers -- oh, and by the way, he was Matt Murdock, local lawyer and former mayor."
I used to be a lawyer. I've even been to prison. I know what you've gone through, and I'll do everything I can to keep you from going back. The system is broken. You know it, and I know it. But it's the system. It's what we have to work with. So let's get you out of it. Deal?
I can't be Daredevil again. Daredevil was a mistake, and now... now it's a symbol that's tainted. I was playing at a thing, in a costume, to absolve my actions. I'm just... me now. But I can do so much.Godgave me so much... so now I need to give back and show him I deserve this. This neighborhood needs help. I hear it.
Daredevil... Daredevil was a symbol. I tainted it, and they took it back. It was bigger than me. It was always bigger than me. They carried my burden, my sins. But they should´t have to.
I'm turning myself in... but I'm Daredevil and you're not my moral authority. You've put as many people in the hospital as any of us, and I don't see you being fingerprinted. Now get the #%@ out of my home... before I call the cops.
I'm here to let youknow -- to let you all of you know... that I'm listening -- I'm watching -- and even from prison... I'm going to make your lives Hell.
Because with Beck and all of his victims of the last few weeks dead and buried, can you tell me one thing -- just one thing -- that makes any sense in that mess whatsoever?!?
One bullet. One shot. One chance to stop me killing Dino Gnucci. It's time for that choice you were telling me about. You can't break loose in time. You haven't the space to throw the gun, maybe knock me off my aim. I've got my back to you. I'm wearing Kevlar. It's got to be a headshot.
Yes, you did! What you meant was, "stop goofing off and do it my way!" Well, guess what? I'm not you! You think just because we all wake up on the wrong side of your moral vision none of us could possibly suffer as much as you do?
I'm not finished! I kid around through all this lunacy because that's my way of dealing with it, okay? The alternative is to sit around at home and mope about how many people dies in the city today, and who went without food, and what I could've done to make it different. I've had enough of the "Zen Warrior from Hell's Kitchen" for this lifetime. So, instead of dragging me down, how about you lighten up?
Matty, I wasn't fair to you, either. I think the reason I was so angry that you might not be dealing with your problems honestly and with courage is because I... I need that from you right now. I need you to be the one who can teach me how to do all that.
You were dealing with a chemical imbalance. Maggie, I've defended clients with perinatal issues. Yours was extreme, but ten percent of new mothers struggle with it on some level, maybe more. It's not their fault. You know that.
Oh. Failing. Right. You mean by pulling yourself up out of a suicidal depression by faith and sheer force of will to become a force for good on this planet? We should all fail so tragically.
What's the difference? You know Murdock's sending him down there to die. You know that. You know that, and you're making that happen. You want to see him punished just as much as I do.
The name's Daredevil... remember it! You'll be hearing it again... I promise!! 
