Stephen Strange (Earth-616)/Quotes

Where mankind is menaced by magic... there must Doctor Strange go to combat it!

Whether there are ghosts in that house is not for me to say! But, there are far more dangerous things than ghosts... things which most of us do not even dream exist!

Be silent! Your cowardly sniveling does not become you! Stand aside while I save your undeserving life!

The dread Dormammu!! Most powerful of the dwellers in the realms of darkness!! What does he seek of us?

These features are as a cooling draught to my eyes! Would that I had more than her wraith to gaze upon... would that Clea herself were by my side!

But, no matter the danger, no matter the dread challenge that awaits me ... I ... must go forth...

Charity Work! You've got to be joking, Dr. Benton! These are the most talented hands in the annals of medicine! They don't touch a band-aid for anything but cash!

Nightmare!? That phantom fiend who stalks the misty byways of dreams? Could he have come back -- to menace us anew?

Whatever befall, the world must never know the full mystic power of Doctor Strange

By the dread Vipers of Valtorr!

By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!

Before me lies a tombstone... newly-carved... icy cold... and carved upon it is... my name!

For, many can be the forms --- and many the faces of the man called Doctor Strange!

In a thousand dimensions, Clea ... the one constant is the creature called woman!

By the Seraphim's silent chant... and by Munnopor's mystic moon... may omniscient Oshtur grant... this fateful boon!

Defenders! A fitting name for such a grouping as we --- if ever we've need to meet again.

You seek to weaken my resolve with fear! But know that Dr. Strange understands fear-- and rules it!

Hamir -- You who are called the Hermit -- You who have devoted your life to the service of my teacher-- Hamir... I have word of the Ancient One, but I would rather my tongue be palsied than speak it to you. ...The Ancient One will never return.

The record of the Defenders has been a proud one so far. I am certain that whatever the future may bring, nothing will ever change that.

A true Defender never raises arms against an innocent, no matter how they threaten you--

There are things in the infinite cosmos that are far beyond your power to permit or deny, Xandu!

I must meditate-- attempt to comprehend this cosmos-- for only through knowledge can true salvation come.

The Symbol of Death diverted my consciousness, to prevent my completing my quest-- and I would have wandered this nether-realm, endlessly mesmerized, had I not become a sorcerer supreme!

One does not need "guts" to deal with such as you Bulldozer. One requires power -- and Doctor Strange has power in abundance!

We shall have no violence here. Is that clear?

Ordinarily, my friend, I do not approve of revenge as a motive...

By the Vishanti!

Though it grieves me to do so, I fear I must leave the Defenders.

For, with all the power at my command, there is nothing I can do to stop the weeping of the universe's most innocent child.

By the all-seeing eye--I am attacked by a demon out of Hell!

With one breath you glory in another man's agony... and with the next, you lust for my disciple! Truly, you are bereft of all honor!

Your life is a sham, Black. Your only reality is the refuge of illusion. You have mistaken shadows for substance for so long--.

A tantric exercise, Clea! It's quite useful for mystic growth!

I was sitting here thinking of my disciple... my lover... Clea. Although I have conquered the despair that overwhelmed me when she left -- there remains a void in my life, Master of the mystic arts I may be... but I am still too much -- a man.

She thought she was fighting against seven minds, when, in fact, eight were raised against her! Had she moved more slowly, and consolidated her power, she might have won all our minds! Instead, she lost the single one that mattered most... her own!

You've survived, Steven Grant, and your mind is whole, stronger than before. You have experienced life and death, the natural and the supernatural. You have mastered your will and become a complete man.

I am Doctor Strange and that is my body down there with its heart beating so slow it… I will die.

You people... you have all seen true mystic forces in action. Do any of you wish to remember what you have seen?

Greatness has passed from our planet this day, for the incredible Hulk -- as we knew him -- is truly dead.

Your daughter is made of sterner stuff than you know!

The flames of regency -- the mantle of her power -- have at last fallen upon the rightful ruler of the Dark Dimension. Long may she reign!

How amusing. A whole race of Longshots! Could this planet handle it? It could spark quite the renaissance... but somehow I don't believe there's more than one Longshot in the universe. I suspect Longshot will make his own world worth living in-- with Rita at his side-- and will have no need of this one.

I must deny myself! I have to be pure and undistracted to do what must be done! I can't -- I can not -- I can not love another!

Are the reasons I left them behind any less relevant now? What right do i have to endanger them again?

Evil cannot be undone Victoria. But I have had to journey to the depths of infinity and beyond to learn this lesson...that it can be healed.

If anyone else had said that, I'd have called her a naive fool -- in squeaks and hisses.

Now let the rising tide of power / From birth of stars to final doom / Reveal the place, the form, the hour / Where light's salvation forth may bloom / Where seen and unseen twine and blend -- And darkness end!

By the light -- By the Truth -- By Sangreal and sword and Pendragon's Fire -- By Defender's might and Dragon Circle's destiny -- Behold thy bane!

You see, for the past decade, Vic's been lying, cryogenically frozen in that warehouse that was just torn down. He's also...my brother...who died ten years ago!

The Ghost Rider is more powerful that I remembered -- !

This is my neighborhood, fanatic. Did you really think I wouldn't take pains to keep it clean of filth like you?

Thanos's maelstrom is sending us backward through time -- so that I can't continue to anchor the heroes we sent against him!

By the darksome void where chaos reigned -- by the myriad Moons of Munnopor -- the Silver Surfer be now constrained by the Roving Rings of Raggadorr!

Ordinarily, I don't like to shoot first and ask questions afterward. I prefer to leave that kind of impatience to Spider-Man and the ever-incredible Hulk.

We have to stop this before it spreads. For good or ill, Gentlemen, the fates seem to have decided that a reunion is in the cards for... the Defenders!

Eye of Agamotto reveal the truth beneath his skin.

Doctor Strange is no one's servant -- Be they man -- or god!

In other words -- I need to become Sorcerer Supreme again!

I see you must be forced to hear me -- this is now guerrilla warfare -- there is no sanctuary. Witness, however, my friends...some times to wrest victory from apparent disaster, one must force the devastation -- to completion!

Ah...like most...dabblers...you understand too quickly. None may claim the Mantle Esoteric -- though it can be given. As I do...now...without pause...or lament. But...you'll find a Sorceress Supreme is not an empress. You fill this...vacancy...to discover humility...in short -- TO SERVE!

Oh...Ancient One, if you can hear your former disciple...I think I am losing... my self... I haven't felt so... empty... so alone... since in my arrogance and impatience, I first destroyed my hands... and learned I would never be a surgeon again.

Anthony Druid! You have been called to serve... and serve you shall!

It may feel as if I am not with you, Clea, but I am. Everything I do, you are a part of it... for I love you. Love, to me, is Alchemy... the transformation of the ordinary into something precious... and powerful.

Ahhh, Salome... your corruption may have partially destroyed my body... but you have inadvertently set me on a path... to become more whole... more integrated than my one-dimensional shadow selves... my vengeful than the Dread Dormammu... and more powerful than you. Even with the Vishanti's "charity"! Be warned Salome! Doctor Strange is back -- to finally take matters into his own hands! And nothing will ever drive him underground again!

From this day forward, let the world know that Doctor Stephen Strange is once again its Sorcerer Supreme!

Trust me. I'm a doctor. And, from now on -- the doctor is in.

The remnants of this recently destroyed environmental maintenance platform are rich with the aura of the temporal anomaly which I recently detected! Whoever he is, it is obvious that he wants to change a distant future! Though I can only guess at his motives, I sense that untold cataclysm will surely result from his actions!

You've stolen my body, my house, my friends... my universe. I want them back.

No! Can't divert my attention now! Must refocus my concentration... hold the realms steady... for anything were to cause me to falter now... Spider-Man would surely die!

You don't have to be ashamed of who you've been... what you've done. I know... better than you could imagine... what it is to sink to the depths. To be on bended knee before God -- screaming for deliverance.

On the contrary, my friend. I think your salvation lies in your returning to your blood, antagonistic roots. In other words, Namor--follow your rage.

I have been accused of being unrelenting. Merciless. Perhaps I am. For I have looked into that heart of darkness. I know the chill of evil. I have clearly seen that, no matter what, sometimes the night cannot be kept at bay. So I carefully choose my battles. I fight those I can win. And make sure the ones I can't win are worth dying for.

And I have found a most courageous ally in the Amazing Spider-Man. Brash and flippant he may be, but I sense in his young life a recent tragedy, perhaps greater even than my own. Whatever the truth may be, Spider-Man has a valiant spirit to match his astounding powers! Clearly, he has accepted the great responsibility that great power demands!

And how few will ever know the price he has paid for the good of the many... ...no matter how much it hurt the one.

By Hoggoth, your brainless antics would try the patience of a saint!

We are inside the moment between moments. We may even be able to affect what happens when the quantum possibilities collapse into one reality. Our reality. Our future.

The magics are being abused.

My theory... Listen to me. This chaos magic -- the source of her new "reality-altering powers..." I am the master of the mystic arts -- and I am telling you... there's no such thing as chaos magic. Please forget we are talking about your friend. And listen to me tell you the story of an orphaned mutant with a sordid, violent past... with powers she did not earn nor can she control... Powers she never fully understood. Can you understand the declicate mindset of a woman, a person, who has control over reality? It means reality controls her. Imagination becomes the enemy. Structure disappears. Reality, eventually, as she knows it, starts to slip away. Elude her. Blur. Drama, conflict, tragedy. They become excuses to change the world to fit the image that she has for it. Anything she doesn't like, she can change. No matter how slight. People. Places. Things. Everything is hers to change. But every time she does that, every time she gives in to her desires, no matter how noble they may be... a little more of her slips away. She loses herself. Her reason. But she struggles quietly every day to keep it in check -- to keep it all together. For a person of strong mind and body, for a person of pure spirit... the task of coping with these powers would be all-consuming. But here's a woman for whom, by the nature of her upbringing and occupation... every day is stressful, chaotic... and after a life lived with lost love, violence, and drama, what does she do? She says to herself: "I deserve happiness. I want to bring something into this world that is good. That I can love." And she gives birth to children... even though she can't. She played mommy to make herself feel like someone she thinks is normal. And that ends tragically as well? If I told you a story like this, you'd say to yourself, this sounds like a person who has lost control of themselves on a deep psychological level. You'd say this sounds like a disturbed person. Now, does anything I have described not sound like Wanda Maximoff?

Oh, I'm so sorry. Forgive me. I'll try and be a tad more quiet as I desperately struggle to break free -- and save all creation!

You're a good man who's led a good life. Prepare to die.

I have gazed into the baleful orifices of Dormammu... but they were pretty compared to you.

There is no right or wrong in this debate. It is simply a matter of perspective, and it is not my place to influence the evolution of the superhuman role.

If you find her, if by some miracle -- I doubt what you'll find will help you feel better about what's happened. It may make things worse.

What, you plan to turn into a purple dragon while I take the form of a germ for you to catch? Please, do you honestly want to have a wizard's duel with me?

Don't be snooty, Wong.

Our struggles of late. I have had to call upon darker forces than I would normally use….Forces I thought I could control, but I can’t. It was arrogance. The same arrogance that led me down the path I’m on in the first place. My hands are useless again. And I tried to disguise it. All these years, and I have learned nothing. There’s—I’ve had no time to deal with what I’ve done, and the forces are overpowering me. I wanted to help you, my friends. I wanted so much to help my old friend Bruce Banner. But I failed. And I have failed at my task as Sorcerer Supreme of this dimension. I—I don’t think I can help you anymore. I need to atone for what I have done. I need to relearn all that I have lost. And put back magics which I had no business using in the first place. I can’t help you anymore. You need to leave here. We all do. I’m so sorry, my friends.

D'Spayre. It's D'Spayre! He's using the Cube! ... Cap's death...the war between the heroes...the loss of security...their own lives...all their wishes for something else...all their sadness for not getting what they long for...all coming here, all being amplified...filling up every nook and cranny of our world...until we drown in the regret.

It would require taking almost all of that power from you, and investing it in Mjolnir. You would be back where you were before you inherited his power. But there's something else. If I do this, if I take from you the power to recreate Mjolnir, then you and the hammer will be bound together as never before. As goes Mjolnir, so goes Thor. If the hammer is ever destroyed or damaged again this badly - you will die.

I'd forgotten how terrific it felt to simply relax and not have to feel responsible for every little thing that goes wonky...

If you do not pay the utmost attention, magic can get away from you in a heartbeat. Every spell, every sigil, every manipulation... you must keep a close eye on everything so it doesn't backfire.

Tony Stark. Do you remember me? I'm Dr. Stephen Strange. I've come to show you the way out of this hole you're in. The world needs it's Iron Man.

Come on, Larry. Let's go make some consequences.

I have fought to keep the world just the way it is. I have saved it, Wong. Time and time again. And look at it...

Spider! The Vishanti commands you--release your prey.

A shoal of sentient matchsticks? I'm sorry. I don't speak match.

Without the Eye of Agamotto...we forfeit... Everything.

She thanks me for my help. I tell her that I wish the world could see the X-Men as I do. She doesn't care about the world, she says. Blink is alive, free from Selene's influence. That's what Emma cares about now. I ask her what happens next. She says that's up to Blink now. But I don't need to see the future to know what fate holds for Blink. Clarice Ferguson is a mutant, a survivor, a hero. That makes her an X-Man.

Loose the vapors of Valtorr which kept the truth concealed -- by the blessed three Vishanti, let my garb now be revealed. Eye of Agamatto, lead me to the one behind this...

Depending on just who made what wishes... the Hulk might actually get exactly what he wants.

Listen -- I know you want to stand with the Hulk...bear witness...but you know what's happening. No one here is going to survive. This is the end, Amadeus...and even more importantly...this is the end he wants.

I'd like to make another toast. To the people our world calls monsters. Who stand between them and things far darker.

I believe observation and knowledge must precede action.

I challenge you, Daniel. In front of the Avengers, in front of the world. Sorcerer to sorcerer, I challenge you! To the death!

On the card is written his last known location. You mission requires travel. To a distant land where old ways are practiced. Where the people and customs will seem unworldly and alien to you.

I need more [power]. I want to be able to move worlds and shake them to their foundations. I want enough power in my hands to tear planets from the heavens and place them in a new sky.

Wade, I cannot rip Preston from your mind. You must allow her to leave.

When you say "the Hulk," you think you know what that means. But the Hulk we knew no longer exists. There is no humanity left in him. So what we were dealing with was an animal. A monster.

Illyana Rasputin. Darkchild, if you prefer. My name is Stephen Strange. I am Sheriff of Agamotto and the Right Hand of Doom.

I warned you about the... Wong, I did tell her, I swear.

So the question is: How did they know about these items of power slipping through the dimensional cracks and we did not?

Impossible? I've learned never to use that word in my line of work.

This is Doctor Strange, broadcasting on all known mystical wavelengths. The Earth is under assault. All sites of magical significance are possible targets. The Empirikul are here. And they are not at all what we were expecting. Our enemies are not magicians. Their weapons are technological. But don't allow that to make you overconfident. This... is unlike any technology I've ever seen. A technology with the power to disrupt magic.

You wanted to end all magic. Well, I've got a better job for you. This is it. Zelma Stanton only saved one book from my library. Bless her soul. And it's one I wrote. I call it The Thing in the Cellar.

This is just the way I look now, Wong. Say hello to the new face of magic.

Clowns. Of course. There's gonna be a lot of clowns. Isn't there?

Okay, but... I'm definitely writing your diner a strongly worded Yelp review.

That was merely a confirmation that I haven't brought us on a wild ghost chase.

Don't make any sudden moves, Frank -- I got your back.

Mordo, Nightmare, Satana, the Orb (the Orb-- still can't get over that one), and Dormammu. This was quite the week from Hell. But at least I showed them I'm still as stubborn as ever when it comes to being murdered.

You can tell me, I'm a doctor.

Who do we help next?

I've been going about this all wrong. But so have you. Love. That's how you think you can hurt me? Love's not even in the job description for a Sorcerer Supreme. But you know what is? Pain.

The island of Manhattan is under siege by the Darkforce Dimension... and I'm trapped in a gilded golf cart... with a pack of overgrown children.

Wiccan. Billy. Who made the deal for the mark? If we can find them, we can --

Oh, the many years I've waited to hear you speak those words, Mordo. Now, shall we end this? Your awesome stockpile of magic... versus my carefully honed skills and experience?

The cup grants you... a kind of immortality, Yao. You'll age slowly. And while you may not live forever... you do live long enough to teach all of us. We are your legacy... Master.

I just can't shake the feeling... this has all happened before.

I'll be with you in a moment, young man. For now, please just stand by. As buffoonish as he seems, Baron Mordo can be dangerous.

Your sword knows who your allies are and where to find them.

I shouldn't be here. I made a promise to the man at the top of this mountain that I would never come to him for help. Technically speaking, he doesn't even exist. And the odds are strong he'll kill me for even attempting to make contact...

If you change into Thor... even one more time... there will be no coming back. Jane Foster will die.

I did bring Las Vegas back, but something else came along with it. Something evil. A nightmare. Something... hellish.

If I weren't furious and half-dead I'd be impressed.

I don't understand. Does this... are you coming back?

Unless I'm mistaken it's the Eye of Basphorus!

The Time Stone, it's been... re-created somehow. Why... why is it here? Who could have...

Those of you who can hear my call through the stone... I am Doctor Strange. We must have a parley. Imminent danger approaches. I summon a gathering of the Infinity Watch. Earth. Midnight tomorrow in New York's Central Park. I guarantee safe conduct for all. As some of you may know, the Infinity Stones are different than they once were. I don't know why yet -- but we must make sure they're safeguarded. I ask that you come and hear what I have to say. It's critical we six souls safeguard the stones... because we may have only one opportunity to stave off calamity.

If you were really me, you'd never take your eyes off your opponent. I see no reason to prolong this. By the Omnipotence of Oshtur -- reveal your true self!

Would you like to know why I won't let you have Bleecker Street?

Captain America has the Red Skull. The Fantastic Four have Doctor Doom. I have Dormammu, Lord of the Dark Dimension.

You maniac! Don't you realize the chaos you've triggered? Despite his power, Galactus is fundamentally a creature of science! To introduce a force that... that alien to the mystic realms is unconscionable! Nothing there follows the laws of existence that he carries with him! His presence there may very well unbalance existence itself!

Peter. Some things are beyond magic and medicine. Some things can't be avoided... some things just have to be faced.

I, Stephen Strange... I will serve as the Herald of Galactus.

According to their scripture, Varkis can't be killed except in the manner depicted in the Khandra.

Knowingly marching thousands upon thousands to their deaths is the hardest thing I have ever done.

Some of these creatures were conscripted against their will, Frank... I'll leave the monsters to you.

But long before I took the mantle of Sorcerer, I took an oath. "I will do no harm. I shall apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures that are required. And I will never play God."

Kanna, this is Stephen Strange. If you can hear me, I need your assistance. Can you help?

Bring me to where you saw this creature.

Zelma, do you think you could still throw a Halloween party?

My name is Dr. Stephen Strange. As Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, I have a unique and demanding responsibility to protect it from any mystical menaces that may threaten it. But I'm also the world's greatest neurosurgeon, and the Hippocratic oath is a lifetime vow. So I've reached an arrangement with the hospital: They call me in only for the operations that no one else -- no one else -- has the skill to perform.

Your power upgrade. Where did it come from?

I... Kamala, a lot of time passed before you arrived. The rate of cell death... I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid there's been permanent damage. I won't know the extent until he wakes up.

He has returned.

Toby, I recognize that symbol. It's a sigil of possession from near the dawn of time. Your tattoo is... infected. I can operate... but let's put you to sleep first.

Eye of Agamotto, show me my enemy!

Let's just pray this isn't a huge mistake.

Oh, Marc, what have you done?

Whether it was to save lives or not, you made a deal with a demonic entity -- did you really think that wouldn't come back to haunt you?

Has anyone ever told you how exhausting you are, madam?

Tell me, devil-- what is wrong with Peter Parker's soul?

At almost any point in my life... I would slay you... Perhaps I'm getting wiser. You have a part to play in the natural order, don't you?

This is a multiverse totally devoted to science--where the very concept was born. It is not a cold place...it knows love and hate, action and emotion...

We must go carefully. Legend has it that the Fifth Cosmos was where magic and sorcery were first formed...

As Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, I've heard whispers of the Times Before Time, from scholars who were dust when the ancients were born. It's said that the Third Cosmos was the first to be born from the multiversal cycle--the first rebirth after cosmic all-death. We're so far back that Science and Magic haven't been invented yet. Even Narrative is just a twinkle in a future narrator's eye. The drama above us is not a battle between "Good" and "Evil"--but between "Is" and "Is Not." Creation versus Negation. Existence versus Nothingness.

Clea fights for love, for hope of reunion. As do I. You may have Stephen Strange as your Harvestman, you may have my very soul... but my heart remains hers.

I am alive. My enemies? Vanquished. My love? Returned to me. Or rather, I to her. Life, victory, love... all the things a man could want, have been granted to me. But there is a price for all these things, one which I gladly pay--duty. The work never ends. And so I return to work.

It was a cunningly wrought spell, Clea. It took everything I had to unravel it. And what's more, when I did shatter it, I felt an echo--a shudder. I received a glimpse of something. A network. A constellation of burning souls, linked together with arcane bindings. We freed this child's soul... but she was just a part of a greater abomination.

It is, after all, Parley Day... which means that must be your uncle. The Dread Dormammu.

Blade--I hear you are the one responsible for our collision course with Armageddon. I'm not angry. I'm disappointed.

What say you, oh Trinity of Ashes? Do we have a deal?

Imagine if people all around the world had no idea they were tied to the occult. Imagine if something woke up the occult power inside of them. Like a time bomb. That's what she did.

Father Matt. It's time for your confession.

I've been doing some research. There's some very old, very dangerous magic that's loose in the world now. The magic of Hell. And it's after mutantkind.

The Casket is the only thing keeping the Blight from perceiving the Earth and raining misery down upon us all. The Blight seeks to prune life and does so through an affliction known as soul rot, an endless torture where living things seek out the things they love the most... and destroy them. Peter, there are things worse than death. Soul rot--and the chaos the Blight would wreak on Earth--are among them.

This one doesn't like me judging her and is thinking of creatively brutal ways to murder me.

Eternity! You who are the beginning and the end and the all of time itself--

Well, I surgically removed a man's faith. I am not certain how I feel about that, but regardless, he will live.

And now, by might of Gorrath's bones, secure the mortar... Bond these stones!

Her name is Kushala. The Demon Rider. Like my other companions, she is a Sorcerer Supreme. And like all of them, she is hiding something.

Her name is Nina. She calls herself The Conjuror. She's Brazilian. A Sorcerer Supreme from the 1950s. And that's all I know about her. But I sense she knows more about The Forgotten than any of us.

I have been accused of being unrelenting. Merciless. Perhaps I am. For I have looked into that heart of darkness. I know the chill of evil. I have clearly seen that, no matter what, sometimes the night cannot be kept at bay. So I carefully choose my battles. I fight those I can win. And make sure the ones I can't win are worth dying for.

Billy Kaplan has been many things. A Young Avenger. A grown-up Avenger. An X-Man. And apparently in the not too distant future...he replaces me as the Sorcerer Supreme.

Well, we're not a team. We're a universe.

A cosmos without light and without mass-- But not without power!

A weapon that uses the almost infinite power of a Cosmic Cube to cancel out mystical energy. If I had left a part of my spell in that contraption--Tony, is this your "Strangebuster"?

It is even more magnificent than I imagined

By the Vapors of the Great Valtorr which do all things conceal--

Although the darkness may come from all sides, the light can have many facets too! And through the spell of the Crystal of Vyhagh Ar, we shall see--That the true light has a thousand arrows in its defense!

The Fire of Mahkala. Is this your natural state?

Vapors of Valtorr -- Swirl 'round thy brow! May the Moon's Mists of Morpheus envelop thee now!

May the Many Moons of Munnopor banish these phantom blade-wielders to the eternal void from whence they came!

May the Shield of the Seraphim protect me!

His power--It's grown greater than I thought! He grasps the in the Talons of Farallah--at a planetary distance!