Larry Summers Quotes in The Social Network (2010)

[Talking on the phone]

Larry Summers: Well, that's their own stupidity, I should have been there. Well, darkness is the absence of light, and the stupidity in that instance was the absence of me...

[Looking up to see the twins in his office]

Larry Summers: Kathrine, I've got students in my office now. Students. Undergrads. I don't know, from the looks of it, they want to sell me a Brooks Brothers franchise.

Larry Summers: [hangs up]

Larry Summers: Good morning.

Cameron Winklevoss: Good morning sir. I'm Cameron Winklevoss, and this is my brother Tyler.

Larry Summers: And you're here because... either of you can answer.

Cameron Winklevoss: Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought you were reading the letter.

Larry Summers: I've read the letter.

Cameron Winklevoss: Well, we came up with an idea for a website called HarvardConnection, and we've since changed the name to ConnectU - and Mark Zuckerberg stole that idea...

Larry Summers: I understand. And I'm asking what you want me to do about it.

Cameron Winklevoss: Well, sir, in the Harvard student handbook, which is distributed to each freshmen, under the heading "Standards of Conduct in the Harvard Community," it says that the college expects all students to be honest and forthcoming in their dealings with members in this community. Students are required to respect public and private ownership, and instances of theft, misappropriation...

Larry Summers: [interrupting] Anne?

Anne: Yes, sir?

Larry Summers: Punch me in the face.

[turning back to Cameron]

Larry Summers: Go ahead.

Cameron Winklevoss: [a little shaken] ... or unauthorized use will result in disciplinary action, including a requirement to withdraw from the college.

Larry Summers: And you memorized that instead of doing what?

Tyler Winklevoss: Sir, it's against university rules to steal from another student, plain and simple.

Larry Summers: You've spoken to your house master?

Cameron Winklevoss: Yes, sir. And the house master made a recommendation to the Ad Board, but the Ad Board won't see us.

Larry Summers: Have you tried dealing with the other student directly?

Cameron Winklevoss: Mr. Zuckerberg hasn't been responding to any of our emails or phone calls for the last two weeks. He doesn't answer when we knock on his door at Kirkland and the closest I've come to dealing with him face-to-face is when I saw him on the quad and chased him through Harvard Square.

Larry Summers: You chased him?

Cameron Winklevoss: [Stuttering a little] I-I-I saw him and I know he saw me. I went after him and then he disappeared.

Larry Summers: I don't see this as a university issue.

Tyler Winklevoss: Of course this is a university issue. There's a code of ethics and an honor code and he violated them both

Larry Summers: You enter into a code of ethics with the university, not with each other.

Tyler Winklevoss: I'm sorry, president Summers, but what you just said makes no sense to me at all.

Larry Summers: [Sarcastically] I'm devastated by that.

Tyler Winklevoss: This isn't petty larceny. This idea is potentially worth millions of dollars.

Larry Summers: Millions!

Cameron Winklevoss: Yes.

Larry Summers: You might just be letting your imaginations run away with you.

Tyler Winklevoss: Sir, I honestly don't think you're in any position to make that call.

Larry Summers: I was the U.S. Treasury Secretary. I'm in some position to make that call.

Tyler Winklevoss: Letting our imaginations run away with us is exactly what we were told to do in your freshmen address.

Larry Summers: Then I would suggest that you let your imaginations run away with you on a new project.

Cameron Winklevoss: You would?

Larry Summers: Yes. Everyone at Harvard's inventing something. Harvard undergraduates believe that inventing a job is better than finding a job. So, I'll suggest again that the two of you come up with a new new project.

Cameron Winklevoss: I'm sorry, sir, but that's not the point.

Larry Summers: Please, arrive at the point.

Tyler Winklevoss: You don't have to be an intellectual property expert to understand the difference between right and wrong.

Larry Summers: And you're saying that I don't?

Cameron Winklevoss: Of course I'm not saying that, sir.

Tyler Winklevoss: I'm saying that.

Larry Summers: Really?

Larry Summers: Anne, how did they get this appointment?

Anne: Colleagues of their father.

Larry Summers: Let me tell you something, Mr. Winklevoss and... Mr. Winklevoss, since you're on the subject of right or wrong. This action, this meeting, the two of you being here, is WRONG. It's not worthy of Harvard. It's not what Harvard saw in you. You don't get special treatment.