Owens Quotes in The Sum of All Fears (2002)

[aboard the command plane]

Owens: Are you advocating we launch a first strike...

Becker: [shouts] It is not a first strike! There's already been a first strike! And a second! Don't you get it?

Owens: No! I don't get it! I don't understand why we have to nuke them, for God's sake!

[shouts]

Owens: It's not reasonable!

President Fowler: Sidney, goddamnit! They practically sank an aircraft carrier! Their missile silos are hot! We're getting nothing but bullshit from Nemerov! And let's not forget how this thing started, OK? They tried to kill *me*, remember! So don't fucking tell me to be reasonable!

Owens: There's a lazy Sunday softness to your generation. Makes me uncomfortable. I like to be on my feet. I'll lie down when I get cancer. Or if I fuck. Both of which will be done on my back, in case you were wondering.

Nicky: Actually, I wasn't wondering. But thank you for sharing that.

Owens: Sarcasm. Another pillar of your generation. You wanna tell somebody to fuck off, tell them to fuck off. Don't say, "Gee, what a great jacket." It's weakness.

Owens: He is *not* gonna die! You hear me? He is *not* gonna die!

Owens: Probably.

Owens: I took you off the street. Taught you my trade. I taught you my passion. Three generations of skills. And in spite of all my earnest efforts, in spite of all my hard work, you turned into a good person.

Owens: Love'll get you killed in this racket. No place for that shit here. No happiness with that. You know how they say there's honor among thieves? Well, you're no thief, Mellow. You made your choice.

Nicky: Here's the thing about lying. Here's the problem: it fucks up all your options. Paints you into a corner.

Owens: What the fuck you talking about? You out of your mind?

Nicky: And then you're forced to do some *really* *dumb* *shit*.

Owens: You wanna die?

Nicky: Well, if I die, I die telling the truth. And if I lie, I'm gonna lie like normal people lie.

Cutter: Could I talk to Lord Caldlow in person?

Owens: Out of the question, I'm afraid. Although I suppose if, in the course of your deliveries, your paths were to cross... I can't help you speaking your mind.