- President Josiah Bartlet: There's a promise that I ask everyone who works here to make: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Do you know why?
- Will Bailey: Because it's the only thing that ever has.
- President Josiah Bartlet: [trying to wake up his wife] Abbey... Abigail... Abbey, the kids are eating sugar.
- Abbey Bartlet: Uh...
- [wakes up]
- Abbey Bartlet: Oh!
- President Josiah Bartlet: How you doing? You know I gave the kids candy all the time, right?
- Abbey Bartlet: Behind my back?
- President Josiah Bartlet: Yes.
- Abbey Bartlet: You bought their love.
- President Josiah Bartlet: Well, it was for sale, and I wanted it.
- Josh Lyman: It's good cop, bad cop. I'm the good cop. The four of you are the bad cop. Will, what are you?
- Will: The bad cop.
- Josh Lyman: Danny, what are you?
- Danny Concannon: The bad cop.
- Josh Lyman: Toby, what are you?
- Toby Ziegler: Hurry up.
- Josh Lyman: Charlie, who are you?
- Charlie Young: I love Zoey and I must have her back.
- Josh Lyman: The bad cop, that's right.
- Will: [to Charlie] That's great news about Zoey. I didn't meet her but I bet she's nice.
- Charlie Young: Not really, but my love for her knows no bounds.
- Danny Concannon: Charlie, aren't you cold without a coat?
- Charlie Young: I took off my coat to show my love for Zoey.
- Danny Concannon: Wow.
- Charlie Young: I'd take off my shirt too, but it's inappropriate with a tuxedo.
- Danny Concannon: Not if we were at Chippendale's.
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: Charlie, I'm gonna change my mind again on the Bible.
- Charlie Young: Mr. President, you have to imagine my utter surprise.
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: Aren't you afraid that one day I'm just gonna kick your ass like it's never been kicked?
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: We're for freedom of speech everywhere. We're for freedom to worship everywhere. We're for freedom to learn... for everybody. And because in our time, you can build a bomb in your country and bring it to my country, what goes on in your country is very much my business. And so we are for freedom from tyranny, everywhere, whether in the guise of political oppression, Toby, or economic slavery, Josh, or religious fanaticism, C.J. That most fundamental idea cannot be met with merely our support. It has to be met with our strength. Diplomatically, economically, materially. And, if Pharaoh still don't free the slaves, then he gets the plagues or my cavalry, whichever gets there first. The USTR will go crazy and say that we're not considering global trade. Committee members will go crazy and say I haven't consulted enough. And the Arab world will just go indiscriminately crazy. No country has ever had a doctrine of intervention when only humanitarian interests were at stake. That streak's gonna end Sunday at noon.
- Will Bailey: I heard once - I don't know if this is true - I heard once that you convinced the President to let you rewrite a section of the State of the Union with less than twenty-four hours to go. It was the second year and everybody was a Republican, whether they were or not, and people at the DNC had convinced him to include the line, 'The era of big government is over.' And you couldn't live with it. Because government should be a place where people come together and no one gets left behind. An instrument of good. And that's exactly what we heard in the State of the Union the next night.
- Toby Ziegler: [scoffs] There were maybe four people in the room when I had that conversation.
- Will Bailey: Well, if I'd have been one of them, I would have repeated it to everyone I met.
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: They're saying I'm rewriting the Constitution on the back of a napkin. They're saying on Fox that a guy who couldn't run a local sheriff's department wants to send troops around the world. They're saying it's liberalism with a grenade launcher. But they're not saying it was badly written, so that's something. And they sure as hell know I was serious, so that's something else. Congratulations, folks, we've got ourselves a doctrine.
- Josh Lyman: I'm not talking about fighting two wars at once. I'm not talking about fighting wars. Intervening when there's violence against people who are defenseless...
- Toby Ziegler: Fine, but if we go here, that means they can go there. And look, there's more injustice over there.
- Josh Lyman: We elect these people. And not for nothing, but if we'd been the world's policeman in the thirties, you and I...
- Toby Ziegler: We'd have had a lot more relatives.
- Danny Concannon: Where is she?
- Josh Lyman: Donna?
- Danny Concannon: Yeah.
- Josh Lyman: She's sitting in her apartment in a ball gown.
- Danny Concannon: Waiting for a ball to come over?
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: I walked to school every morning in weather colder than this.
- Abbey Bartlet: From the headmaster's house to your classroom.
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: That's right, baby. Just a camel hair coat, leather gloves, a varsity scarf, and these wits.
- Toby Ziegler: We're not talking about the President going to Asia or the President going to Rwanda or the President going to Qumar. We're talking about the President sending other people's kids to do it.
- Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg: That's always what we're talking about. And in addition to being somebody's kids, they're soldiers and sailors, and if we're about freedom from tyranny, then we're about freedom from tyranny, and if we're not, we should shut up.
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: [frustrated at not being able to get a Bible he likes for his swearing in] Okay, you know what? Washington didn't bring his own Bible, he just assumed one would be provided, which, frankly, isn't unreasonable. Guy wants you to swear an oath on a Bible, he ought to be packing a Bible. Washington didn't bring one; he just assumed one would be provided. Just common courtesy, I think. "Place your hand on this Bible. And, oh, can I borrow your Bible?" That's not right.
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: Mothers are standing in front of tanks. And we're going to go get their backs.
- Leo McGarry: You know what the decision directives say? That diplomats and leaders aren't immune from being targets when they're connected to terrorist activities that threaten the U.S. or its citizens. I don't think it's an unusual directive.
- Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg: That it was given hours before Shareef's plane disappeared. Just a reminder: The more I know, the more I can help you. And don't be concerned with my exposure. I'm not your daughter. I'm the White House Press Secretary.
- Abbey Bartlet: [the President has decided to change the Use of Force Doctrine after watching a Laurel & Hardy movie] Because of Laurel and Hardy?
- President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: Not because, no. Not *because* of Laurel and Hardy. That was simply the confluence of the final... you know, and also, by the way, from the mouths of babes... like yourself... Seriously, from the mouths of babes and clowns comes... Listen, there's no reason why anyone needs to know about Laurel and Hardy.
- Abbey Bartlet: Sounds like that's going to depend a lot on my general mood.