Notable Quotes from "V is for Vendettta"

THE POWER AND LIMIT OF IDEAS

We are told to remember the idea and not the man because a man can fail -- he can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten. But 400 years later, an idea can still change the world. I have witnessed firsthand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them, and die defending them.

But you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed. They do not feel pain. They do not love. And it is not an idea that I miss -- it is a man... - Evey

IDENTITY

Who is but the form following the function of what, and what I am is a man in a mask...

On this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace sobriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona. Voila! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage -- no mere veneer of vanity -- is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. - V

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There is a face beneath this mask, but it's not me. I'm no more that face than I am the muscles beneath it or the bones beneath them. - V

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Creedy: Why don't you die?!

V: Beneath this mask, there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask, there is an idea, Mr. Creedy. And ideas are bulletproof.

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Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us. But within that inch, we are free. - Valerie

VENGEANCE & VIOLENCE

The only verdict is vengeance, a vendetta held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. - V

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Violence can be used for good. - V

REVOLUTION

A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having. - V

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Remember, remember the 5th of November: the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. - V

STATE-SPONSORED OPPRESSION & ACCOUNTABILITY

... there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.

How did this happen? Who is to blame? Certainly, there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into the mirror. - V

GOVERNMENTS & THEIR CONSTITUENTS

V: People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.

Evey: And you're going to make that happen by blowing up a building?

V: The building is a symbol, as is the act of destroying it. Symbols are given power by people. Alone, a symbol is meaningless, but with enough people, blowing up a building can change the world.

WORDS & TRUTH

...while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and, for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. - V

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My father was a writer. You would have liked him. He used to say that artists used lies to tell the truth, while politicians used them to cover the truth up. - Evey

TAXATION

One thing is true of all governments: The most reliable records are tax records. - Chief Inspector Finch

IDEALS

...fairness, justice and freedom are more than words -- they are perspectives. - V

STEALING

Stealing implies ownership. You can't steal from the censor. I merely reclaimed them. - V

HOLY MEN

And thus I clothe my naked villainy with old odd ends stolen forth from holy writ and seem a saint, when most I play the devil. - V

COINCIDENCE

There is no coincidence, Delia -- only the illusion of coincidence. - V