Molon labe.
. . . And, so, the Persians came and took them.
The Quaker to the burglar in the old joke:
“Friend, I would do thee no harm for the world . . . But thou standest where I intend to shoot.”
And after backing up the threat with action, in perhaps the single greatest understatement in history, Eisenhower announced the victory over the Axis in Europe with a single sentence:
[FONT=Arial][/FONT]
“Is there a name for this private little world of yours, huh? What happens there when we don’t just run away? You’ll kill us … with a soup cup?”
“Tea, actually.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll kill you with my tea cup.”
-The Chronicles of Riddick
Another from Gran Torino:
Smokie: Are you fucking crazy? Go back in the house.
Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood): Yeah? I blow a hole in your face and then I go in the house… and I sleep like a baby. You can count on that. We used to stack fucks like you five feet high in Korea… use ya for sandbags.
mmm
Great scene. Equally great is when he DOES track down the guy on the other end of the line. The guy has no idea who Liam is.
Liam smiles at him and says, “You don’t remember me, do you? We spoke on the phone. I TOLD you I would find you.”
From 300:
“Our arrows will block out the sun…”
“Then we shall fight in the shade.”
Ultimately, things didn’t end well…too bad, though.
More from Babylon 5:
"Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova, Commander, daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth … I am Death incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me."
“You’ve been birddoggin’ this township a while now. They wouldn’t mind a corpse of you. Now you can luxuriate in a nice jail cell, but if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet,* I will end you.*”
And so it was.
That was about the only thing that movie got correct, that is the real quote and not just a movie line. It was reportedly said by Dienekesback in 480BC.
BTW: It was also used in the older movie of the events"The 300 Spartans".
300 also had “Molon Labe”, mentioned above. Shoving the Persian diplomat into a well is also mentioned in Herodotus.
The Spartans were apparently pretty good with pithy one-liners. When Philip II of Macedon sent a message to the effect of, “You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city,” the response the Spartans gave was simply, “If.” More defusing a threat than carrying it out, really.
Hancock has, “If you don’t move, your head is going up his ass. Y’all fellas sure you wanna ride this train?”
What it lacks in finesse, it makes up for in spectacle.
Danny the drug dealer from Withnail and I, delivered with chillingly amusing aplomb by Ralph Brown:
Danny: Don’t get uptight with me man. Because if you do, I’ll have to give you a dose of ‘medicine’. And if I spike you, you’ll KNOW you’ve been spoken to.
Withnail: You wouldn’t spike me: you’re too mean. Besides, there’s nothing invented I couldn’t take.
Danny: If I medicined you, you’d think a brain tumour was a birthday present.
And of course, Hit Girl from Kick Ass:
Okay you cunts… Let’s see what you can do now!
Henry IV to Hotspur"
Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer:
Send me your prisoners with the speediest means,
Or you shall hear in such a kind from me
As will displease you.
It’s sorta like Michael Corleone telling his sister that if she doesn’t what he’s asking her to do, he will be disappointed. You don’t want to disappoint these kinds of badasses.
From Angel season 5:
Illyria: “I will fight. I have been broken and humiliated. I will return in kind every blow, every sting. I will shred my adversaries, pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewling mutilated faces.”
Not a threat, but my fave Laconic one-liner is that of the Spartan General Pausanias, who, on viewing (with his Greek allies) a luxurious captured tent of a fled Persian general, said, “You see what fools these were, who live like this, yet came here to rob us of our poverty!”
From Angel Season 3:
[Angel walks into the office, walks up to Linwood, slices him across the cheek, and pushes him facedown against the table.]
Angel: My son has a tiny scratch on his cheek, and now, by extraordinary coincidence so do you. I’m holding you personally responsible for anything that happens to him whether it’s your fault or not. Cold, sunburn, scratched knee, what ever happens to him, happens to you, and then some. [He pulls Linwood back up, pushes him back into his chair and leans over him.] For not only are you not coming after him, you gonna make sure that he lives a long, healthy life. You just became his godfather, understand?
Linwood: I believe I do.
[Guards come in, in response to the alarm.]
Guard: Sir?
Linwood: It’s all right.
[Angel starts to leave but turns back around before he reaches the door.]
Angel: Oh, and one more thing. College fund? Start saving. I got my heart set on Notre Dame.
[QUOTE=Undefeated Heavyweight Champ Muhammad Ali]
Don’t you know you’re in the ring with God?
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Undefeated Heavyweight Champ Joe Frazier]
God, you in the wrong place tonight.
[/QUOTE]
And cue the left hook.
Thanks for reminding me of that scene, BrainGlutton.