Comics Best Superman quotes

[hopefuldreamer]

Couldn't find a thread for this, so here we go.

What are your favourite Superman quotes?

I'll start off with a few of mine that I can think of for now

"There is a right and a wrong in the universe and that distinction is not hard to make." - The Kingdom

Clark Kent: Something happened in africa. Something pretty awful. But for a minute - just one minute, and for the first time - i got called upon to give my all. to have purpose. Like I was finally part of something rather than standing alone on the sidelines. like I was connected to the world... and man I want to feel that way again. That means no longer running from who I really am.

Johnathon Kent: Your Clark Kent. Your our son.

Clark Kent: But I'm also someone else, Pa. It's time i started finding out who he really is.
- Birthright

Superman: "I can only tell you what I believe, Diana. humankind has to be allowed to climb to its own destiny. We can't carry them there."
Flash: "But that's what she's saying. What's the point? Why should they need us at all?"
Superman: "To catch them if they fall."
-JLA #4

"Superman? You'll never be Superman. Because you have no idea what it means to be Superman. It's not about where you were born. Or what powers you have. Or what you wear on your chest. It's about what you do... it's about action." - Infinite Crisis

"You're not fighting a woman now!" - Action comics #1

H.I.V.E Goon: You can't threaten me, Superman! You'd never kill us!

Superman: You're right! Taking lives is something I definitely find offensive! But roughing up criminal terrorists a bit doesn't faze me at all!
- Action comics # 551

Batman: He gave me this ring with a kryptonite stone. He said -
Superman: 'I have many enemies who have tried to control me. And I live in fear that someday, they might succeed. If that ever should happen -- If I should ever lose control, There would only be one sure way to stop me.
Batman: Do you realize what you're asking?
Superman: I do. I want the means to stop me in the hands of a man I can trust with my life.
- Superman #21

Also, from other characters:

Perry: How many times do I have to tell you? There's only one story Lane - Metropolis. She's the story
-Superman: Kryptonite

Superman: Don't be afraid.
Lois: I'm not. Helicopters, danger, go, go, go! Then we'll talk.
- Birthright

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

"You killed Lana?!"

"I don't think you're real."

Alan Moore could write the **** out of Superman.

 

[bonoferox]

"Old Mydell Mill, eh? Here's where I knock the stuffing out of some Totalitarians!"

 

[theMan-Bat]

"You have every reason to be outraged, Mother Earth...You have given them everything...They are tiny and stupid and vicious but please listen to them...I have always loved you...Though I was born a galaxy away...I have always served you...The same power...The sun's power...fuels us both...You hold it here...You store it...I beg you...For a suffering world...Release it...You are so generous...I swear your adopted son will honor you." - Superman in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

"Earth is a terrific planet!! But it needs all the help it can get!! Including mine!!" - Superman in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #148 (1972) "A Superman in Supertown"

"They seem to have learned little regard for human life...And nothing is more sacred than that." - Superman in Kingdom Come

"In this world, there is right and there is wrong...And that distinction is not difficult to make. The powers we have...The things we do...They're meant to inspire ordinary citizens...Not intimidate them...Not terrify them." - Superman in Kingdom Come

"It's time for me to face my responsibilities. I have to leave Smallville. I have to seek out the people and places that need somebody who can do the things I can." - The Man of Steel

"So, from now on, whenever there are people who need my very special kind of help, it wont be a job for plain, ordinary Clark Kent...It'll be a job for Superman." - The Man of Steel

"Krypton bred me, but it was Earth that gave me all I am." - The Man of Steel

"No, Alice--It's the world that's wonderful! I'm going to show you what's waiting for you! You won a sight-seeing trip, and your going to get it right now! This is your country, Niagara Falls, Golden Gate Bridge, the Mount Rushmore Memorial, the Grand Canyon--The Eiffel Towers of Paris--The Roman Colosseum--India's Taj Mahal...The Egyptians say, 'Time mocks all, but the Pyramids and the Sphinx mock time.' Well, Alice, how does life look to you now?" - Superman #96 (1955) "The Girl Who Didn't Believe In Superman"

"The wellfare of Earth and all its people will always be my primary concern. But if there is a solution of hunger, it must be one that comes from the compassionate heart of man and extends outward toward his fellow man. There's an old saying: 'Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime.' That simple message asks humankind to nurture with knowledge, to reach out to those in need and inspire others to do the same. That is life's greatest necessity and its most precious gift." - Superman: Peace on Earth

"You must not count on a Superman to patch up your lives every time." - Superman #247 (1972) "Must There Be A Superman?"

"The point is: what are you giving back to your community? Every culture that’s come through this country has added something to it." - Superman: Grounded

"Well, maybe now Leslie will have a chance to find out. A second chance. That's what America is all about, really. That's the American Way. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--and second chances. None of us are forced to be anything we don't want to be. When I was young, I knew I would be someone different when I grew up. I would leave home and make a new life for myself. A new start, a second chance. When I first went to Metropolis, it was filled with people who'd done the same thing. People from all over America--from all over the world--who went to the city to live the lives they wanted, to be the people they wanted to be. That's the idea that America was founded on, but it's not just for people born here. It's for everyone." - Superman #711 (2011) "Grounded, Part Nine"

"Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us. And on my soul, I swear...until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice becomes the reality we all share--I'll never stop fighting. Ever." - Action Comics #775 (2001) "What's So Funny about Truth, Justice & the American Way?"

"I didn't really approve when I heard he'd taken on a junior partner, but now I'm not so sure. Robin seems to have had a...Well, a humanizing effect on the Batman. It is a tremendous honor to have a day dedicated to me by the people of my adopted home town. The Batman works as well as he does in Gotham City because the people there tend to fear him. But I gotta say...It sure is great to be loved." - Action Comics #594 (1987) "All That Glisters"

 

[That person]

“I can actually see the machinery and wire connecting and separating everything since it all began. This is how he sees all the time, every day. Like it’s all just us in here, together. And we’re all we’ve got…."- Lex Luthor, All-Star Superman #12

Goes up there with Dr. Manhattan's "thermodynamic miracles" speech as one of the most moving things I've read in a comic.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

"Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us. And on my soul, I swear...until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice becomes the reality we all share--I'll never stop fighting. Ever." - Action Comics #775 (2001) "What's So Funny about Truth, Justice & the American Way?"

Can't believe I forgot that one, it's gotta be my absolute fave

 

[Mild-Mannered]

Spoiler alert for those of you who haven't read Action Comics #39. The following isn't so much a quote as several, but they all follow the chronological order of Clark's inner monologue. I know it's a lot, but I feel that the weight of his words, his thoughts, and his feelings are very important and they add a lot of depth to the character. People who say Superman is boring and two-dimensional, well, they don't know Clark Kent. Enjoy:

"Lies. Right? Damn. It's how this Ultra-Humanite works. Tapping into my worst fears. But our worst fears all have a grain of truth, don't they?
"My heart explodes. All that terror... Come and get it, you sonofa--"

"I'm eighteen. Alone. Except for you. I sleep on your couch for a week. I don't think I say more than ten words. But your parents just smile and pat me on the head every time they pass... like I'm another cat or stray dog. And then one day... I laugh at a fart joke on television. And I'm immediately filled with guilt... and this incredible rush of gratitude. Because you showed me that one day... that things could be normal again.
"But give the story a little more time... and it all falls apart, doesn't it? I'm infected by the Doomsday Virus, fighting Brainiac, saving the world... while your parents die.
"Ah, Lana. I want to be back on your couch. I want to take all your grief away. I want--
"LANA!"

"And then Lois... Bruce... Hiro... Diana. Even you.
"However it plays out... the end will always be the same. I'll mourn Metropolis. Then... everyone I ever knew... everything I ever fought for...
"...Everything...
"...Everything...
"...Goodbye."

"Keep looking, dammit. No matter what... keep looking. Like the moment as a child when you first grasp the concept of death. You let yourself really think about non-existence... and its total inevitability... and it's absolutely terrifying. So you let your mind slide around it, and you eat a sandwich, and it's okay. But not today. Today I'm staring that final horror in the eye. I'm looking right into that empty hole. The void. The End."

"The sun shines. Lana laughs. The purr of that big, alien cat rumbles through everyone's chest. And the darkness slides off the sides of my mind. It'll always be there. But not today, friends.
"Not today."