James Bond Quotes: 72 Lines From All 27 007 Films (1962- 2021)

Last updated on September 30th, 2026 at 12:12 pm

Everyone knows the famous James Bond quotes: “Bond. James Bond.” and “Shaken, not stirred.” But after sixty years of 007 films, the best lines are often the ones nobody repeats: a villain’s cold aside, a quiet warning from M, a throwaway line that says more about Bond than any gadget.

I watched every film in order, from Dr. No (1962) to No Time to Die (2021), and wrote down the James Bond film quotes that stayed with me. Here are 72 of them, film by film, with who said them and the moment behind each line.

The list runs in release order and covers all 27 films: the 25 official Eon Productions films plus the two unofficial ones, Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again (1983). If you want the films themselves, my summary of all the 007 films and their leading Bond girls is here.

James Bond Quotes From the Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Dalton Years (1962-1989)

1. Dr. No (1962)

• “You did the right thing, but you picked the wrong moment.” — Bond, coming home to find Sylvia Trench waiting in his flat just as he’s been called away to Jamaica.

2. From Russia with Love (1963)

• “Girls do fall in love with pictures of film stars.” — said in M’s briefing, doubting that a Soviet cipher clerk has fallen for Bond’s file photo.
• “Give a wolf a taste, then keep him hungry.” — Kerim Bey, teasing Bond that Tatiana has him dangling.
• “Training is useful, but there is no substitute for experience.” — Rosa Klebb, inspecting SPECTRE’s assassin Red Grant.

3. Goldfinger (1964)

• “Man has climbed Mount Everest, gone to the bottom of the ocean. He’s fired rockets at the moon, split the atom, achieved miracles in every field of human endeavour… except crime!” — Auric Goldfinger, pitching his Fort Knox plan to the gangsters he’s about to kill.

4. Thunderball (1965)

• “Some men just don’t like to be taken for a ride.” — Bond, after Fiona Volpe says some men don’t like to be driven, while she drives him straight into a trap.

5. You Only Live Twice (1967)

• “Bird never make nest in bare tree.” — Bond’s mock “Japanese proverb”, after Tiger Tanaka says his bathers are fascinated by the hair on his chest.

6. Casino Royale (1967, unofficial spoof)

• “Eden without an Eve is an absurdity.” — Le Grand, at the meeting of the world’s spy chiefs.
• “A quaint custom, but one more honoured in the breach than in the observance.” — Sir James Bond (David Niven), borrowing a line from Hamlet.
• “The more relaxed the muscles, the better the synchronisation between mind and body.” — Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers).

7. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

• “People who want to stay alive play it safe.” — Tracy, at the casino, after Bond tells her to play it safe. His reply: “Please, stay alive!”
• “Licence to kill is useless unless one can set up a target.” — M, taking Bond off the hunt for Blofeld.
• “A good host supplies his guest’s needs.” — Tracy, reminding her father Draco of his own rule when Bond asks for information.
• “Mistakes should be remedied, especially between friends — or lovers.” — Bond to Tracy.
• “The methods of the great pioneers have often puzzled conventional minds.” — Blofeld, defending his Swiss allergy clinic.

8. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

• “If God had wanted man to fly…” / “…He would have given him wings, Mr. Kidd.” — the killers Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint.
• “The Great Powers flexing their military muscles like so many impotent beach boys.” — Blofeld, unimpressed by the aircraft circling his oil rig.
• “Humility is the worst form of conceit.” — Blofeld, quoting La Rochefoucauld.

9. Live and Let Die (1973)

• “The physical violation cannot be undone.” — Solitaire, after Bond admits he stacked the tarot deck and she believes she has lost her powers.

10. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

• “Mr. Bond, bullets do not kill. It is the finger that pulls the trigger.” — Lazar, the gunsmith. Bond, aiming a rifle at him: “Exactly.”

11. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

• “When one is in Egypt, one should delve deeply into its treasures.” — Bond, accepting Sheikh Hosein’s hospitality.
• “Every woman for herself, remember?” — Major Anya Amasova, after Bond thanks her for deserting him.

12. Moonraker (1979)

• “What he doesn’t own, he doesn’t want.” — Corinne Dufour, flying Bond over Hugo Drax’s estate.
• “To lose one aircraft may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two seems like carelessness.” — Drax, twisting Oscar Wilde’s line about losing parents.
• “You have arrived at a propitious moment, coincident with your country’s one indisputable contribution to Western civilisation: afternoon tea.” — Drax.
• “Even in death, my munificence is boundless.” — Drax, leaving Bond and Dr. Goodhead under a rocket’s exhaust.

13. For Your Eyes Only (1981)

• “When setting out on revenge, you first dig two graves.” — Bond, quoting a Chinese saying to Melina.
• “Courage is no match for an unfriendly shoe, Countess.” — a nervous gambler at the Corfu baccarat table.

14. Octopussy (1983)

• “The West is decadent and divided. It has no stomach to risk our atomic reprisals.” — General Orlov, pushing for an invasion of Western Europe.
• “World socialism will be achieved peaceably. Our military role is strictly defensive.” — the Kremlin’s answer to Orlov.

15. Never Say Never Again (1983, unofficial)

• “I don’t think you got your reputation by living on a diet of wild rice.” — Bond, to the nurse at the health clinic, as he unpacks his smuggled caviar and foie gras.
• “Your weapons of deterrence did not deter us from our objective.” — Blofeld’s ultimatum to NATO.
• “Bureaucrats running the whole place, everything done by the book. Can’t make a decision unless the computer gives you the go-ahead.” — Q.

16. A View to a Kill (1985)

• “Intuitive improvisation is the secret of genius.” — Max Zorin, after shooting a city official and staging a fire.

17. The Living Daylights (1987)

• “War has always been man’s main occupation. Fools say his greatest accomplishments were the wheel and the alphabet. I say it’s a battering ram and gunpowder.” — Brad Whitaker, the arms dealer.
• “Duty has no sweethearts.” — General Koskov. Bond: “We have an old saying too, Georgi. And you’re full of it.”

18. Licence to Kill (1989)

• “Loyalty is more important to me than money.” — Franz Sanchez, the drug lord.
• “Field operatives must often use every means at their disposal to achieve their objectives.” — Q, defending Bond to Pam Bouvier.

James Bond Quotes From the Brosnan and Craig Years (1995-2021)

19. GoldenEye (1995)

• “Governments change. The lies stay the same.” — Bond, after M reports Moscow’s cover story for the Severnaya attack.
• “I think you’re a sexist, misogynist dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War, whose boyish charms, though wasted on me, obviously appealed to that young woman I sent out to evaluate you.” — M, in Judi Dench’s debut as Bond’s new boss.
• “You have a licence to kill, not to break the traffic laws.” — Q, showing off the BMW Z3.
• “Nothing more than a common thief.” — Bond, cutting Alec Trevelyan’s grand plan down to size.

20. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

• “There’s no news like bad news.” — Elliot Carver, the media baron.
• “The key to a great story is not who, or what, or when, but why.” — Carver, on the lesson from his first newspaper job.
• “Words are the new weapons, satellites the new artillery.” — Carver.
• “The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.” — Carver.
• “Great men have always manipulated the media to save the world. Look at William Randolph Hearst, who told his photographers, ‘You provide the pictures, I’ll provide the war.'” — Carver, after Bond accuses him of starting a war for ratings.
• “You forgot the first rule of mass media, Elliot: give the people what they want!” — Bond, in Carver’s final moments.

21. The World Is Not Enough (1999)

• “There’s no point in living if you can’t feel alive.” — Elektra King, betting a million dollars on one card.
• “What do you do to survive?” / “I take pleasure in great beauty.” — Elektra and Bond.
• “Revenge is not hard to fathom for a man who believes in nothing.” — Bond to Renard.
• “Life’s full of small challenges.” — said while Bond and Christmas Jones defuse a moving bomb inside the pipeline.

22. Die Another Day (2002)

• “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” — Raoul, Bond’s contact in Havana, when Bond says he’s looking for a North Korean terrorist.
• “The predators usually appear at sunset.” / “It’s when their prey comes out to drink.” — Bond, meeting Jinx at a Cuban bar.
• “The pleasure of the kill is in the chase.” — Gustav Graves.

23. Casino Royale (2006)

• “Being dead does not mean one cannot be helpful.” — René Mathis, as police find two assassins in a car boot.
• “Why is it that people who can’t take advice always insist on giving it?” — Bond to Vesper.
• “I can’t resist waking you. Every time I do, you look at me as if you hadn’t seen me in years. Makes me feel reborn.” — Vesper Lynd.
• “Sometimes we’re so focused on our enemies we forget to watch our friends.” — M, after Vesper’s betrayal comes to light.
• “Enough to travel the world with you until one of us has to take an honest job… which I think is going to have to be you, because I have no idea what an honest job is.” — Bond, when Vesper asks, “You love me?”

24. Quantum of Solace (2008)

• “When one’s young, it seems very easy to distinguish between right and wrong. But as one gets older, it becomes more difficult. The villains and the heroes get all mixed up.” — Mathis.
• “Say Greene is a villain. If we refused to do business with villains, we’d have almost no one to trade with.” — a British government minister, overruling M.
• “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” — Felix Leiter, when Bond warns him that Dominic Greene is playing the CIA.

25. Skyfall (2012)

• “We’re a democracy, accountable to the people we’re trying to defend. We can’t keep working in the shadows.” — Gareth Mallory to M.
• “We are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” — M, quoting Tennyson’s “Ulysses” at the public inquiry.
• “Sometimes the old ways are the best.” — Eve, watching Bond shave with a cut-throat razor.
• “Regret is unprofessional.” — M to Raoul Silva, the agent she gave up.
• “Orphans always make the best recruits.” — M, at Bond’s childhood home.
• “Age is no guarantee of efficiency.” / “And youth is no guarantee of innovation.” — Q and Bond, meeting at the National Gallery.

26. Spectre (2015)

• “A licence to kill is also a licence not to kill.” — M (Mallory), to Max Denbigh (“C”), who wants to scrap the 00 section.

27. No Time to Die (2021)

• “As long as we’re looking over our shoulder, the past is not dead.” — Madeleine Swann, urging Bond to let Vesper go.
• “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” — M, reading words attributed to Jack London.

What These Quotes Say About James Bond

Read in order, these quotes tell a quieter story than the explosions do: Bond is the hero everyone relies on and no one looks after. His own side keeps leaving him on his own.

In Skyfall (2012) he is shot, presumed dead, and quietly written off. When he walks back into MI6, his flat has been sold, his belongings are in storage, and M has already written his obituary. In Spectre (2015) he is grounded for acting on his own. Whether you call it patriotism or a jingoistic fantasy, I find something sad in how often the service treats its best agent as disposable.

That is also why the villains get so many of the best lines. Goldfinger, Drax, Carver and Silva say out loud what the governments in these films only think. Carver’s line about Hearst hits harder in 2026 than it did in 1997.

Watching the films is also like touring the world: new cultures, festivals, islands, and a new leading woman from a different country in almost every film.

Whether the films are sexist, or just a licensed killer’s rampage, depends on where you stand. I enjoy the hard-hearted man’s romances as much as the defeat of the villain. And poor Miss Moneypenny: for decades she flirts and Bond flirts back, and nothing comes of it until Skyfall hints otherwise.

My own verdict on the actors: Sean Connery is the most passionate Bond, Daniel Craig the most agile and ruthless, and Roger Moore the best talker of them all. Among the Bond women, Diana Rigg and Lois Chiles have the voices I remember most.

Which James Bond quote would you add? Tell me in the comments.

James Bond Quotes: FAQ