"Does capitalism promote global injustice? From businesses in the Middle East to factories in South America to entrepreneurs in China, the world is embracing the free market. Does it seem to you ironic that this sort of entrepreneurial capitalism, that this recipe has become so controversial at home here while it is being enthusiastically embraced in so many other parts of the world?"

"Steve Jobs, did he rip people off? He created products that people didn't even know they wanted or needed. But once he made them available, they clamored for them and stood in line to buy them and freely spent their money for them. There's no rip-off. Capitalism works not through coercion or conquest, but through the consent of the consumer."

"Whatever you think about the Vietnam War, America wasn't stealing from the Vietnamese. And in Iraq, we spent a whole bunch of money and then we turned over the oil fields to the Iraqis. Under the conquest ethic, we would have kept it. In Afghanistan after 9/11, the US military, even while bombing terrorist targets, was delivering food rations to Afghan civilians. And far from stealing, America rebuilt Germany and Japan after World War II. Contrary to the Zinn narrative, we're not the bad guys of the world. As Colin Powell said, "The only land that America asks for abroad is land to bury our dead.""

"Slavery existed all over the world. The Egyptians had slaves. The Chinese had slaves. The Africans did. American Indians had slaves long before Columbus. And tragically, slavery continues today in many countries. What's uniquely Western is the abolition of slavery. And what's uniquely American is the fighting of a great war to end it."

"Gates and other scholars estimate that in the period before the Civil War, there were approximately 3,500 free blacks who owned more than 10,000 black slaves. In South Carolina and Louisiana, Gates points out, the percentage of free blacks who owned slaves was approximately the same as the percentage of whites who owned slaves."

"The topic of race, more than any other, generates taboos. And taboos are the enemy of history and of truth. In the early 17th century when slavery started in America, another group was brought to this country by force. They were white indentured servants. Starting in 1618, children were captured from the streets of London and sold into colonial America. But it didn't stop there. Over the next century and a half, another 150,000 Irish men, women and children were declared soldiers of war by Britain and sold into colonial indentured servitude with many landing in Virginia and New England. Indentured servitude was not slavery. It didn't have the same ideology of racial dehumanization. And it was for a limited period, typically seven years. Yet, these people often had their term extended or died before they got their freedom. Indentured servants worked side by side with slaves. For many years, white indentured servants outnumbered black slaves."

"For the first time in history, a great war was fought to end slavery. 300,000 Northern soldiers died in that war. They died to secure for the slaves a freedom that the slaves were not in the position to secure for themselves. Even the Civil Rights Movement was not a break with the American founding. [...] Where did Martin Luther King get his 'promissory note'? Not from the segregationists. He got it from the Declaration of Independence. It was the American founding that established the principles that made possible the success of the Civil Rights Movement."

"Land possession is part of a long history in which the stronger Native American tribes displaced weaker ones. The Native Americans, too, subscribe to the conquest ethic. But what about the charge of genocide? In the two centuries after Columbus, the Native American population declined by 80%. But it wasn't due to warfare. Rather, as historian William McNeill points out, they contracted diseases, measles, typhus, smallpox, cholera and malaria, to which they had no immunities. Now, this is tragedy on a grand scale, but it's not genocide because genocide implies an intention to wipe out a people. Just a century and a half earlier, one-third of the population of Europe was wiped out by a series of bubonic and pneumonic plagues. Those plagues came from Asia, and the Europeans had no immunities. We don't call that genocide."

"Did America steal the country from the Native Americans? Much of this critique focuses on Columbus and the actions of the Spanish conquistadors. But Columbus never even landed in America. And the actions of the Spanish, that was 150 years before America."

"Most countries are founded in conquest. Europe, conquest, conquest and more conquest. Look at Britain. Before becoming an empire, it was conquered by the Norman kings of France and earlier by the Romans. Before the British came, India was invaded by the Persians, the Mongols, the Afghans, the Arabs and Alexander the Great. Conquest was how wealth was acquired. Not through entrepreneurship, invention or business. Historically, every culture has despised entrepreneurs and merchants. In India, we have the caste system. Who's at the top? The Brahmin or priest. The entrepreneur is one step from the bottom. The Islamic historian Ibn Khaldūn says that looting is morally preferable to entrepreneurship or trade. Why? Because looting is more manly. In looting, you have to beat the guy in open combat to take his stuff. America is based on a different idea. The idea of acquiring wealth not by taking it from someone else. Instead, wealth can be created through innovation, entrepreneurship and trade. Let's take a look at Manhattan. Reportedly in 1626, Native Americans sold Manhattan to the Dutch for $700 in today's money. There's land all over the world now that you can buy for $700. But when the Dutch bought Manhattan, there was no Manhattan. Prices are astronomical today because of what's been built over the past 300 years. Manhattan is the creation of the people who built it, not the original inhabitants who sold it. Manhattan represents the new American ethic of wealth creation. An alternative to conquest."

"These are the indictments against America: We stole the country from the Native Americans. We took half of Mexico in the Mexican War. We stole the labor of the African Americans. And today our foreign policy and our free market system are forms of theft. These indictments developed separately and each has been around for a long time. But now they've come together in a single narrative of American shame. [...] Are our lives, innocent on the surface, part of a ruthless engine of looting, exploitation and murder? It's a powerful critique. We can't just dismiss it with chants of liberty, freedom, rah, rah, rah. The critics are raising the primary question of justice. Read the Declaration of Independence. It's a cry against injustice. For the American Founders, liberty was the solution to that injustice. This is not just an attack on the 1%. It's an attack on all of us. We are a nation of immigrants and settlers. And we are the ones accused of these crimes. [...] If our wealth is stolen, then we must give it back. So, is America guilty as charged? It depends on whether the story of American shame is true or not."

"I love America. I chose this country. And like millions of immigrants, I've been blessed by my life in America. This country does something truly unique. It allows you to write the script of your own life."

"america has a problem"

"Imagine the unimaginable... What would the world look like if America did not exist?"

"Lindsay Duncan - Tabitha Dickinson, a top theatre critic"

"Merritt Wever - Annie, the stage manager"

"Naomi Watts - Lesley, an actress and Mike's girlfriend"

"Emma Stone - Sam Thomson, Riggan's daughter and assistant"

"Amy Ryan - Sylvia, Riggan's ex-wife and Sam's mother"

"Andrea Riseborough - Laura, an actress and Riggan's girlfriend"

"Edward Norton - Mike Shiner, a popular Broadway actor"

"Zach Galifianakis - Jake, Riggan's lawyer and friend"

"Michael Keaton - Riggan Thomson / Birdman"

"Leslie, play with my balls."

"Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige."

"I'm nothing. I'm not even here."

"[as Birdman] That's what I'm talking about. Bones rattling! Big, loud, fast! Look at these people, at their eyes... they're sparkling. They love this shit. They love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical bullshit. Yes. And the next time you screech, it'll explode into millions of eardrums. You'll glimmer on thousands of screens around the globe. Another blockbuster. You are a god. See? There you go, you motherfucker. Gravity doesn't even apply to you. Wait till you see the faces of those who thought we were finished. Listen to me. Let's go back one more time and show them what we're capable of. We have to end it on our own terms... with a grand gesture. Flames. Sacrifice. Icarus. You can do it. You hear me? You are... Birdman!"

"[as Birdman] How did we end up here? This place is horrible. Smells like balls."

"Let me tell you a story. The first story my father told me, and the first story that I told each of you. In the beginning, there was nothing. Nothing but the silence of an infinite darkness. But the breath of the Creator fluttered against the face of the void, whispering "Let there be light." And light was, and it was good. The first day. And then the formless light began to take on substance and shape. A second day. And our world was born. Our beautiful, fragile home. And a great, warming light nurtured its days, and a lesser light ruled the nights. And there was evening, and morning - another day. And the waters of the world gathered together, and in their midst emerged dry land. Another day passed. And the ground put forth the growing things. A thick blanket of green stretching across all creation. And the waters, too, teemed with life. Great creatures of the deep that are no more. Vast multitudes of fish, some of which may still swim beneath these seas. And soon the sky was streaming with birds. And there was evening, and there was morning - a fifth day. Now the whole world was full of living beings. Everything that creeps, everything that crawls, and every beast that walks upon the ground, and it was good. It was all good. There was light and air and water and soil, all clean and unspoiled. There were plants and fish and fowl and beast, each after their own kind, all part of the greater whole, all in their place, and all was in balance. It was paradise, a jewel in The Creator's palm. Then The Creator made Man, and by his side, Woman. Father and mother of us all. He gave them a choice: follow the temptation of darkness, or hold on to the blessing of light. But they ate from the forbidden fruit. Their innocence was extinguished. And so for the ten generations since Adam, sin has walked within us. Brother against brother, nation against nation, Man against Creation. We murdered each other. We broke the world, we did this. Man did this. Everything that was beautiful, everything that was good, we shattered. Now, it begins again. Air, water, earth, plant, fish, bird and beast. Paradise returns. But this time there will be no men. If we were to enter the garden, we would only ruin it again. No, the Creator has judged us. Mankind must end. Shem and Ila, you will bury your mother and I. Ham, you will bury them. Japheth will lay you to rest. You, Japheth, you will be the last man. And in time you, too, will return to the dust. Creation will be left alone, safe and beautiful."

"Oscar Isaac - Standard Gabriele"

"Christina Hendricks - Blanche"

"Ron Perlman - Nino "Izzy" Paolozzi"

"Albert Brooks - Bernie Rose"

"Bryan Cranston - Shannon"

"Carey Mulligan - Irene"

"Ryan Gosling - The Driver"

"There Are No Clean Getaways"

"Some Heroes Are Real"

"Get in. Get out. Get away."

"What happened to all the ashtrays in this town?"

"A lot of guys mess around with married women, but you're the only one I know who robs a joint just to pay back the husband. Crazy."

"Here's what I'm prepared to offer: you give me the money, the girl is safe. Forever. Nobody knows about her. She's off the map. I can't offer you the same. So, this is what I would suggest. We conclude our deal. We'll shake hands. You start the rest of your life. Any dreams you have, or plans, or hopes for your future... I think you're going to have to put that on hold. For the rest of your life you're going to be looking over your shoulder. I'm just telling you this because I want you to know the truth. But the girl is safe."

"My partner is a belligerent asshole with his back up against a wall, and now, so am I."

"Now it's your turn to clean up after me."

"Shut the fuck up, you fucking monkey!"

"[about Shannon] I used to produce movies. In the 80s. Kind of like action films. Sexy stuff. One critic called them European. I thought they were shit. Anyway, he arranged all the cars for me. Did all the stunts. I liked him. I liked having him around, even though he overcharged the shit out of me. His next business venture, he got involved with some of Nino's friends. They didn't go for the overcharging bit. They broke his pelvis. He's never had a lot of luck. The reason I'm telling you this is that he has a lot invested in you. And so do I. So anything you need, you call me. We're a team now."

"[After slapping Blanche and holding his hand over her mouth] Now, you just got a little boy's father killed and you almost got us killed and now you're lying to me. So how about this? From now on, every word out of your mouth is the truth or I'm going to hurt you."

"You know the story about the scorpion and the frog? Your friend Nino didn't make it across the river."

"[on the phone with Irene] Can I talk to you? I won't keep you long. I have to go somewhere and I don't think I can come back. But I just wanted you to know. Getting to be around you and Benicio was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"If I drive for you, you get your money. You tell me where we start, where we're going, where we're going afterwards. I give you five minutes when we get there. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything a minute on either side of that and you're on your own. I don't sit in while you're running it down. I don't carry a gun. I drive."