"The wharf rat didn't get himself wet. You got something for me and my crew, or are you just looking to get criticized? You set here a spell. I needs to put on some coffee. Maybe puts on silverware and the like."

"Just remember, sonny friend: I smell an ounce of Fontaine on you, and I'll have you in a box! Atlas gives you the vouch, but I ain't turning my eye just on his say so!"

"Atlas radioed on ahead. Says you were looking for an invite to the fisheries. Nuts, I say. But, if'n you heads up to the wharf master's office and find ol' Peach a Research Camera, maybe I could manage an invite."

"I believe in no God, no invisible man in the sky. But there is something more powerful than each of us, a combination of our efforts, a Great Chain of industry that unites us. But it is only when we struggle in our own interest that the chain pulls society in the right direction. The chain is too powerful and too mysterious for any government to guide. Any man who tells you different either has his hand in your pocket, or a pistol to your neck."

"[On Protectors/“Big Daddies” and Gatherers/“Little Sisters”] On my walk today I had my first encounter with a pair of them… he, a lumbering palooka in a foul-smelling diving suit, and she, an unwashed moppet in a filthy pink smock. Her pallor was off, green and morbid, and there was a rather unpleasant aspect to her demeanor, as if she were in an altogether different place than the rest of us. …I understand the need for such creatures, I just wish they could make them more presentable."

"Free will is the cornerstone of this city. The thought of sacrificing it is abhorrent. However… we are indeed in a time of war. If Atlas and his bandits have their way, will they not turn us into slaves? And what will become of free will then? Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"What is the difference between a Man and a Parasite? A Man builds. A Parasite asks, "Where is my share?" A Man creates. A Parasite says, "What will the neighbors think?" A Man invents. A Parasite says, "Watch out, or you might tread on the toes of God...""

"I will dictate no laws. The Great Chain moves slowly, but with wisdom. It is our impatience that invites in the Parasite of big government. And once you've invited it in, it will never stop feeding on the body of the city."

"To build a city at the bottom of the sea! Insanity. But where else could we be free from the clutching hand of the Parasites? Where else could we build an economy that they would not try to control, a society that they would not try to destroy? It was not impossible to build Rapture at the bottom of the sea. It was impossible to build it anywhere else."

"[casually playing golf in his office as Jack approaches] The assassin has overcome my final defense, and now he's come to murder me. In the end, what separates a man from a slave? Money? Power? No. A man chooses; a slave obeys. You think you have memories: a farm, a family, an airplane, a crash, and then this place. Was there really a family? Did that airplane crash, or was it ? Forced down... Forced down by something less than a man. Something bred to sleepwalk through life until they are activated by a simple phrase, spoken by their kindly master. Was a man sent to kill, or a slave? A man chooses; a slave obeys. Come in. [Ryan's office door opens; Jack approaches] Stop, would you kindly? [Jack obeys] Would you kindly? Powerful phrase. Familiar phrase? [Jack recalls all the times Atlas said "Would you kindly"] Sit, would you kindly? [Jack sits] Stand, would you kindly? [Jack stands, Ryan motioning him up with his club] Run. [Jack runs away from Ryan] Stop! [Jack stops] Turn. [Jack turns to face Ryan] A man chooses; a slave obeys. [hands Jack his golf club] Kill! [Jack strikes Ryan in the head] A man chooses...! [Jack strikes again] A slave obeys! [Jack strikes again; Ryan grabs Jack as he screams in agonizing pain] OBEY!! [Jack lodges the golf club in Ryan's skull; Ryan falls over dead]"