"David Hill: The views I have to express are my own, but I believe that much I have to say will help indicate why most of the scientists in this country would prefer to see Mr. Strauss completely out of the government."

"George Kistiakowsky: [referring to the Trinity Gadget] A month of my salary against ten bucks says it lights."

"Henry Stimson: [referring to the firebombing of Tokyo] I worry about an America where we do these things and no one protests."

"Matt Damon -"

"Dane DeHaan - Kenneth Nichols"

"Jean Tatlock: Don’t alienate the only people in the world who understand what you do. One day you might need them."

"Enrico Fermi: [referring to the hydrogen bomb] It's a weapon of attack with no defensive value."

"[to Oppenheimer] You’re the great salesman of science. You can convince anyone of anything - even yourself."

"Opening Text: [Greek Proverb] "Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.""

"Haakon Chevalier: Robert, you see beyond the world we live in. There’s a price to be paid for that."

"In a great number of cases I have seen Dr Oppenheimer act in a way which for me was exceedingly hard to understand. I thoroughly disagreed with him in numerous issues, and his actions, frankly, appeared to me confused and complicated. To this extent, I feel that I would like to see the vital interests of this country in hands which I understand better and therefore trust more."

"[referring to Oppenheimer] I have always assumed, and now assume, that he is loyal to the United States. I believe this, and I shall believe it until I see very conclusive proof to the opposite."

"[referring to Los Alamos] Who could think straight in a place like that? Everybody will go crazy."

"Lilli Hornig: It’s no longer the enemy who are the greatest threat to mankind - it’s us. Our work."

"History will judge us, Robert."

"Kurt Koehler - Thomas A. Morgan"

"You’re a politician now, Robert. You left physics behind many years ago."

"Would the Japanese surrender if they knew what was coming?"

"Macon Blair - Lloyd K. Garrison"

"J. Robert Oppenheimer, sphinx-like guru of the atom. No one knows what you believe! Do you?"

"Alden Ehrenreich - a Senate aide to Lewis Strauss"

"Phillip Morrison: But how do we justify using this weapon on human beings?"

"[referring to the Chevalier incident] I’ve seen so many versions of it. I wasn’t confused before, but I’m certainly getting there now."

"You drown in ten feet of water or ten thousand, what’s the difference? We can already drown Russia, and they know it."

"Why go through all this against a man who’s accomplished what Dr. Oppenheimer has? Look at his record; we have an A-bomb and a whole series of it, and we have a whole series of Super bombs. What more do you want? Mermaids?"

"An H-bomb would be one thousand times the power of an A-bomb. The only intended target would be the largest cities. It’s a weapon of mass genocide."

"Robert, we’ve given them an ace. It’s for them to play the hand."

"You drop a bomb, it falls on the just and unjust. I don't wish for the culmination for three centuries of physics to be a weapon of mass destruction."

"[to Oppenheimer] When you speak, they hear a prophet. When Strauss speaks, they hear themselves...a prophet can’t be wrong. Not once."

"Dr Oppenheimer, the fact that your security clearance is proving difficult to obtain is not my fault. It’s yours."

"So here we are, lost in your quantum world of probabilities and needing certainty."

"[to Oppenheimer] Take off that ridiculous uniform. You’re a scientist."

"I think one of the wisest things I ever did was when I selected the director of Los Alamos."

"Algebra is like sheet music. The important thing isn't, "can you read music," it's "can you hear it.""

"The power you are about to reveal will forever outlive the Nazis, and the world is not prepared."

"[to Oppenheimer] About the only thing you and I share is a disdain for mathematics."

"We have to make the politicians understand: this isn’t a new weapon, it’s a new world. I’ll be out there, doing what I can, but you.. you’re an American Prometheus - the man who gave them the power to destroy themselves - and they’ll respect that. Then, the work really begins."

"Quantum physics is not a step forward; it is a new way to understand reality. Einstein's opened the door, [and] now we are seeing a world inside of our world; a world of energy and paradox that not everyone can accept."

"I did what was right for this country. They don’t want me in the Cabinet Room? Maybe they should just invite Oppenheimer instead."

"J. Robert Oppenheimer the martyr. I gave him exactly what he wanted. To be remembered for Trinity. Not Hiroshima, not Nagasaki. He should be thanking me."

"Harry Groener - Gale W. McGee"

"[to Oppenheimer] You're the great improviser, but this you can't do in your head."

"You’ve served America well, and if this is the reward she has to offer, then perhaps you should turn your back on her."

"Oppenheimer wanted to own the atomic bomb. He wanted to be the man who moved the Earth. He talks about putting the nuclear genie back in the bottle. Well I'm here to tell you that I know J. Robert Oppenheimer, and if he could do it all over, he'd do it all the same. You know he's never once said that he regrets Hiroshima? He'd do it all over. Why? Because it made him the most important man who ever lived!"

"He wanted the glorious insincere guilt of the self-important to wear like a fuckin' crown, and I gave it to him."

"[to Edward Condon] You have just the rights that I give you - no more, no less!"

"David Rysdahl - Donald Hornig"

"Tony Goldwyn - Gordon Gray"

"[to Oppenheimer] It’s important you not maintain or renew any questionable associations."

"You sit there, day after day, letting them pick our lives to pieces. Why won’t you fight?"