“The hardest choices require the strongest of wills.”

From: Avengers: Infinity War

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Thanos

The story behind the quote: While I have touched upon a lot of quotes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the past, this is the first quote from a villian. Avengers: Infinity War focuses on Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) and his quest to gather the Infinity Stones to fulfill his plan to eliminate half the galaxy’s population to prevent suffering from a lack of resources. The Avengers stumble upon the plot and try to stop him.

The quote comes from the third act of the film. Thanos arrives on Titan to retrieve the Time Stone from Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch). Thanos explains to Doctor Strange how his planet used to be glorious but his plan to half his world’s population to prevent its annihilation was scoffed at. He then explains how, after he achieves his plan to do it on a universal scale, he’ll finally rest. This is when he delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: Sometimes, it feels so much easier to just quit when the going gets tough. However, only the people with really strong willpower will push though when the going gets tough.

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“Because Tony learns from his mistakes.”

From: YouTube and Marvel, kinda

Genre: Internet

Who said it?: Allan Tsai

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from Allan Tsai, a YouTuber who does a lot of videos looking at little known facts about various movies.

A lot of the time, Allan Tsai would focus on the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. He has focused a lot of times on Tony Stark/Iron Man and usually comments on some of the upgrades he’s made to his suits based on what’s happened in previous films.

Geek wisdom: There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes. What’s not okay is actually not learning from them. So, be like Tony Stark and take note of your errors so you can either fix them or not let them happen again.

“No amount of money ever bought a second of time.”

From: Avengers: Endgame

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Tony Stark/Iron Man

The story behind the quote: This quote comes from Avengers: Endgame. This was the closing film for the entire Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The quote comes from the middle of the film. Tony Stark/Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr.) has travelled back in time in order to recover the Space Stone that is encased in the Tesseract. While retrieving the item, Tony runs into his father, Howard Stark. Tony then bonds with his father, even though Howard doesn’t realize he’s actually talking to his yet to be born child. Howard asks Tony for advice on how to raise his soon-to-be born son. Tony then comments he had to wing it most of the time and he then tells his father the quote.

Geek wisdom: Even if you have all the money in the world, we cannot use it to buy back whatever time we’ve lost. We are only on this planet for a limited time and we have to cherish whatever time we have with them.

“Don’t be what they made you.”

From: Logan

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Logan/Wolverine

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 2017 superhero/post-apocalyptic film, Logan. Based on Marvel’s X-Men’s characters, the film focuses on the former mutant known as Wolverine. Now going by his “real” name, Logan, he has to get a bunch of child mutants, along with his clone, Laura/X-23, to safety as they are hunted down by the mysterious group who created them as living weapons.

The quote comes from the end of the film. Logan (played by Hugh Jackman) is slowly dying as his healing factor is all but spent fighting off an evil version of himself. Laura (played by Dafne Keen) wants to help his adoptive father but Logan, with his dying breath, tells her to run as she doesn’t have to be the weapon she was created to be.

Geek wisdom: We choose who we want to be and we don’t have to go with whatever someone else thinks is best for you. It’s always up to you to decide your destiny.

“I’ve told this story so often, it might even be true.”

From: Larry King Live

Genre: Television and Comics

Who said it?: Stan Lee

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote is a unique one as it doesn’t come from any form of geek media. It does, however, come from one of the legends of the geek community, comic legend Stan Lee. It’s one of my favorite quotes from the man.

During a 2000 interview during Larry King Live, Stan Lee was asked about how he came to creating one of Marvel’s most popular characters, Spider-Man. Stan Lee starts out by saying how he’s created a whole lot of superheroes before and then sticks in the quote before continuing.

Geek wisdom: Our memories are a funny thing. While we think we have perfect recollection of a moment in our lives, it’s always clouded by our own perceptions of what we’re feeling at the time. Some events may be too good to be true while others may seem not so bad in reality.

“For years, I’ve been treating the Hulk like he’s some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure.”

From: Avengers: Endgame

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Bruce Banner/The Hulk

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Avengers: Endgame. The movie was the climax of a decades long story that started way back in 2009 with Iron Man. The heroes have been defeated but it turns out there is still something they can do to, at the very least, set things right to the way things were.

The quote comes during the start of the movie. Captain America and Black Widow take Ant-Man to see Bruce Banner (played by Mark Ruffalo). However, instead of seeing a mindless monster or a meek scientist, Banner finally figured out how to merge both his Hulk side and his normal side into one being. He explains that, when they lost in the previous film, it was doubly hard on him as he lost twice. This is when he delivered the quote.

Geek wisdom: Sometimes, the thing you think is your greatest weakness can actually be made into your greatest strength. It’s just all about how you can utilize whatever you have in yourself and make it work for you.

“Teach me.”

From: Doctor Strange

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Doctor Strange

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 2016 Marvel superhero film, Doctor Strange. The film focuses on Stephen Strange, a skilled surgeon who loses his fine tuned motor skills in a car accident. In an attempt to heal his hands, he travels to Tibet. Under the tutelage of the Ancient One, he instead becomes trained in the mystic arts and becomes the Sorcerer Supreme, dedicated to defending this dimension from Dormammu of the Dark Dimension.

The quote comes near the start of the film. Doctor Stephen Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) enters a temple in Tibet in the hopes to find a way to fix his injured hands. There he meets the Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton). Thinking she’s just a shyster, he rebuffs her as Strange thinks all of her mystical talk is all fake. The Ancient One then proves what she says is real by sending Doctor Strange on a journey throughout the multiverse. When Strange returns to his reality. He delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: A truly humble person, despite being an expert in his or her field or who has become quite knowledgeable with the way the world works, will always remember that there is always something to learn. We all have to be this way as we will stop learning and growing otherwise.

“Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a bunch of scraps!”

From: Iron Man

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Obadiah Stane

The story behind the quote: This quote comes from the 2009 superhero film, Iron Man. The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark who, after getting kidnapped by terrorists, builds a suit of armor to escape his captors. After realizing his weapons were being used by the terrorists, he decides to refine the armor to fight them as well as becoming the first superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The quote comes from the middle of the film movie. Tony Stark’s business partner, Obadiah Stane (played by Jeff Bridges), hires a group of scientist to recreate Stark’s huge arc reactor in miniature form as he needs it to power up his own Iron Man suit. His scientists tell him they’re unable to duplicate the technology. This make Stane very upset and he berates the head scientist by delivering the quote.

Geek wisdom: Most of anything is possible but you have to be ready to put in the time and the hard work to achieve it. If you have the mindset that it cannot be done, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy as you’ll never put in the required work to accomplish your goal.

“Well, that’s just lazy writing.”

From: Deadpool

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Deadpool/Wade Wilson

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes the second Deadpool film, which was released in 2018. Deadpool is Wade Wilson,a Marvel anti-hero noted for being one of the funniest comic book characters ever created. Most of the humor is derived from the fact that he knows he’s in a comic book and he breaks the fourth wall often because of it.

The quote in the middle of the film, Cable (played by Josh Brolin) goes to Deadpool/Wade Wilson (played by Ryan Reynolds) and asks for his help in order to stop Russell before he makes his first kill. Deadpool then asks Cable, since he’s a time traveler, why doesn’t he just go back further in time and stop Russell when he was a baby. Cable then explains that the further you go back in time, the more difficult it gets to control. Also, he only has one charge left and he’s saving it to get back to his present. This is when Deadpool turns to the camera and delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom:  If you don’t put in the required effort, you can bet there will be someone to call you out for it. If you want the best, you have to put out the best yourself.

“This is a moment. A moment to repeat the mistakes of the past. Or to work together for a better future.”

From: X-2: X-Men United

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Charles Xavier

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 2003 Marvel superhero movie, X-2: X-Men United. The plot revolves around a government operative named William Stryker and his plans to hunt and incarcerate all mutants of the world by kidnapping Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men, and using his mutant abilities to kill all mutants in the world. This leads the X-Men to attempt to rescue their mentor.

The quote comes from the end of the film. The President of the United States is about to give a speech about how all mutants are a threat. Before he does, Charles Xavier (played by Patrick Steward) hands the President files proving that Stryker orchestrated the events of the film. Xavier, in the hopes the President will change his mind, delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: We all never forget about the atrocities of the past but we must also recognize them as mistakes we have made. It is only then when we can learn from them and work together to move on to a better tomorrow.