Arrival Quotes

rust me, you can, uh, understand communication and still end up single.

Holy fuck.

Like their ship or their bodies, their written language has no forward or backward direction. Linguists call this "nonlinear orthography," which raises the question, "Is this how they think?"

You know I've had my head tilted up to the stars for as long as I can remember. You know what surprised me the most? It wasn't meeting them. It was meeting you.

Who is this child?

Louise Banks: Am I fired?
Colonel Weber: You're better than the last guy.
Louise Banks: That doesn't make me feel any better.

Louise Banks: The weapon is their language. They gave it all to us. Do you understand what that means?
Colonel Weber: So we can learn heptapod. If we survive.
Louise Banks: If you learn it, when you really learn it, you begin to perceive time the way that they do. So you can see what's to come. But time, it isn't the same for them. It's non-linear.

And remember what happened to the Aborigines. A more advanced race nearly wiped 'em out.

Louise Banks: Let's say that I taught them Chess instead of English. Every conversation would be a game. Every idea expressed through opposition, victory, defeat. You see the problem? If all I ever gave you was a hammer...
Colonel Weber: Everything's a nail.

Louise Banks: If all I ever gave you was a hammer...
Colonel Weber: Everything's a nail...

Colonel Weber: Mornin'.
Louise Banks: Colonel.
Colonel Weber: Gravisti. He says it means an argument. What do you say it means?
Louise Banks: A desire for more cows.

Well, the cornerstone of civilization isn't language, it's science.

Why did they park where they did? The world's most decorated experts can't crack that one. The most plausible theory is that they chose places on earth with the lowest incidence of lightning strikes. But there are exceptions. The next most plausible theory is that Sheena Easton had a hit song at each of these sites in 1980. So, we just don't know.

"Language is the foundation of civilization. It is the glue that holds a people together. It is the first weapon drawn in a conflict."

Despite knowing the journey... and where it leads... I embrace it... and I welcome every moment of it.

I don't know Mom, I'm watching the same news coverage you are. Mom, please don't bother with that channel, how many times do I have to tell you those people are idiots.

We don't know if they understand the difference between a weapon and a tool.

Come back to me.

We're so bounded by time, by its order. But now I am not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings.

And "purpose" requires an understanding of intent. We need to find out, do they make conscious choices or is their motivation so instinctive that they don't understand a "why" question at all. And-And biggest of all, we need to have enough vocabulary with them that we understand their answer.

Now that's a proper introduction.

Memory is a strange thing.

I forgot how good it felt to be held by you.

So, Hannah... This is where your story begins. The day they departed. Despite knowing the journey... and where it leads... I embrace it. And I welcome every moment of it.

But now I'm not so sure I believe in beginnings and endings. There are days that define your story beyond your life. Like the day they arrived.

Non-zero sum game."