Colonel William Tavington: You know, it's dirty business doing one's duty... but just occasionally it's a real pleasure.
 

Benjamin Martin: Before this war is over, I'm going to kill you.
Colonel William Tavington: Why wait?
 

Charlotte: You have done nothing to be ashamed of.
Benjamin Martin: I have done nothing. And for that I am ashamed.
 

Reverend Oliver: [explaining to his church why he is marching off to war]
 

Benjamin Martin: Aim small, miss small.
 

Benjamin Martin: I'm a parent. I haven't got the luxury of principles.
 

Benjamin Martin: Why should I agree to swap one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away?
 

Benjamin Martin: I have long feared that my sins would return to haunt me, and the cost would be more than I could bear.
 

Nathan Martin: Father, I killed those men.
Benjamin Martin: It's alright, Nathan. You had no choice.
Nathan Martin: I'm glad I killed those men. I'm glad.
 

Colonel William Tavington: Let it be known if you harbor the enemy you will lose your home.
 

Benjamin Martin: He cannot be held as a spy.
Colonel William Tavington: Oh, we're not going to hold him. We're going to hang him.
 

[At the Battle of Cowpens]
General O'Hara: My Lord, if we re-form and wheel right, we may be able to turn their flank.
Lord General Cornwallis: You dream, General.
 

Gabriel Edward Martin: [shouting] I'm not a child.
Benjamin Martin: [shouting] You're my child.
 

Colonel William Tavington: Kill me before the war is over, will you? It appears that you are not the better man.
Benjamin Martin: You're right. My sons were better men.
 

Colonel William Tavington: Would you like a lesson, sir, in the rules of war? Or perhaps your children would?
 

[after Benjamin removes a British soldier's uniform off of Thomas]
Benjamin Martin: Not yet... Thomas.
Thomas: When?
Benjamin Martin: 17.
Thomas: That's two years... it's already been two. The war could be over by then!
Benjamin Martin: God willing.
 

[Grooming himself before battle]
Major Jean Villeneuve: If I die, then I will die well dressed.
 

John Billings: I say we drink the wine, eat the dogs, and use the paper for musket lining.
Reverend Oliver: [alarmed] eat the dogs!
Benjamin Martin: [going along with Billings' joke] A dog is a fine meal.
Reverend Oliver: [still alarmed] G-G-Good Heavens!
[Billings and Martin laugh]
 

Benjamin Martin: When you have a family of your own, you'll understand.
Gabriel Edward Martin: When I have a family of my own, I won't hide behind it.
 

Gabriel Edward Martin: I've come to call on Anne.
[Anne's father puts an ear piece in his ear to hear. Gabriel leans in and tries again louder]
Gabriel Edward Martin: I've come to call on Anne.
Mr. Howard: Well of course you call yourself a man!
Miss Anne Howard/ Mrs. Anne Martin: Father stop it! You heard him!
 

John Billings: There's a story going around 'bout how some 20 Redcoats got killed by a ghost or some damn thing, carried a Cherokee tomahawk.
Benjamin Martin: Aren't you a little old to be believing in ghost stories?
 

Susan Martin: Papa! Papa please don't go. I say anything, just tell me what you want me to say and I'll say it. Papa please don't go!
 

Colonel William Tavington: Pretty impressive for farmers with pitchforks.
 

Benjamin Martin: This battle was over before it begun.
 

Lord General Cornwallis: Colonel Tavington, why, after six weeks, am I still here at Middleton place attending a ball in South Carolina while I should be attending balls in NORTH CAROLINA?
 

Miss Anne Howard/ Mrs. Anne Martin: You know who I am Gabriel Martin. When I was younger you put ink in my tea.
Gabriel Edward Martin: [Uneasy] Surely it was maybe one of my younger brothes?
Miss Anne Howard/ Mrs. Anne Martin: It was you. And it turned my teeth black for a month.
 

Colonel William Tavington: [Tavington's searching for Martin] ... I wish to know his whereabouts. So, anyone who steps forward may be forgiven their treason.
[silence]
Colonel William Tavington: Very well, you had your chance.
[turns about to leave]
Hardwick: Wait!
[Hardwick tells Tavington everything]
Colonel William Tavington: Thank you very much. Shut the doors!
Hardwick: But you said... we'd be forgiven!
Colonel William Tavington: And indeed you may! But that's between you and God.
 

Occam: Gabriel said if we won the war, we could build a whole new world. Just figured we'd start here with your home.
 

Hardwick: They hanged my brother. Every one of them redcoats deserves to die.
 

[to Benjamin Martin, after killing his son Thomas]
Colonel William Tavington: Stupid boy.
 

Gabriel Edward Martin: I'm sorry about Thomas
Benjamin Martin: Oh, son, that wasn't your fault
[pause]
Benjamin Martin: That was mine.
 

Gabriel Edward Martin: [as he is lying there wounded, and sees his father appear] Father...
[gasps]
Benjamin Martin: Shh... don't talk, don't talk.
Gabriel Edward Martin: [gasps for air, groans] Father. I'm sorry...
Benjamin Martin: I'm going to take care of you. You're going to be all right.
Gabriel Edward Martin: Father. I'm sorry about Thomas.
[whimpers]
Benjamin Martin: Oh son, that wasn't your fault.
[Gabriel lets out a soft groan]
Benjamin Martin: That was mine.
[Gabriel gasps for final breaths of air]
Benjamin Martin: Hold on, hold on, you're gonna... Don't go. Gabriel, don't!
[sobs quietly while touching his face]
Benjamin Martin: Oh! God help me. God help me. God help me.
[begins crying, whispers]
Benjamin Martin: God help me...
 

Lord General Cornwallis: [Sees Taverton leading cavalry charge without an order] DAMN HIM DAMN THAT MAN!
 

Major Jean Villeneuve: [to Occam] Here. A proper musket for you.
Dan Scott: I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't like the idea of giving muskets to slaves.
Major Jean Villeneuve: [to Dan] Your sense of freedom is as pale as your skin.
 

Lord General Cornwallis: [referring to a replacement formal coat] It's a horse blanket.
Colonel William Tavington: Oh I don't know my Lord; it's really, quite nice.
General O'Hara: Very nice my Lord.
Lord General Cornwallis: Very well it's a nice horse blanket.
 

Reverend Oliver: [explaining to his church why he is marching off to war] A shepherd must tend his flock. And at times... fight off the wolves.