Hannibal Lecter

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."

"I do wish we could chat longer, but I'm having an old friend for dinner."

"Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me."

"You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube."

"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Pity about poor Chilton."

"The most perfect pleasure is to outwit one's enemies."

"Hannibal the Cannibal. Such a colorful nickname. Do you think it's apt?"

"People often ask me what my greatest pleasure is. I tell them it's good conversation and fine wine."

"You must try to imagine what it is to want something with every fiber of your being."

"I'm having an old friend for dinner. Won't you join us?"

"Beauty is a primordial desire of the mind."

"I'm not sure what the theme of my prayers is. Perhaps forgiveness? Perhaps simply attention."

"Civilization is not inherited; it has to be learned and earned by each generation anew."

"A man could spend the rest of his life trying to explain what he has seen."

"We covet what we see every day."

"You must understand that people are not always what they seem."

"I'm familiar with the fact that you are ambitious. That's good."

"Teeth are wonderful. They show what we really are underneath."

"The idea of eating someone for the sake of eating is rather different from cannibalism."

"One's taste in art reveals something essential about one's character."

"Murder is rather like music in some ways. One must have talent."

"I find that I am a much more efficient operator when I remain civilized."

"Good evening, Clarice. It's so nice to see you again."

"Desire, ambition, these are not in themselves evil. They are the engine of civilization."

"To study yourself, you must know yourself."

"What is the most important thing you have ever heard?"

"I don't combine the two. That's the difference between us."

"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is action in the face of fear."

"The key to all doors is avarice. Understanding that opens many opportunities."