Quantum Leap
Wednesdays 10:00 PM on NBCHerbert "Magic" Williams Quotes
The thing is, we have to live the life in front of us. Be true to your present, Addison, not some future you’re wishing for that may never happen. Because waiting isn’t living.
Addison: Can I ask what you talked about?
Magic: Alchemy.
Addison: Alchemy. Like magically turning metals into gold?
Magic: Like turning a bad situation into a good one.
Addison: I went from being the leaper to being a hologram to basically being our worst intern ever.
Magic: Well, certainly not our worst. Remember Jeffrey in R&D?
Seeing that fear in Dwain’s face just took me back to that night and it reminded me that it doesn’t matter whether it’s 1967, ‘92, or even today. The sparks of injustice may bury but systemic oppression will always light the fuse and no matter how much progress we make, it seems like that will never change.
Tom: First, Sam Beckett. Now, Ben Song. In both cases, our assumption was that something went wrong. And if we can fix it, one – or both – of them could come home.
Magic: That is the goal.
Tom: But what if the engine of Quantum Leap is sacrifice? What if sacrifice is the price we have to pay for change? For thirty years, we assumed the technology was broken. But what if it has to be a one-way trip?
Magic: But I don’t think that’ll stop people from leaping. I think some will go even if that’s the cost. There’s something deep down inside of us that strives to do better.
Magic: All the agony and loss we went through doesn’t vanish just because Ben’s alive. We still carry all three years of it.
Addison: I, uh, I don’t know how to help him anymore. It’s so strange to look at Ben – my Ben – and not know what to do.
Jenn: Here we go. Ian’s theories about E.T.
Ian: You do realize that it’s a statistical inevitability that other forms of life exist in this universe.
Magic: I’m a believer.
Jenn: But you’re so reasonable.
Magic: Being leapt into changes one’s perspective on life’s possibilities.
Jenn: Turn around.
Magic: Excuse me?
Jenn: If you don’t see me dark webbing through the bank security files, then you won’t have to go to jail if I get caught.
Magic: Fine. You’re lucky I’m no longer a government employee.
Ben: You think when Sam got into the accelerator, he knew he maybe wouldn’t come back?
Magic: It’s hard to say.
Ben: Just keep thinking about his wife and Al and…
Magic: They all knew the risks.
Ben: Doesn’t make it hurt any less.
Magic: No, no, it doesn’t. In some ways, hard as it is to be the time traveler, I think it’s even harder to be the people left behind. For them, there is no adventure, just the longing.
