Mike B; The way to win a knife fight is to bring a gun and waste the son of a bitch.

Mom doesn't lie. She doesn't pretend to better than she is. And she faces up to the things that she's done.

Stevie

Yousf: We're not 17 anymore!
Elizabeth: Exactly! Now we're in a position to exact change.

Jay: He's used to getting his way.
Elizabeth: Well, that may be, but I happen to know he is extremely ticklish.
Matt: Wait. Did the Secretary just admit to intimate anatomical knowledge of the Prince of Bahrain?
Blake: The CIA briefs must be very detailed.

If the Iranians were behind the murder of the Secretary of State, it won't just be cruise missles and it won't just be Tehran.

Jackson

Jackson: My God. All this time. How could you just go about your business?
Elizabeth: That's what I was trained for.
Jackson: Tell me everything.
Elizabeth: That could take awhile.
Jackson: I've got all night.

Jackson: So what am I supposed to think? What possible reason could there be except that you think I had him killed.
Elizabeth: Thought you might have knowledge of it, yes.
Jackson: You seriously think I and the President are assassins?
Elizabeth: Not anymore.

Dori: Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
Jackson: You may have helped just enough.

If confusion is an asset, then I'm your man.

Matt

Russell: Maybe you can finish what he started.
Elizabeth: What's that?
Russell: Land.

I swear I'm glad he's dead.

Nadine

Elizabeth: If you never listen to anything I say again for the rest of your life, please hear this: Everything is more complicated than you think it is right now. And the only way you come to know that is through experience. And that's what this whole process of growing up is all about.
Stevie: Yeah. I know. I gotta go do that now.

Madam Secretary Season 1 Quotes

Of those 10 that came before you, how many got us into trouble, giving us something other than the facts, including leading us into war?

Elizabeth

Elizabeth: What do you need, sir?
President Dalton: For you to fix this. Have I been unclear about that?
Chief of Staff Russell: Sir. In fairness, she inherited a lot of this, including Allen Bollings. This was Marsh's agenda.
President Dalton: Vincent Marsh is dead. When are you going to do your job?