Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul quotes from Batman Begins (2005)

"The world is too small for a man like Bruce Wayne to simply disappear. No matter how deep he chooses to sink."

"To manipulate the fear in others you must first master your own."

"Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not considerate or fair. And make no mistake: here, you face death."

"To conquer fear, you must become fear."

"He was a farmer. Then he tried to take his neighbor's land and became a murderer. Now he's a prisoner."

"Crime cannot be tolerated. Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding."

"Your parents' death was not your fault. It was your father's. [Bruce attacks wildly and fails to land any blows] Anger does not change the fact that your father failed to act."

"You haven't beaten me. You have sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke."

"But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved one is just poison in your veins. And one day, you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed so you'd be spared your pain."

"Your anger gives you great power. But if you let it, it will destroy you... As it almost did me."

"There are those without decency who must be fought without hesitation, without pity."

"You never learned to mind your surroundings!"

"The training is nothing! The will is everything! The will to act."

"Men fear most what they cannot see."

"Only a cynical man would call what these people have "lives," Wayne. Crime. Despair. This is not how man was supposed to live. The League of Shadows has been a check against human corruption for thousands of years. We sacked Rome; loaded trade ships with plague rats; burned London to the ground. Every time a civilization reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore the balance."

"No one can save Gotham. When a forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural. Tomorrow the world will watch in horror as its greatest city tears itself apart, through fear. The movement back to harmony will be unstoppable this time."

"We are back to finish the job. And this time no misguided idealists will get in the way. Like your father, you lack the courage to do all that is necessary. If someone stands in the way of true justice, you simply walk up behind them and stab them in the heart."

"Justice is balance. You burned my house and left me for dead. Consider us even."

"Gentlemen, time to spread the word. And the word is panic!"

"Don't be afraid, Bruce. You're just an ordinary man in a cape. That is why you cannot fight injustice and that is why you cannot stop this train."

"Have you finally learned to do what is necessary?"

"Well, well. You took my advice about theatricality a bit... literally."

"You will never learn."

Are you so desperate to fight criminals that you lock yourself in to take them on one at a time?

Bruce Wayne

Actually, uh, there were seven of them.

I counted six, Mister Wayne.

If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, then you become something else entirely.

Bruce Wayne

Which is?

A legend, Mister Wayne.

You're stronger than your father.

Bruce Wayne

You didn't know my father.

But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved ones is just poison in your veins. And one day you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed, so you'd be spared your pain. I wasn't always here in the mountains. Once I had a wife, my great love. She was taken from me. Like you, I was forced to learn that there are those without decency that must be fought without hesitation, without pity. Your anger gives you great power, but if you let it, it will destroy you, as it almost did me.

Bruce Wayne

What stopped it?

Vengeance.

Bruce Wayne

That's no good to me.

Why, Bruce? Why could you not avenge your parents?

Compassion is not a quality your enemies will share.

Bruce Wayne

That's why it's so important. It separates us from them.

Familiar! Have you learned nothing new? [swings sword at Batman, who traps it with his wrist guards]

Batman

How about this? [pulls wrists apart, shattering the sword]

Don't be afraid, Bruce. You're just an ordinary man in a cape. That's why you can't fight injustice, and that's why you can't stop this train.

Batman

Who said anything about stopping it?

Batman

You never learned to mind your surroundings.

Have you finally learned to do what is necessary?

Batman

I won't kill you. But I don't have to save you.

Well, well. You took my advice about theatricality a bit...literally.

Bruce Wayne

You're not Ra's al Ghul. I watched him die.

But is Ra's al Ghul immortal? Are his methods supernatural?

You burned my house and left me for dead. Consider us even.

Are you so desperate to fight criminals that you lock yourself in to take them on one at a time?

Bruce Wayne

Actually, there were seven of them.

I counted six, Mr. Wayne.

Bruce

How do you know my name?

The world is too small a place for someone like Bruce Wayne to disappear no matter how low he chooses to sink.

Bruce

Who are you?

My name is merely Ducard, but I speak for Ra’s Al Ghul, a man greatly feared by the criminal underworld. A man who can offer you a path.

Bruce

What makes you think I need a path?

Someone like you is only here by choice. You have been exploring the criminal fraternity, but whatever your original intentions, you have become truly lost.

Bruce

And what path can Ra’s Al Ghul offer?

The path of a man who shares his hatred of evil and wished to serve true justice. The path of the League of Shadows.

Bruce

You’re vigilantes.

No, no, no. A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can’t stop you, then you become something else entirely.

Bruce

Which is?

A legend, Mr. Wayne. Tomorrow, you will be released. If you are bored of brawling with thieves and want to achieve something, there is a rare blue flower that grows on the eastern slopes. Pick one of these flowers. If you can carry it to the top of the mountain, you may find what you were looking for in the first place.

Bruce

And what was I looking for?

Only you can know that.