Jor-El quotes from Superman (1978)

Jor-El

My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I'm not given...to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you we must evacuate this planet immediately!

Jor-El

You will travel far, my little Kal-El. But we will never leave you...even in the face of our deaths...the richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I've learned, everything I feel...all this, and more I...I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you...all the days of your life. You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your own eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father, and the father, the son. This is all I...all I can send you, Kal-El.

Jor-El

Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El; they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you...my only son.

Jor-El

This is no fantasy, no careless product of wild imagination. No, my good friends. These indictments that I have brought you today, the specific charges listed herein against the individuals, their acts of treason, their ultimate aim of sedition, these are matters of undeniable fact. I ask you now to pronounce judgment on those accused. [referring to Non] On this...this mindless aberration, whose only means of expression are wanton violence and destruction. [referring to Ursa] On the woman Ursa, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind have threatened even the children of the planet Krypton. Finally, General Zod. Once trusted by this Council, charged with maintaining the defense of the planet Krypton itself. Chief architect of this intended revolution and author of this insidious plot, to establish a "New Order" amongst us with himself as absolute ruler. You have heard the evidence. The decision of the Council will now be heard.

Guilty!

Guilty!

Guilty!

Guilty!

The vote must be unanimous, Jor-El. It has therefore now become your decision. You alone will condemn us if you wish, and you alone will be held responsible by me. [Jor-El signals the Phantom Zone] Join us. You have been known to disagree with the Council before. Yours could become an important voice in the new order, second only to my own! I offer you a chance for greatness, Jor-El! Take it! Join us! You will bow down before me, Jor-El! I swear it! No matter that it takes an eternity! [screaming with rage] YOU WILL BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!! BOTH YOU, AND THEN ONE DAY, YOUR HEIRS!!!

...An unpleasant duty has been masterly performed, Jor-El. They have received the fate they deserve: isolation in the Phantom Zone; an eternal living death.

Jor-El

A chance for survival, nonetheless. As opposed to us, if we continue to ignore these facts...It's suicide! No, it's worse. It's genocide!

Be warned, Jor-El. The Council has already evaluated this outlandish theory of yours.

Jor-El

My friends, you know me to be neither rash nor impulsive. I'm not given to wild, unsupported statements. And I tell you that we must evacuate this planet immediately!

Jor-El, you are one of Krypton's greatest scientists.

Ah, yes, but so is Vond-Ah.

It isn't that we question your data. The facts are undeniable. It's your conclusions we find unsupportable.

Jor-El

This planet, along with its red sun, will destabilize and burst within thirty days...likely within seven.

I tell you Krypton is simply shifting its orbit.

Jor-El, be reasonable! Let Krypton die? Never! This is just another one of your...mistaken fantasies.

Jor-El

My friend, I've never been otherwise. This madness is yours...to do with as you wish.

This discussion is terminated. The decision of the Council is final...Any attempt by you to create a climate of fear and panic among the populace must be deemed by us...an act of insurrection.

Jor-El

You would accuse me of insurrection? Has it now become a crime to cherish life?

You would be banished to endless imprisonment in the Phantom Zone...the eternal void which you yourself discovered. Will you abide by the Council's decision?

Jor-El

I will remain silent. Neither I nor my wife will leave Krypton.

Jor-El

My son, you do not remember me. I am Jor-El. I am your father. By now, you will have reached your 18th year as it is measured on Earth. By that reckoning, I will have been dead for many thousands of your years. The knowledge that I have, matters physical and historic, I have given you fully on your voyage to your new home. These are important matters, to be sure, but still matters of mere fact. There are questions to be asked, and it is time for you to do so. Here in this...this Fortress of Solitude, we shall try to find the answers together. So, my son, speak.

Who am I?

Jor-El

Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Even though you have been raised as a human being, you are not one of them. You have great powers, only some of which you have as yet discovered.

Jor-El

You...enjoyed it.

Superman

I don't know what to say. I guess I just got carried away.

Jor-El

I anticipated this, my son. I...

Superman

You couldn't have! You couldn’t have imagined...

Jor-El

How good it felt!

Superman

How good it felt...

Jor-El

You are revealed to the world. Very well. So be it. But still you must keep your secret identity.

Superman

Why?

Jor-El

The reasons are two: First, you cannot serve humanity 28 hours a day.

Superman

24.

Jor-El

Or 24, as it is in Earth time. Your help would be called for endlessly, even for those tasks which human beings could solve themselves, because they're happy to abuse their resources in such a way.

Superman

And secondly?

Jor-El

Second: Your enemies will discover their only way to hurt you by hurting the people you care for.

Superman

Thank you, Father...

Jor-El

Lastly, do not punish yourself for your feelings of vanity. Simply learn to control them. It is an affliction common to all, even on Krypton... [expression changes] Our destruction could have been avoided but for the vanity of some who considered us indestructible. Were it not for vanity, why, at this very moment...I could embrace you in my arms [barely audible] ...my son...