Aguirre, the Wrath of God Quotes

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: That man is a head taller than me. That may change.

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: Perucho, don't you think the cannon might be a little bit rusty?

    Perucho: It might.

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: I am the great traitor. There must be no other. Anyone who even thinks about deserting this mission will be cut up into 198 pieces. Those pieces will be stamped on until what is left can be used only to paint walls. Whoever takes one grain of corn or one drop of water... more than his ration, will be locked up for 155 years. If I, Aguirre, want the birds to drop dead from the trees... then the birds will drop dead from the trees. I am the wrath of God. The earth I pass will see me and tremble. But whoever follows me and the river, will win untold riches. But whoever deserts...

  • [last lines]

    Don Lope de Aguirre: I am the wrath of God. Who else is with me?

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: When we reach the sea, we will build a bigger ship, and sail north to take Trinidad from the Spanish crown. From there we'll sail on and take Mexico from Cortés. What great treachery that will be! Then all of New Spain will be ours, and we'll produce history as others produce plays. I, the Wrath of God, will marry my own daughter and with her I will found the purest dynasty the world has ever seen. Together, we shall rule this entire continent. We shall endure. I am the Wrath of God! Who else is with me?

  • Okello: [Hallucinating] That is no ship. That is no forest.

    [Arrow hits him]

    Okello: That is no arrow. We just imagine the arrows because we fear them.

    Don Lope de Aguirre: These arrows are real!

  • Don Fernando de Guzman: All the land to our left and all the land to our right now belongs to us. I solemnly and formally take possession of all this land. Our country is already six times larger than Spain, and every day we drift makes it bigger.

    Don Lope de Aguirre: Have you seen any solid ground that would support your weight?

  • Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: 'Thou lettest man flow on like a river, and Thy years know no end. As for man, his days are like grass as a flower on the field, so he blossoms. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more.' You know, my child, for the good of our Lord, the Church was always on the side of the strong.

  • Balthasar: I was a prince in this land. No one was allowed to look directly into my eyes. But now I'm in chains, like my people, and I must bow my head. Almost everything was taken from us. I can't do anything; I'm powerless. But I am also sorry for you, because I know there is no escape from this jungle.

  • Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: We reached the last pass of the Andes and for the first time looked down at the legendary jungle. In the morning I read Mass, then we descended through the clouds.

  • Gonzalo Pizarro: Things are looking up.

    Don Lope de Aguirre: Now it's downhill.

  • Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: Our Indian slaves are useless.

  • Gonzalo Pizarro: On on expeditions, the Word of God must be brought to the heathen.

  • Don Pedro de Ursua: We must try to help the poor devils.

    Don Lope de Aguirre: You're mad. We won't help them.

  • Don Pedro de Ursua: Aguirre doesn't dare to rebel against the Spanish crown.

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: Look what I've found for you. This animal sleeps its whole life away. It's never really awake.

  • Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: When will there be an end to our misfortunes?

  • Flores: What's the trouble? Do you know, Inez?

    Inez de Atienza: Better not to ask; it is your father's fault. If only it were all over.

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: Fortune smiles on the brave and spits on the coward.

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: Let's sever our ties with Spain; crown Don Fernando Emperor of El Dorado.

    Don Fernando de Guzman: Do you call this a throne?

    Don Lope de Aguirre: What is a throne but a plank covered with velvet, Your Majesty?

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: While Ursua lives you will never be safe.

    Don Fernando de Guzman: What can I do about it?

    Don Lope de Aguirre: Kill him!

    Don Fernando de Guzman: While I'm Emperor, law will prevail. No killings without a trial.

    Don Lope de Aguirre: Try him - and then kill him.

  • Okello: I was Pizarro's slave. Then he gave me to this expedition. He thought that as the Indians were scared of a horse, they'd be terrified of a black man.

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: Steer nearer to the shore. Load your muskets. I can't see anyone. Be alert, men. It could be an ambush. Strip the negro.

  • Okello: What's the matter with him?

    Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: He's dead.

    Okello: Look how short the arrow is.

    Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: Poisoned?

    Okello: Perhaps they're dwarfs?

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: [encountering an Amazon native on a canoe] What did he say?

    Balthasar: He says he's a jaguar. He knows from his ancestors that one day the sons of the sun would arrive from afar, through great perils. The strangers would come with thunder made with tubes. They've awaited the sons of the sun for a long time for this river God never finished His Creation.

  • Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: Has this heathen heard of our Savior, Jesus Christ and of our mission and the True Word of God? This is a Bible. It contains the Word of God that we are bringing to lighten the darkness of their world. Has he understood that this Book contains the Word of God? Take it in your hand, my son.

    [gives the Bible to the Amazon native who puts it up to his ear]

    Balthasar: He says it doesn't speak.

  • Don Fernando de Guzman: It won't be much longer. El Dorado could be only a few days away. No more rust on the cannon. We shall shoot our enemies with golden bullets. And you, Okello, will serve food on golden platters.

    Okello: All of us will get something out of this. Governorships, provinces, women. And perhaps I'll even be free.

    Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: Let us not forget the most important part of our mission. To spread the Word of God to these savages.

    Don Fernando de Guzman: I'm sure you'd like a golden cross encrusted with jewels instead of the silver one you lost.

  • Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: Things are not turning out as we expected. We see nothing but hunger and death. We lose men, but, never see the enemy. Until now, El Dorado has only been an illusion.

    Don Lope de Aguirre: The conquest of Mexico was no illusion. If we turn back now, others will come, and they'll succeed. And we'll remain nobodies. Even if this land is only trees and water we'll conquer it.

  • Don Lope de Aguirre: My men measure riches in gold. But it's more. It's power and fame.

  • Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: [shot with an arrow] This arrow cannot hurt me.

    [touches blood drawn by the arrow]

    Brother Gaspar de Carvajal: This is not rain.

    Don Lope de Aguirre: Don't forget to pray, otherwise God - could come to a bad end.