The West Wing Quote
Toby: [about Santos] He’s not presidential material.
Josh: Why?
Toby: Why? Because he left. He left Congress. He left Washington to go home and do small, important work. You had to haul him by the hair out of the family bed. Did you never stop to wonder if that was a good choice?
Josh: He stepped up. When presented with the opportunity…
Toby: [interrupting] A man in that job shouldn’t have to be presented with anything. It’s for someone who grabs it and holds onto it. For someone who thinks the gods have conspired to bring him to this place. That destiny demands of him this service! You don’t have that kind of drive, that hubris, how in the hell are you gonna make the kind of decisions that stump every other person in this country? How in the hell are you gonna hold that kind of power in your hand?”
Josh: You don’t know he’s not that man.
Toby: You don’t know that he is. [pauses] Is he? Look me in the eye and tell me that you know. Without a shadow of a doubt…you know. [pauses] That’s why the other guy wins.
Josh: Why?
Toby: Why? Because he left. He left Congress. He left Washington to go home and do small, important work. You had to haul him by the hair out of the family bed. Did you never stop to wonder if that was a good choice?
Josh: He stepped up. When presented with the opportunity…
Toby: [interrupting] A man in that job shouldn’t have to be presented with anything. It’s for someone who grabs it and holds onto it. For someone who thinks the gods have conspired to bring him to this place. That destiny demands of him this service! You don’t have that kind of drive, that hubris, how in the hell are you gonna make the kind of decisions that stump every other person in this country? How in the hell are you gonna hold that kind of power in your hand?”
Josh: You don’t know he’s not that man.
Toby: You don’t know that he is. [pauses] Is he? Look me in the eye and tell me that you know. Without a shadow of a doubt…you know. [pauses] That’s why the other guy wins.
TV Show: The West Wing
