Deadly and Mysterious: 31 Best John Locke quotes from Lost

Some of the best quotes from the enigmatic John Locke, the guardian of the Island.

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About John Locke and Lost

It’s fair to say that when the TV show Lost hit the small screen, millions of people were wrapped up in the ongoing tale of a bunch of aeroplane crash survivors doing their best to stay alive. Not to mention the ongoing theories that surmounted around the mysteries of the island they’d crashed onto. Needless to say, the TV show Lost had everyone hooked. Still, the only thing that was deadlier than the island itself were the people on it who would do anything they could to survive the events of each and every consecutive episode.

One such person who was just as deadly as he was maniacal, memorable and cunning was John Locke. Portrayed by Terry O’Quinn, a veteran character actor, Locke started out as a quiet and friendly old man who had recently survived a bout of cancer. Who then morphed into the biggest threat that Jack, Kate and Sawyer had ever faced. Consumed with obsession over the Island and the survival of everything the Island had thrown at him, Locke became obsessed with predestination theories and the belief that the Island controls the fates of the people who live on it.

The knowledge that Terry O’Quinn’s character develops over the six seasons of the show pits him as the unofficial Harbinger of Doom or Crazy Prophet. Whichever way you want to look at it, O’Quinn does such an impressive job that it’s no wonder that this is the role he’s best known for. In this article, we’ve included some of our most favourite quotes of Locke’s.

Some of them are thoughtful, some of them are cunning, some of them are smart and some of them are just downright vindictive.

10 Best Moments of John Locke

Best John Locke Quotes

“Backgammon is the oldest game in the world. Archaeologists found sets when they excavated the ruins of ancient Mesopotamia. Five thousand years old. That’s older than Jesus Christ… Their dice were made of bones. Two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark.”

“You’re having a bad month.”

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do. This is my destiny!”

“A leader can’t lead ’til he knows where he’s going.”

“I’ve looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw… was beautiful.”

“Just because I’m over 40 doesn’t mean I’m deaf.”

“You’re gonna run out. My guess is sooner rather than later.”

“You see this little hole? This moth’s just about to emerge. It’s in there right now, struggling. It’s digging it’s way through the thick hide of the cocoon. Now, I could help it – take my knife, gently widen the opening, and the moth would be free – but it would be too weak to survive. Struggle is nature’s way of strengthening it. Now this is the second time you’ve asked me for your drugs back… ask me again, and it’s yours.”

“Nice work Charlie! You make excellent bait.”

“The easiest way isn’t always the best.”

“He found his way back to you once, Walt. He will again.”

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John Locke, portrayed by Terry O'Quinn
John Locke, portrayed by Terry O’Quinn

“Everyone gets a new life on this island, Shannon. Maybe it’s time you start yours.”

John Locke: We were all brought here for a reason.
Jack Shephard: Who brought us here, John?
John Locke: The Island.

“I’ve done everything you wanted me to! So, why did you do this? Why?!”

“It was a dream, but… it was the most real thing I’ve ever experienced.”

“Boone was a sacrifice that the island demanded. What happened to him at that plane was a part of a chain of events that led us here that led us down a path, that led you and me to this day, to right now.”

“If it’s not real, then what are you doing here, Jack? Why did you come back? Why do you find it so hard to believe?”

“You want your damn thirty dollars back? I want my kidney back!”

John Locke: [chuckles] Oh, I used to get angry – all the time, frustrated, too.
Sun Kwon: You’re not frustrated any more?
John Locke: I’m not lost any more.
Sun Kwon: How did you do that?
John Locke: The same way anything lost gets found – I stopped looking.

“I’m going to find our friends. I don’t know how yet, but I will. We’re gonna find them, all of them. And then we’re gonna bring them home.”

“The Man from Tallahassee, what is that? Some kind of code?”

John Locke eating an orange
John Locke eating an orange

“My name is John Locke, and I’m responsible for the well-being of this island.”

“You’re here because you can see the cabin, and that makes you special.”

“You know, Jack. You know that you’re here for a reason. You know it. And if you leave this place, that knowledge is gonna eat you alive from the inside out… until you decide to come back.”

John Locke: I would like you to stay.
Jack Shephard: You’d like me to stay?
John Locke: Yeah. That’s right.
Jack Shephard: You threw a knife into the back of an unarmed woman. You led half of our people across the island and got most of them killed.
John Locke: Well Jack, you put a gun to my head and you pulled the trigger. I was hoping we could let bygones be bygones.

“That doesn’t matter. All that matters is they’ve got to come back. I have to make them come back, even if it kills me.”

“You’re in the habit of calling people “friend”, but I don’t think you mean it.”

“Don’t worry about me. Let’s talk about you. I am assuming that you are what? Jacob’s body guard? And that you came all the way to this island to protect him? Well I have good news. Jacob burned up in the fire, therefore there’s nothing left for you to protect. You can go. You’re free.”

“I want the one thing John Locke didn’t. I want to go home.”

“What if I told you that you could have anything you wanted. What if I said you can have anything in the entire world?”

“You are the best liar I have ever met.”

What did you think of these John Locke quotes?

Did any of these John Locke quotes remind you of your favorite moment from Lost?
Let us know on social media.

John Locke Lost quotes

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