House of Cards Quotes (Season 1)

There are two kinds of pain: the sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that’s only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.

What’s better than a blank slate in the right hands?

It’s so refreshing to work with someone who will throw a saddle on a gift horse rather than look it in the mouth.

You know what Francis said to me when he proposed? I remember his exact words. He said, “Claire, if all you want is happiness, say no. I’m not gonna give you a couple of kids and count the days until retirement. I promise you freedom from that. I promise you’ll never be bored.” You know, he was the only man, and there were a lot of others who proposed, but he was the only one who understood me. He didn’t put me on some pedestal. He knew that I didn’t want to be adored or coddled. So he took my hand and put a ring on it. Because he knew I’d say yes.

There is no solace above or below. Only us. Small, solitary, striving, battling one another. I pray to myself, for myself.

One of the things I do for a living is count. I count votes. Yeas, nays, neutrals, abstaining. And I’m good at it. But the most important count I do has nothing to do with work. It’s the number of days since April 4, 1999. As of this morning, that’s 5,185. The bigger that number gets, the more it frightens me, because I know all it takes is one drink to go back to zero. Most people see fear as a weakness. It can be. Sometimes for my job, I have to put fear in other people. I know that’s not right. But if I’m honest, like the fourth step asks us to be, I have to be ruthless, because failure is not an option. The same goes for my sobriety. I have to be ruthless with myself. I have to use my fear. It makes me stronger. Like everyone in this room, I can’t control who I am. But I can control the zero. F*** the zero.

After all, what is faith if it doesn’t endure when we are tested the most?

What a martyr craves more than anything is a sword to fall on. So, you sharpen the blade, hold it at just the right angle.

Such a waste of talent. He chose money over power. In this town, a mistake nearly everyone makes. Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after 10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who doesn’t see the difference.

Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value.

My husband doesn’t apologize, even to me.

Decisions based on emotion aren’t decisions, at all. They’re instincts. Which can be of value. The rational and the irrational complement each other. Individually they’re far less powerful.