Dragnet 1967 (TV Series)

The Prophet (1968)

Liam Sullivan: William Bentley

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Quotes 

• William Bentley : You talk about young people in America. I don't recognize them. I don't think they exist. I think your kind creates them. You force them into little molds, and pop them out like little plastic figures off a production line. You stuff them full of preconceived ideas, praise them for turning out so well. But they're not people, they're machines! Then you wind them up like little tape recorders, and send them out into the world to spread another generation of lies. "This is the best of all possible worlds... this is a recording." And the ones who escape your assembly line, the rare ones, you call them delinquents, weirdos, hippies, pillheads, freaks, potheads. You tell them they're sick. They know better. They're not satisfied with a little change. They want it all! They want it now! And they know they can't change the world, so they change themselves. They seek others who believe as they do. They start communities, tribes. They grow, they share, food, shelter, and most importantly, love. All they ask is the right to live the way they want to live, without being harassed, without being told what they can or cannot do. Now, is that too much to ask, Mr. Policeman?

  Friday : No, if that's all they ask. But it's not. They're not asking to be left alone, they're asking for a handout. If they really believed what you say they believe, they'd do something about it besides panhandle in the streets and use narcotics to escape reality. A lot of people started with an idea, and they've made it work, but not by begging or stealing or standing in line to get paid for not working. The Amish did it in Pennsylvania, they built self-supporting communities. The Mormons did it in Utah, they built a city. The Jews did it in Israel, they built a nation. But they were willing to work for it!

  William Bentley : We tried in San Francisco.

  Friday : Yeah. Well, you learned something, didn't you?

  William Bentley : What's that?

  Friday : If you're gonna live with the rest of us, then you'll have to learn to play the game by the rules. And in case you've forgotten the name of the game, we call it democracy.

• William Bentley : No law that tells me what to do with my body on my land is a good law!

• William Bentley : And we're right back where we began. You haven't made a point. You claim marijuana leads to hard narcotics and ultimate addiction. I disagree, because most people are normal, and only a psychologically defective personality is prone to true addiction.

  Friday : You're half-right, Bentley.

  William Bentley : Half-right?

  Friday : It takes more than psychologically defective personalities to become addicts

  William Bentley : Really? What's that?

  Friday : Something to become addicted to.

• William Bentley : I am the new way to go; I am the way of the future!