1923 Season 1, Episode 4 and the quotes within brings some of Taylor Sheridan‘s best storytelling to our screens, and you’ll find all the best right here. But first, please beware of major spoilers for the episode ahead.
Elsa Dutton’s Narration for ‘1923’ Season 1, Episode 4
“There are only three answers to a prayer: ‘Yes. Not yet.’ And ‘I have something else in mind for you.’ Man’s great challenge is trusting ‘not yet’ or ‘something else,’ and avoiding the foolish notion of hope; wishing at nothing that your unanswered prayers are granted. Hope is the surrender of authority to your fate, and trusting it to the whims of the wind. My family does not hope. We fight for what we believe until we have it, or we are destroyed by the pursuit.”
Elsa Dutton, 1923 Season 1, Episode 3
Best Jacob & Cara Dutton Quotes from Season 1, Episode 4
“This is not the Strafford Ranch. This is the Yellowstone. And you have no rights here.”
– Cara to Mrs. Strafford
“And another calamity arrives.”
– Cara Dutton
Cara: The cattle aren’t worth another life. Can we afford to lose them?
Jacob: It’s only lives we can’t afford to lose. No fighting ’til Spencer gets here. Let the cattle go.
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Cara: I forbid you to die, do you understand me?
Jacob: I’m not dying. I’m too stubborn.
“I refuse hope. I refuse it. You brought him back. I will believe in it. I will trust it.”
– Cara Dutton
Cara Dutton’s Speech on the Creation of a Livestock Police Force
“Cattle thieves. That plague upon Montana’s ranches that is worse than drought or locusts, has struck our ranch as well. So my husband has taken to Wyoming in search of the cattle, many of which belonged to other members of this association. To you, Mr. Brewster. You as well, Mr. Obern, and you as well, Mr. Grant. It also appears that these thieves are murderers, killing Bob Strafford in cold blood. The response must be forceful, but lawful. One mob begets another. It is time this agency has the authority to make arrests and have jurisdiction over the entire state – the power to issue warrants, and to prosecute offenders of lease violations as well as the theft of livestock. So word has been sent to the governor on behalf of my husband, I will ask members of this association to vote for the creation of a police force as my husband has asked the governor to grant the authority I have just stated. I ask now for a vote in favor of the creation of the police force so empowered by the state to execute the duties listed hereof.”
Cara Dutton
“When my charade is over, so are you. Men kill with bullets or a noose, which is to say men kill quick. Your fight is with me now. I kill much slower.”
– Cara to Banner Creighton
Cara: I can’t wait for you to meet my nephew.
Banner: We’ve met. The boy doesnae impress.
Cara: Not that one.
Best Spencer Dutton & Alexandra Quotes from ‘1923’ Season 1, Episode 4
Alex: Yes, the war about nothing that cost us everything.
Spencer: What did it cost you?
Alex: A brother. What did it cost you?
Spencer: Harder to define. My soul, I think. But I’m getting that back.
“War’s not living. War is… If insanity was a thing you could touch. That’s what war is. A letter is a window out of that hell for a minute. But it’s a double-edged sword. Missing home and dreaming has killed more soldiers… You wanna eat a bullet in battle? You start wishing for a letter.”
– Spencer to Alex
“There is something you should know about me. I am a very jealous lover. I will not share you with your demons. So let’s find them, and chase them all away.”
– Alex to Spencer
My dearest Spencer,
News of the German Spring Offensive has reached our little valley in Montana, and the stories horrify. Jacob tells me the bulk of the German army charged your division, and your company was given the grim honor of holding the flank. I’ve read tales of terrible machines with belts for tires and cannons that rotate. Airplanes with bombs and guns, and it robs me of sleep. The brigadier general writes of your bravery; of your unflinching resolve. I think only of the wild young man who’d rather chase cattle than gather them, and race the horses until they were ruined for honest work. I wait desperately for that boy to return. And I pray you bring that beautiful smile with you. It is my sunrise, and I miss it with all my heart. I cling to every memory of you, waiting for you to come home where we shall make countless more.
Cara
Best Teona Quotes from ‘1923’ Season 1, Episode 4
“Show me the law that says we should be a servant, or get a beating.”
“Know this is my language, know these are the words of this land. Know I am the land, know it is the land that is killing you… I am the land, and I am killing you.”
– Teona to Sister Mary
“You love the ruler so much, now you can wear it forever.”
– Teona to Sister Mary
Other Best Quotes from ‘1923’ Episode 4
“Killing a king doesn’t make you a king, it makes you an assassin. And I never heard of an assassin running anything.”
– Donald Whitfield
“Know this, Banner. If you lie to me, if you steal from me, I won’t just kill you, I will kill your wife. I will skin her alive, and I will bury your children in her f*cking hide.”
– Donald Whitfield to Banner Creighton
“Hope’s a dangerous thing, ma’am. Tricks your mind into seeing this world that ain’t ever coming true. Best to say goodbye to him while you still can.”
– Zane to Cara Dutton
1923 will return February 5 exclusively on Paramount Plus. For a full recap of Episode 4, see our ‘1923’ Season 1, Episode 4: Full Recap of ‘War and the Turquoise Tide’ next.