History Quotes / TheNeedsOfTheMany

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}, "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E10TheWhyOfFry The Why of Fry]]"

->''"We burn the present for the sake of a brighter future and [[DeconstructedTrope act surprised when all it holds is ash]]!"''
-->-- '''Forge''', ''Webcomic/{{Paranatural}}''

'''The Doctor:''' No, but not far off. I was once a man with a masterplan. I'd seek out injustices, topple governments, all in the name of the greater good. I'd started [[ColdEquation doing the maths, you see]]...\\

[[AC:Radio]]
->'''Lucie:''' Doctor, why didn't you press that button? I mean, one life to save millions? It makes sense.\\
'''The Doctor:''' Because... I used to be that guy.\\
'''Lucie:''' You mean, you're the Monk?! He was you all along?\\
'''The Doctor:''' No, but not far off. I was once a man with a masterplan. I'd seek out injustices, topple governments, all in the name of the greater good. I'd started [[ColdEquation doing the maths, you see]]...\\
'''Lucie:''' The maths?\\
'''The Doctor:''' This is how evil starts, with the belief that the ends justify the means. But once you start down that road, there's no turning back. What if you can save a million lives, but you have to let ten people die, or a hundred, or a hundred thousand? Where do you stop?
-->-- ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'', "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDAS4E6TheResurrectionOfMars The Resurrection of Mars]]", the Eighth Doctor does some reflection on the darker sides of his seventh incarnation.

->''"[[DeconstructedTrope We burn the present for the sake of a brighter future and act surprised when all it holds is ash]]!"''

-->-- Tau commander [[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Kais]], ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''

-->-- Tau CatchPhrase and battlecry, ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''

-->-- '''Forge''' , ''Webcomic/{{Paranatural}}''

->And I will watch over the ones who live on. Those who carry the memory of the wo/man I once was. The wo/man who gave up her/his life to become the one who could save the many.
-->-- '''Commander Shepard''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''[[labelnote:*]]Paragon, Control Ending[[/labelnote]]

->Smallville needs you more than I do, [[{{Franchise/Superman}} Clark]], go. (''he hesitates'') GO!
-->--'''Chloe Sullivan''', ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', "Arrival"

->'''Clark:''' What if something goes wrong? I don't want to leave you [[WatchingTroyBurn here]].\\
'''Chloe:''' You have to. (''Clark turns to leave'')\\
'''Chloe:''' Clark... I don't know if I'm ever gonna see you again. (Cue [[TheBigDamnKiss Big Damn]] NowOrNeverKiss)
-->--''Series/{{Smallville}}'', "Vessel"

->'''[[TheSmartGirl Chloe]] [[PlatonicLifePartners Sullivan]]''': Thanks for not giving up on [[ApocalypseMaiden me]]... I just hope that if it turned out that there was [[SadisticChoice no other choice]], you would choose to do the right thing... To [[IDidWhatIHadToDo do what's best for the world]]... and not for me. [[TheHeart Know that I'd understand.]]\\
'''[[{{Franchise/Superman}} Clark Kent]]''': [[DefiedTrope Well, as long as]] [[TheCape I'm around]], that's never gonna happen.
-->--''Series/{{Smallville}}'', "Legion"

-> Clark, you're not here to save one person, you're here to save all of us.
-->--'''Chloe Sullivan''', ''{{Series/Smallville}}'', "Beast"

->'''Chloe:''' I must have thrown a million [[KryptoniteFactor green rocks]] away and I've never really saved you. [[MoreExpendableThanYou Now, I can.]]\\
'''Clark:''' [[BeingGoodSucks Chloe, listen to me, this is your life that we're talking about. Don't do this!]]\\
'''Chloe:''' Clark, if there's one lesson I've learned from [[TheCape you]], it's that [[TearJerker choosing the greater good is never a sacrifice.]]
-->--''{{Series/Smallville}}'', "Beast"

->'''Image of G'Kar's Father:''' ''[to G'Kar]'' Some must be sacrificed if all are to be saved. Because, if we fail in this, then ''none'' of us will be saved.
-->--''Series/BabylonFive'', "Dust to Dust"

->'''Delenn:''' ''[to G'Kar]'' We had to choose between the lives of millions...and the lives of ''billions''. Of ''entire planets''.
-->--''Series/BabylonFive'', "Ship of Tears"

-> ''There will always be some that cannot be saved. It is impossible to save everyone. If I have to lose five hundred to earn one thousand, I will abandon one hundred and save the lives of nine hundred. That is the most efficient method. That is the [[TragicDream ideal]]...''

-> "To save a family, abandon a man; to save the village, abandon a family; to save the country, abandon a village; to save the soul, abandon the earth."

->'''Spock:''' Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. [[TropeNamer The needs of the many]]...outweigh...\\
'''Kirk:''' The needs of the few...\\
'''Spock:''' Or the one.
-->-- ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''

->'''Gunn:''' Those men you sent to [[WeNeedADistraction create a diversion]] are going to get killed.\\
'''Wesley:''' Yes, they are. (''{{beat}}'') You try not to get anybody killed, you wind up getting everybody killed.
-->-- ''Series/{{Angel}}'', "Theres No Place Like Plrtz Glrb"

->'''[[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara Zor-El]]:''' (shaking her head) Oh, Dev. I thought I knew you better than that. I thought you knew me better than that. If we don't step in to save people from the evil we're fighting, than what in Sheol are we fighting it for?\\
'''Dev-Em:''' Kara, you ever have a chance to read military theory and / or history? In case you don't know, commanders have to make decisions that will endanger some innocents, perhaps even kill them--\\
'''Kara:''' Not me. Not ever.\\
'''Dev:''' --Perhaps even kill them, to save the greater number and achieve the greater objective. You have to hold to the greater objective. You simply have to. There is no escaping that fact.
-->-- ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy''

->Cassie put a hand on my arm. "Marco, you know we'll try to help your mother, in whatever way we can."
->"She's only one person." [[DontYouDarePityMe I shrugged off her hand and stood up]]. "And we're supposed to be saving the world, right?"
->It was one of the lines I'd practiced the night before. It sounded more bitter and less cool and calm and in control than I wanted.
-->--''Literature/{{Animorphs}} #30: The Reunion''

->A thousand fibres connect each of us with our fellow Tau and along those fibres our deeds run as causes which come back to us as effects. Everything we must do must be in furtherance of the Greater Good lest we return to the Mont’au, the Terror.
-->-- Tau commander [[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Kais]], ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''

->'''The Doctor:''' I was once a man with a masterplan. I'd seek out injustices, topple governments, all in the name of the greater good. I'd started [[ColdEquation doing the maths, you see]]...\\