Adama: Every man has to decide for themselves which side they are on.
Lee "Apollo" Adama: I didn't know we were picking sides. [walks off]
Adama: That's why you haven't picked one yet.

Adama: He said something else. That you might have been feeling guilty about something you did for Zak. What did you do for him?
Starbuck: I don't know. You'd have to ask Lee.
Adama: I'm asking you.
Starbuck: Well I don't kn-I, ah...I don't really know what he was talking about, so-
Adama: Don't fence with me, Kara. I love you like a daughter. I don't deserve that.
Starbuck: Ummm...Zak...failed...basic flight. He wasn't a bad pilot, he just had no feel for flying...and, um, when it came to his final check ride he...busted...three of the test maneuvers, and I should have flunked him, but I didn't. The bottom line is your...son...didn't have the chops to fly a Viper...and it killed him.
Adama: [following a flashback] You did it because you were engaged.
Starbuck: [breaking down] Because I made a mistake...because I was just...I was so in love with him...and I let that get in the way of doing my job...and um, and he um, he just wanted it so much, and I...I didn't want to be the one who crushed him...
Adama: Reinstate the trainees to flight status.
Starbuck: I will...but I just want you to understand...that I-
Adama: Do your job.
Starbuck: Yes sir-
Adama: And walk out of this cabin...while you still can.

Lampkin: Lee said you once gave him something before a mission, a lighter.
Adama: Belonged to my father. Foolish to think a hunk of metal could keep him safe.
Lampkin: And yet that's what we do isn't it. Hang onto hope in every hopelessly irrational way that we can, but not like those poor bastards, giving away their luck just when they need it most. Its like they've given up.
Adama: If you've never been in combat you have no idea what they are thinking.
Lampkin: I always imagined you a realist, Admiral. Not one to indulge a vain hope at the cost of lives, but then everyone has his limits. Sine qua non as they say.
Adama: Without which not.
Lampkin: Yes, those things we deem essential, without which we cannot bear living. Without which life in general loses its specific value. Becomes, abstract.
Adama: You may have a point counselor.
Lampkin: Well, while I'm on a roll, Tom Zarek may not be an ideal president, but we could do worse.
Adama: You're right, there are limits to my realism. Goodbye counselor.

Adama: You told me they'd get a fair trial. What kind of a trial could they have possibly had?
Admiral Helena Cain: I assure you I heard them out. I weighed their statements against those of the guards and I took into consideration their service records and commendations. It was a difficult decision, Commander, but I daresay it was a fair one.
Adama: They have the right to have their case heard by a jury.
Cain: I am a flag officer on detached service during a time of war. Regulations give me broad authority in this matter.
Adama: [to Tigh] Launch the fighters. [to Cain] You can quote me whatever regulation you'd like. I'm not going to let you execute my men.
Cain: I highly suggest you reconsider that statement, Commander.
Colonel Jack Fisk: Admiral, Galactica is launching Vipers and a Raptor.
Cain: Commander, why are you launching Vipers?
Adama: Please arrange for Chief Tyrol and Lieutenant Agathon to be handed over to my Marines as soon as they arrive.
Cain: I don't take orders from you!
Adama: Call it whatever you like, I'm getting my men.
Cain: You are making such a mistake.
Adama: I'm getting my men.
Cain: Action stations.
Fisk: Admiral, this will spiral out of control fast.
Cain: Launch the alert Vipers. Adama has taken us over the line. He's left me with no choice but to launch the alert Vipers. Target the main battery for Galactica. And may the Gods have mercy on their souls.
[The Galactica and Pegasus Vipers are released from their ships and face off]

Adama: [to Tyrol, after Socinus has been incarcerated] What I can't do is I can't let someone who wears this uniform get up on the witness stand and lie under oath. And that's what your man did. He either lied the first time or he lied the second time. And it doesn't matter. He's guilty, and he'll pay the price. You? You'll pay a different price. You'll have to walk out on that hanger every day knowing that one of your men is in the brig because you couldn't keep your fly zipped. You are the most experienced non-commissioned officer we have left. You keep my planes flying. I need my planes to fly.

Adama: Captain Adama and Colonel Tigh are working on the plan now and I need some serious "out-of-the-box" thinking.
Starbuck: "Out-of-the-box" is where I live.

Adama: I'll see you at the rendezvous point.
Apollo: Eighteen hours. Try not to be late.
Adama: I'm getting old; I'm a little slow, but I'll be there.
Apollo: Gods, I wish I could talk you out of this...
Adama: You can't. You tried.
Apollo: You know, Dad, um...
Adama: Don't. Don't make me cry on my own hangar deck.

Adama: [to Sergeant Hadrian and her Board of Inquiry] You've lost your way, Sergeant. You've lost sight of the purpose of the law: to protect its citizens, not persecute them. Whatever we are, whatever's left of us � we're better than that. Now these proceedings are closed. You'll be transported back to your ships and we appreciate your help.
Chairman of the Board: This is an independent board. You have no power to close our inquiries.
Adama: This is a witch-hunt. I will not have it aboard my ship.

Adama: If you keep running from the school yard bully, he keeps on chasing you but the moment you turn around and stop you punch him really hard in a sensitive spot. He'll think twice about coming back.

Adama: [on Kara Thrace's words] What if she's telling the truth? She was supposed to die out there. She didn't. I can't explain it. What if she was meant to help us? And this was a--
Roslin: A what? A miracle? Is that what you want to call this? Go ahead,say it. Grab your piece of the golden arrow. I want to hear admiral atheist say that a miracle happened.
Adama: You shot at her and missed at close range.
Roslin: Doloxan fraks with your aim.
Adama: So does doubt.

Adama: [sees Billy flirting with Dualla] They'd better start having babies.
Saul Tigh: Is that an order?
Adama: It may be before too long.

Adama: It's not enough to survive. One must be worthy of survival.

[Baltar talks religion with D'Anna while she takes a short break from torturing him.]
Baltar: I'm a scientist. And as a scientist, I believe if God exists, our knowledge of him is imperfect. Why? Because the stories and myths we have are the products of men, the passage of time. The religion you practice is based on a theory, impossible to prove. Yet you bestow it with absolutes like, "There is no such thing as coincidence."
D'Anna/Number Three: It's called faith.
Baltar: Absolute belief in God's will means there's a reason for everything. Everything! And yet you can't help ask yourself how God can allow death and destruction. And then despise yourself for asking. But the truth is, if we knew God's will, we'd all be gods, wouldn't we??

Adama: [reading the opening of Love and Bullets]"It started like it always did. With a body. This one was in the river, and I could tell she had once been beautiful, but this bullet and fast current had taken away from her. All we are, or that we think we are, all that we are certain about, is taken away from us. When you've worked the streets and seen what I've seen, you become more and more convinced of it every day. Caprica City has been my teacher, my mistress. From the moment I opened my eyes, she is in my blood, like cheap wine. Bitter and sweet, tinged with regret. I'll never be free of her, nor do I wanna be, for she is what I am. All that is, should always be."

Adama: All ahead, flank speed! In three, two, one... hit it! [Galactica drives forward and rams the Colony]