Phil Coulson Quotes

Phil Coulson: You got a chance to express all your feelings?

Melinda May: Is he still breathing?

Phil Coulson: I guess she kept some of it to herself.

Melinda May: He’s having trouble speaking. I think I fractured his larynx.

Phil Coulson: Oh, good. Your attempt to cross off Fitz and Simmons failed. But Fitz may never be the same again. So, I’m gonna invent new ways to ruin the rest of your life. And we’ll do whatever’s necessary to get HYDRA intel from you, but your torture? That’s gonna be internal.

Melinda May: And a little bit external.

Phil Coulson: Sure, some of that. But you devoted your entire life to a deranged narcissist who never gave a damn about anyone, and now he’s dead. And you’ve got the rest of your life to wrestle with the question, “Who are you without him?”

Phil Coulson: I gave you a second chance when I assembled this team.

Melinda May: I assembled this team.

Phil Coulson: What?

Melinda May: I evaluated what was needed and I gave the assessment to Fury, and he gave you the parameters for your unit.

Phil Coulson: What was needed, May?

Melinda May: Someone who could repair your body, a technician who could reprogram your brain, and a specialist to help me put you down if it had to be done. But I didn’t do it for Fury. I did it for you. To protect you. I… You mean a lot to me. A lot. To hear you were dead… You may not believe me, but that’s the truth.

Melinda May: You told her, didn’t you?

Phil Coulson: I had to.

Melinda May: Must have destroyed her to hear all that.

Phil Coulson: That’s the thing about Skye. What I told her shattered her world. Her lifelong search led to stories of murder, and now it’s too difficult to continue. Her search is over. Her story ends here. But you know what she said?

Melinda May: Tell me.

Phil Coulson: She said, no. Her story started here. Her whole life, she thought she wasn’t wanted, that she didn’t belong. That every family that took her in didn’t want her to stay. Didn’t care. But all that time, it was S.H.I.E.L.D. protecting her, looking after her. That’s what she took away from the story. Not the family she’ll never have, but the one she’s always had. Here I am, telling her something that could destroy her faith in humanity. And somehow, she manages to repair a little piece of mine. The world is full of evil and lies and pain and death, and you can’t hide from it. You can only face it. The question is, “When you do, how do you respond? Who do you become?”