What Measure Is a Non-Human?/Quotes

Dark Heart: You saved me? Why?!
Christie: Good or bad, you're still a person. Or whatever you are.

—Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation

The hero of the story was a heartless, arrogant brat. I'm rather surprised no-one physically hurt him for saying things like "I'm the rider! I say where we go!" This would be fine if he were talking to a horse, but he was not talking to a horse. He was talking to Saphira, a dragon with the intelligence level of a human being. A woman, if you will. Put a human female in Saphira's place. "I'm your master! I say where we go!" Would you stand for the hero of a story doing that? It's nauseating.

—Syera on SH.net, discussing the problems with Eragon.

Spock: But, Captain, we both know that I am not human.
Kirk: Spock, you wanna know something? Everybody's human.
Spock: I find that remark... insulting.

—Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Did our master not say this once?
Where there is Distress, therein lies a Story.
Where there is a Story, therein lies a Will.
Where there is a Will, therein lies a Soul.

—Negi to Chachamaru; who feared her inhumanity, Mahou Sensei Negima

To be Unclean
That is the mark of the Mutant
To be Impure
That is the mark of the Mutant
To be Abhorred
That is the mark of the Mutant
To be Reviled
That is the mark of the Mutant
To be Hunted
That is the mark of the Mutant
To be Purged
That is the fate of the Mutant
To be Cleansed
For that is the fate of all Mutants

—First Book of Indoctrinations, Warhammer 40,000

Oh, suuure...kidnap the humans, destroy the machine!

—Number "Johnny" Five, Short Circuit 2

He had been tried and punished for the early attacks against the owned robots- not because the Mecha were living things with rights, (they weren’t) but because they had been licensed property.

—A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, A Fan's Novelisation

Why do we fear them when they learn speech? They are still dogs, still subordinate. It doesn't change who they are or their loyalty.
It is not always fear we run from. Sometimes it is shame.

—The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change, Kij Johnson

"I don't give a damn if you're a machine, are you a man?"

—Winston Churchill, Doctor Who

"Kids, hitting and punching people is wrong. BUT THAT'S NO PERSON! IT'S A GIANT HAM!"

—Buster Baxter as "Cat Saver", Arthur

"You treat your robots as if they're people. I may actually have to like you."

—Para Ventura, Schlock Mercenary

"You want reality, Ben? Reality is, you are an android... I AM A MAN!"

—Superman: At Earth's End, playing it absurdly straight.

"We're [...] covered in fur. We look different from humans. But inside, we're still people."

—Keith Kessler, Twokinds

Man: What? You got your money.
Ash: Yeah, well, you almost killed him!
Woman: What are you so upset about? It's just a Pikachu.

Yeah, that's right. I'm a monster.
What are you gonna do? You gonna destroy me or what?
They blame us for recession and social problems.
If humans don't want us, why did they make us?

—Armitage III

Dogs don't deserve special treatment! They have to play by the same rules we do!

—Wade Blasingame (No, not the ballplayer; the attorney-at-law!), Saturday Night Live

Hologram already dead. Morally, ethically, hologram killing fine!

—Katrina Bartikovsky, Red Dwarf: Back To Earth

"Yes, but humans are more important than animals," said Brutha.
"This is a point of view often expressed by humans," said Om.

—Small Gods

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