Wentworth Miller Quotes
My character in 'Prison Break' needs to be formidable. In reality, I'm not very tough at all.
This line summarizes a principle of political leadership which demagogues understand intuitively and some other politicians learn. To galvanize or mobilize the public, set lofty, important objectives and goals and not small matters. Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, two of our greatest Presidents, were able to do this very well. Other presidents and many politicians try this with minor issues that they think important and great, but they are often unsuccessful because only a small part of the population—the true believers—agree with the importance and greatness.
He was quoting Thomas Gage, 1721-1787, English General and Royal Governor of Massachusetts and British Military Commander in North America who had used the line earlier. As with many historical quotations, the original was not of very great import, but when the king of England wrote this to his prime minister, it was policy and produced attitudes and policies that affected the American Revolution.
Chavez frequently insulted officials and leaders of other countries. Here he is insulting Condoleezza Rice, then U.S. National Security Advisor. See linked quotes for examples.
Wentworth Earl Miller III is an English-born American actor and screenwriter. He rose to prominence following his starring role as Michael Scofield in the Fox series Prison Break, for which he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 2005. He made his screenwriting debut with the 2013 thriller film Stoker. In 2014, he began playing Leonard Snart / Captain Cold in a recurring role on The CW series The Flash before becoming a series regular on the spin-off, Legends of Tomorrow.
