Breaking Bad introduces the audience to the meek-and-mild high school chemistry teacher Walter White, exquisitely played by Bryan Cranston, who receives a cancer diagnosis that changes his life. Determined to find a way to pay his medical bills and leave his family better off, Walt teams up with his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to cook and sell meth. Walt’s intentions start off good and demonstrate how desperate times call for desperate measures, but this journey into the criminal underworld changes him – and not for the better.

The Vince Gilligan-created show features some of the smartest writing in television history, especially in terms of the dialogue between the characters. Throughout the five seasons, Walt provides a number of iconic quotes that not only poke and provoke, but also send chills down the spine because of their grave meanings. So, let’s take a look at 10 of the best from Breaking Bad‘s Walter White.

“I could have saved her, but I didn’t”

Throughout Breaking Bad, Walter White’s morals become flexible. No longer does he do something because “it’s the right thing to do.” Case in point: He lets Jesse’s girlfriend, Jane Margolis, choke to death on her own vomit after she overdoses because he knows this will give him control over Jesse again. Later, he reveals this harrowing detail to Jesse, who realizes the monster that Walt has become.

“I sleep just fine”

Before his cancer diagnosis, Walt carries the weight of the world on his shoulders as life’s everyday struggles beat him into the ground. In a revelatory conversation with his brother-in-law, Hank Schrader, Walt explains how his cancer diagnosis changed everything for him, freeing him in a sense from all the woe and worry of his existence. He finds peace in knowing his mortality is about to end. 

“There will be consequences”

It’s ironic how Walt tells his wife, Skyler, there are consequences for her trying to go against him, but he doesn’t see it the same way for him. However, this moment in the final season reaffirms that Walt might be lost forever, as he takes the kids from her and ensures she knows it’s because of her going against him. Later, Walt does right by her and their children, but it’s harrowing to realize how he turns on his wife in such a vicious manner.

“If you believe that there’s a hell, I don’t know if you’re into that, we’re already pretty much going there, right?”

Jesse reaches a point where he wants out of the drug business – for real this time. Walt tells him that it’s something they’re good at and should stick with it, but Jesse remains apprehensive because of all the innocent people who have died due to their actions. Walt goes off on a monologue about how they aren’t innocent in any of this and have killed for their own selfish intentions too. Frighteningly, Walt points out there is no chance at redemption or forgiveness for what they have done, suggesting their souls are already damned. 

“I missed it”

As Breaking Bad goes on, Walter White undergoes a radical transformation in his personality. Along the way, his cancer goes into remission. While this should be a cause for celebration, it isn’t for Walt as he realizes there’s no turning back from all he’s done now. For him, death isn’t the viable escape plan he had before since he missed the turnoff to get off life’s highway.

“Run”

In Breaking Bad Season 3, Walter White shows his humanity by choosing Jesse’s life and defying Gus Frings. Driving in his car, he runs over two dealers and instructs Jesse to do one thing: “Run.” It’s a pivotal point in the storyline since this incident sets up a series of catastrophic events, changing both Walt and Jesse’s lives. Maybe the pair should have carried on running and never stopped to look back.

“If you don’t know who I am, then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly”

Breaking Bad features an endless cat-and-mouse game as Hank chases the infamous Heisenberg – not knowing he’s secretly his brother-in-law, Walt. When Hank puts the puzzle pieces together, he and Walt finally face off. It’s at this moment that Hank questions all the lies and deceit before slugging him. However, Walt responds in a terrifying fashion, demonstrating to Hank that if he doesn’t know who he is or the lengths he’ll go to, it’s best to not test him.  

“I did it for me”

After Walt’s cancer diagnosis, he gets into the drug business as a way to leave his family in a better state after his presumed passing. He reaches certain crossroads that offer him the opportunity to walk away from the life of crime with all the cash he could have ever wanted, but he never takes them. Ultimately, he admits to Skyler that his reasons for doing what he did changed along the way. He didn’t carry on for his family; he carried on for himself because he liked how it made him feel alive.

“Say my name”

By Breaking Bad Season 5, Walt’s transformation is complete. He’s no longer the scared or timid person the fans meet in the first season. In fact, one has to wonder how much of Walt exists or has been replaced by his alter ego, Heisenberg. He walks with a different confidence and demeanor, as he meets his rivals face to face and doesn’t shirk from revealing his true form. When Declan asks him who he is, Walt tells the meth dealer he knows exactly who he is and to say his name. And no, this isn’t a tribute to the Destiny’s Child song.

“I am the one who knocks”

Out of all the Breaking Bad quotes, the “I am the one who knocks” monologue from Walter White proves to be the most memorable and chilling of the entire series. It’s the scene in which he reveals his true self to his wife, Skyler. He explains to her that he isn’t in trouble; he is the trouble. He uses the analogy of someone opening the door and being shot, explaining how he isn’t the person opening the door – he’s the one knocking. He presents himself as the angel of death.