(no subject)
This is one of my favorite excerpts from The West Wing...and it shows why Toby's better than everyone else...and why I'd like to think he's like me with better writers.
TOBY
He's not Presidential material.
JOSH
Why?
TOBY
Why? Because he left. He left Congress, he left Washington to go home and
do small, important work. You had to haul him by the hair out of the family
bed. Did you never stop to wonder if that was a good choice?
JOSH
He stepped up when presented with the opportunity.
TOBY
The man in that job shouldn't have to be presented with anything! It's for
someone who grabs it and holds on to it, for someone who thinks the gods
have conspired to bring him to this place, that destiny demands of him this
service! If you don't have that kind of drive, that hubris, how in the hell
are you going to make the kind of decisions that stump every other person
in this country? How in the hell are you going to hold that kind of power
in your hand?!
JOSH
You don't know he's not that man.
TOBY
You don't know that he is. Is he? Look me in the eye and tell me that you
know, without a shadow of a doubt you know.
Josh says nothing.
TOBY
That's why the other guy wins.
What does destiny demand of me? Am I stepping up like I need to be? I don't think I have before, but I'm trying my damnedest to change that.
TOBY
He's not Presidential material.
JOSH
Why?
TOBY
Why? Because he left. He left Congress, he left Washington to go home and
do small, important work. You had to haul him by the hair out of the family
bed. Did you never stop to wonder if that was a good choice?
JOSH
He stepped up when presented with the opportunity.
TOBY
The man in that job shouldn't have to be presented with anything! It's for
someone who grabs it and holds on to it, for someone who thinks the gods
have conspired to bring him to this place, that destiny demands of him this
service! If you don't have that kind of drive, that hubris, how in the hell
are you going to make the kind of decisions that stump every other person
in this country? How in the hell are you going to hold that kind of power
in your hand?!
JOSH
You don't know he's not that man.
TOBY
You don't know that he is. Is he? Look me in the eye and tell me that you
know, without a shadow of a doubt you know.
Josh says nothing.
TOBY
That's why the other guy wins.
What does destiny demand of me? Am I stepping up like I need to be? I don't think I have before, but I'm trying my damnedest to change that.