1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
Armand Assante: Sanchez
Quotes
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Queen Isabella I. : [referring to Columbus' proposed expedition] The costs would be ruinous.
Sanchez : No more than the costs of two state banquettes.
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Sanchez : [Columbus stops Sanchez after he leaves an audience with the Queen. Sanchez looks at him, disgusted] You're a dreamer.
Columbus : [shooting a glance out of a window] Tell me, what do you see?
Sanchez : [pausing to look] I see rooftops, I see palaces, I see towers, I see spires that reach... to the sky! I see civilisation!
Columbus : All of them built by people like me.
[Sanchez doesn't respond - shocked]
Columbus : No matter how long you live, Sanchez, there is something that will never change between us. I did it. You didn't.
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Columbus : I have waited too long. Fought too hard. And now you expect me to take all the risks while you take the profits? No. I am not a servant.
Sanchez : Signor Columbus, you're in no position to bargain with me.
Columbus : I'm not bargaining.
Sanchez : Then you are too ambitious.
Columbus : And were you never ambitious? Or is ambition only a virtue among nobles and a fault for the rest of us?
Sanchez : If you won't accept this proposal we can simply find someone who will.
Columbus : If you can do that, Excellency, I'll become a monk.
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Queen Isabella I. : [During her last audience with Columbus] I have looked for a reason why I should allow you to go back and although I've tried I couldn't find one. Help me find one.
Columbus : All my life I have dreamt of reaching the continent. I thought my dreams grandiose. But reality was beyond my expectations. Far beyond. And now I want to explore that land before I die.
Queen Isabella I. : I allow you to undertake another voyage. But without your brothers. Nor for you to return to Santo Domingo or any other colonies. The New World is a disaster.
Columbus : And the old one an achievement?
Queen Isabella I. : [after Columbus leaves] I know. I shouldn't tolerate his impertinence.
Sanchez : Then why?
Queen Isabella I. : Because he is not afraid of me.
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Sanchez : [about Columbus] He promised gold, not finding the amounts he promised. He has since commanded the lndians to pay a tax... a monthly tribute of gold. Those unable to, we find, have been punished or massacred. He forced nobility to hard labour, treating them equally with lndians.
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Sanchez : The state has its reasons to be interested in this man's proposition, Your Eminence!
Arojaz : With all due respect, the judgement is ours.
Sanchez : Naturally. But what if he is right?
Arojaz : I've always found that the independent mind is dangerous. If the man had wings, no doubt he would return from the skies to tell us the Heavens are empty.
Sanchez : I would deplore the loss of such a potential opportunity for Spain, though. Especially over this point of geography.
Arojaz : It is not the point of geography. It is the point of reality. This man is a mercenary.
Sanchez : The state often uses mercenaries if it is for the benefit and the stability of Spain. Shouldn't it be as much of your concern as it is mine?
Arojaz : Am I to understand that you would use your influence to assist this heretic?
Sanchez : You know, Your Eminence, the fascinating thing about power is that what can be given so effortlessly can so easily be taken away.