Smallville (TV Series)

Luthor (2010)

John Glover: Lionel Luthor

Photos 

Quotes 

• Newspaper Stand Worker : Uhh, don't I know you from somewhere?

  Lionel Luthor : I don't think so. I'm from out of town. Unexpected visit. But I guess I'm back in the nick of time. Wouldn't want to miss how it all turns out.

• Lionel Luthor : You remember, um, Lear, son? Shakespeare. King Lear. Wanted to abdicate, retire. Lear had three children. He tells them he will divide his kingdom between them, giving the largest portion to the one who loves him most. Two of the children declare their lavish devotion. The youngest, his favorite, is blunt and plainspoken. Stop me if you know where this is going.

  Clark Kent : Lear disowned the child who loved him all along.

  Lionel Luthor : Big mistake. So, it's just you and your sister now. There's certainly not getting Lex back. You saw to that.

  Clark Kent : I killed Lex.

• Lutessa 'Tess' Lena Luthor : Why couldn't you ever love me the way that you love Clark?

  Lionel Luthor : Simply put, sweetheart, you're just not special enough.

  [she smashes a framed picture, and his guards grab her] 

  Lutessa 'Tess' Lena Luthor : [as they drag her out]  I hope that your love is enough to save you when he stabs you in the back, you son of a bitch.

• Lionel Luthor : Ah. Now is the moment for an apposite quote from one of my favorites - Marcus Aurelius. "When you arise in the morning, think what a privilege it is to be alive. To breathe, to enjoy, to love, to think."

  Clark Kent : Lionel?

  Lionel Luthor : Dress yourself. We Luthor men must seize our day. You only live once, son.

• Lionel Luthor : [to Clark]  This, uh, "Ultraman" persona you've come up with - genius. It's a great way to strong-arm our opponents. But your display of ego is attracting too much attention. You're getting reckless.

• Lionel Luthor : The heart - it'll blind you, son. You want to be your own man. That's natural. But remember, Clark - I am your father and I alone raised you in my own image to become the man that you are today.

  Clark Kent : I must have lost perspective.

  Lionel Luthor : But that's why I'm here - to set you back on the right path. You could conquer the universe. The Man of Tomorrow - Clark Luthor! I sometimes shudder to think what would have happened to my little traveler if he had been discovered in that cornfield by the first ignorant farmer that came along. Where on earth would you be now?

• Lionel Luthor : You know, you may want to use that, uh, box and escape from here, but the truth is that I'm the one who's been a prisoner here all this time.

  Clark Kent : Let me use the mirror box. I'll go away. You'll never have to worry about me again.

  Lionel Luthor : Not worry about you? That's all I've ever done - worry about you! I have sacrificed everything for your sake. I failed you, Clark. Because no true son of mine, no true Luthor would have let me live this long.

  Clark Kent : Not my choices.

  Lionel Luthor : You're right. I made you this way. And because I have failed you, Clark. It's got to be survival of the fittest! Whether you are on this earth or any other... I am the most fit! I will be the survivor!

• Lionel Luthor : So, uh, what was the plan, Clark? Murder your father, then with your whore sister, escape to another world?

  Clark Kent : You knew I was walking into a trap.

  Lionel Luthor : I've kept constant watch on Oliver Queen's activities. You should've known I'd do that.

  Clark Kent : And Oliver never had the mirror box, did he?

  Lionel Luthor : [holding the box up]  You mean this? Your betrayal has been staring me in the face. But I couldn't admit that I'd been so wrong about you. We are long, long overdue for a father/son talk.

  Clark Kent : I'm not your son.

  Lionel Luthor : Well, you never were, were you? I made your destiny, your future, *our* future, my whole preoccupation. For god's sake, Clark. I let you kill Lex, your own brother. My son.

  Clark Kent : It wasn't me.

• Lionel Luthor : My prodigal daughter. You've returned.

  Lutessa 'Tess' Lena Luthor : It's too much to drop in on dear old dad from time to time?

  Lionel Luthor : When you've turned your back on both your father and your fortune, yes, it is.

  Lutessa 'Tess' Lena Luthor : If you saw my back, it's only because you kicked me out the door.

• Lionel Luthor : A little Greek tragedy you've been trying to drag your brother into. Oh, yes, I know all about that.

  Lutessa 'Tess' Lena Luthor : I love him, like you never will.

  Lionel Luthor : Of course you love him. That's no mystery. Clark is a god among men. Though how he could love you, a consummate disappointment, is beyond me. You're nothing but trouble, Tess. You're corrupting him.

  Lutessa 'Tess' Lena Luthor : You take a good long look in the mirror at the person who's responsible for corrupting Clark.

  Lionel Luthor : I have worked too long and too hard to let you, a little half-bred tramp with a Magdalene complex, ruin everything.

  [she slaps him] 

  Lionel Luthor : You just made this a lot easier.