How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Jurassic Park.
Quote #1
JOHN HAMMOND: In 48 hours, I'll be accepting your apologies.
It's an early sign of Hammond's arrogance that he takes the attorney's valid causes for concern as a childish bet or challenge. He isn't concerned with making the park safe; he's just concerned about winning.
Quote #2
DR. IAN MALCOLM: John, the kind of control you're attempting…it's not possible. If there's one thing the history of evolution has taught us, it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, expands to new territories, and it crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but there it is.
One of Hammond's most dangerous ambitions is to control nature. If you read up on our "Man and the Natural World" theme, you know this does not work out at all.
Quote #3
DONALD GENNARO: We can charge anything we want. $2,000 a day, $10,000 a day, and people will pay it. And there's the merchandise.
Here we see how John Hammond's ambition (or is it greed?) is contagious. The attorney who is supposed to be doing a safety assessment gets carried away thinking about the earning potential for this fabulous new park.
Quote #4
DR. IAN MALCOLM: The lack of humility before nature that's being displayed here staggers me.
For John Hammond, there's a fine between ambition and arrogance, and Ian Malcolm thinks that the old man tends to often step over to the arrogance side.
Quote #5
DR. IAN MALCOLM: Genetic power's the most awesome force the planet's ever seen but you wield it like a kid that's found his dad's gun.
This quote from Dr. Malcolm describes Hammond's ambition better than we ever could. When a child wields a gun without understanding it, there are usually deadly consequences.
Quote #6
DR. IAN MALCOLM: I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power you're using here. It didn't require any discipline to attain it. […] You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it.
We're not sure if John Hammond ever takes responsibility for all the problems he causes. Do you think he feels guilty in the end for letting his ambition get the better of him? Why or why not?
Quote #7
DR. IAN MALCOLM: But your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn't stop to think if they should.
Hammond and the scientists were so selfishly focused on personal glory that they didn't consider any other consequences. They were blinded by the light…of their ambition.
Quote #8
JOHN HAMMOND: So much for our first tour. Two no-shows and one sick triceratops.
RAY ARNOLD: Coulda been worse John. A lot worse.
This is some hardcore foreshadowing here, as things are about to get worse. But here, Hammond is still upset that his park, his greatest ambition, is failing. He still doesn't care that people could get hurt.
Quote #9
JOHN HAMMOND: With this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real. Something that they could see and touch.
This little quote gives us the root of Hammond's ambition. He was always a creative person, once making a flea circus to attract people. The problem is that imaginary fleas don't hurt anyone—but giant dinosaurs do. (We don't even want to know how terrible giant fleas would be.)
Quote #10
DR. ELLIE SATTLER: You've never had control. That's the illusion! I didn't have enough respect for that power, and it's out now. The only thing that matters now are the people we love.
While Hammond is babbling about his stupid flea circus, Ellie has to remind him that lives are at stake. And still, all he cares about is his park.