This page is a collection of quotations from the era of the seventh official incarnation of the Doctor from the BBC science fiction television programme Doctor Who, during which the role of the Seventh Doctor was played by Sylvester McCoy. As Doctor Who stories in other media (such as books, audio plays, etc) are the subject of intense debate as regarding their place in the series' overall canon, these quotations are largely taken from episodes broadcast on television.

Time and the Rani [24.1]

The Doctor: You don't understand regeneration, Mel. It's a lottery, and I've drawn the short plank.

---

The Doctor: Ahh, well every dogma has its day.

Delta and the Bannermen [24.3]

The Doctor: Love has never been noted for its rationality.

---

The Doctor: A stitch in time... takes up space.

Dragonfire [24.4]

The Doctor: Yes, that's right, you're going. You've been gone for ages. You're already gone. You're still here. You've just arrived. I haven't even met you yet. It all depends on who you are and how you look at it. Strange business, time.

---

The Doctor: Think about me when you're living your life one day after another, all in a neat pattern. Think about the homeless traveller in his old police box, his days like crazy paving.

Remembrance of the Daleks [25.1]

The Doctor: You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies.

---

[The Doctor explains the history of the Hand of Omega.]

The Doctor: It's called that because Time Lords have an infinite capacity for pretension.

Ace: Noticed that.

The Happiness Patrol [25.2]

The Doctor: And where are the Census Bureau going to send you next?

Trevor Sigma: Earth. Have you been there?

The Doctor: Once or twice.

Trevor Sigma: Miserable sort of place.

The Doctor: You’re making me feel nostalgic.

---

Earl Sigma: Blissful, isn’t it, Doctor? Silence.

The Doctor: Aha, not quite. I can hear the sound of empires toppling.

Silver Nemesis [25.3]

The Doctor: This may qualify as the worst miscalculation since life crawled out of the seas on this sad planet.

---

The Doctor: I don't suppose you've completely ignored my instructions and secretly prepared any Nitro-9, have you?

Ace: What if I had?

The Doctor: And naturally, you wouldn't do anything so insanely dangerous as to carry it around with you, would you?

Ace: Of course not. I'm a good girl and do what I'm told.

The Doctor: Excellent. Blow up that vehicle.

The Greatest Show In The Galaxy [25.4]

The Doctor: Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way.

---

Morgana: You have to hang up your travelling shoes and stop wandering sooner or later, don't you?

The Doctor: So I've been told. Personally, I just keep on wandering.

Battlefield [26.1]

The Doctor: Among all the varied wonders of the universe, there's nothing so firmly clamped shut as the military mind.

---

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: Oh dear. Women. Not really my field.

The Doctor: Don't worry, Brigadier. People will be shooting at you soon.

Ghost Light [26.2]

The Doctor: (to a beetle) All civilisation starts with hunting and foraging, but don't worry, you'll soon work your way up.

---

Light: I know you. I took you up as the last specimen of the extinct Neanderthal race from Earth. ... At least they knew when to stop evolving.

The Curse of Fenric [26.3]

Fenric: Ahhh . . . the sound of dying. When it comes to death, quantity is so much more satisfying than quality.

Millington: The final battle...

Fenric: Don't interrupt me while I'm eulogising.

---

[From the extended version]

Fenric: Where is the Time Lord?

Millington: "Time Lord?"

Fenric: The one you call "The Doctor."

Millington: I had him shot.

Fenric: I can see you've never been hampered by great intelligence.

Survival [26.4]

The Doctor: He doesn't have to outrun the lion, only his friend. Then the lion catches up with his friend and eats him. The strong survive, the weak are killed: the law of the jungle! ... Yes, very clever, if you don't mind losing your friend. But what happens when the next lion turns up? I think you'd better get your running shoes on, gentlemen.

---

[The final lines of the original series.]

The Doctor: There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do.