Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, was already a relatively well-known superhero before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there’s no question that Chris Evans’ portrayal of the character boosted his profile significantly to global audiences. And much like how the funniest Tony Stark quotes have been chronicled, there are some great quotes from Evans’ Steve that can be heard when going through the Marvel movies in order. Below are the 32 best ones, some of which go hand in hand with Steve’s best moments in the MCU, too.
“I could do this all day.”
If any of the quotes on this list summarize Steve Rogers’ character, it’s this one. First uttered by a pre-Super Soldier Serum Steve in Captain America: The First Avenger when he was getting beat up in an alley, and then brought back in Captain America: Civil War, it exemplifies his unwillingness to back down in the face of adversity.
"On your left."
At the beginning of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson met Steve Rogers when Captain America himself kept running ridiculously fast laps around the future Falcon. Each time, he said “On your left,” and it was a memorable enough line that Sam got to say it himself in Avengers: Endgame’s portal sequence.
“I understood that reference.”
Steve Rogers went on ice in 1945 and woke up in 2011, meaning there were almost 70 years' worth of historical and pop culture references that he had no idea about. However, when Nick Fury mentioned in The Avengers that Loki was controlling people like “flying monkeys,” which confused Thor, Steve immediately got that reference, having seen The Wizard of Oz in 1939. This quote gets extra points for being a popular meme online.
"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"
After meeting with Alexander Pierce and deciding not to share the flash drive he’d gotten from Nick Fury, Steve Rogers was ambushed by STRIKE agents in an elevator at the Triskelion. Realizing something was amiss as more agents entered the confined space, he gave them one chance to back out before promptly beating them up, including Brock Rumlow, the future Crossbones.
“Language!”
By the time Avengers: Age of Ultron rolled around, Steve Rogers had been unfrozen for several years and had gotten relatively used to living in contemporary times. Still, some 1940s habits are hard to break, so when Tony Stark exclaimed, “Shit!” when he accidentally ran into a force field, Steve said, “Language!” He was given grief about that for the rest of the movie.
"I know we're not perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."
Captain America: Civil War saw the Avengers and other heroes clash over their differing views on the Sokovia Accords. Tony Stark felt international oversight was something worth supporting, but Steve was firmly opposed to the legislation, arguing that it was still the better choice for superheroes to operate unrestricted.
"Avengers! Assemble."
The Avengers may have formed in 2012, but audiences had to wait another seven years to hear the Mjolnir-wielding Steve Rogers shout out the rallying cry for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from the comics. That wait was worth it though, because it came as the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and all their allies came together to battle Thanos and his forces.
“I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from.”
The physically frail Steve Rogers tried his hardest to enlist during World War II, but it wasn’t until he met Dr. Abraham Erskine that he finally got his shot. When the German scientist asked Steve if he wanted to go to Europe to kill Nazis, he gave the above answer, which made Erskine think more highly of him.
“Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time.”
Tony Stark may not have intended for Ultron to become sentient and kill everyone on Earth, but his and Bruce Banner’s goal to create suits of armor around the world to protect humanity definitely backfired. Steve said this quote after ripping a log piece in half in frustration over Tony’s motives, and it served as effective foreshadowing for Captain America: Civil War.
“Oh God.”
Two simple words, and yet they perfectly encapsulated what those who survived Thanos’ snap were feeling when they realized he’d won and made half of all life in the universe disappear. Falling to the ground, Steve could barely keep it together at the end of Avengers: Infinity War as he grappled with what just happened.
"No. No, I don't think I will."
After returning the Infinity Stones to their respective timelines, Steve Rogers decided to live a life with Peggy Carter in the past. The 112-year-old Steve described this life as “beautiful” to Sam Wilson went he returned to his original timeline’s present day to give his old friend a different version of his Captain America shield. And yet, when Sam noticed the wedding ring on Steve’s finger and inquired about it, the elderly man opted not to share.
“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.”
Steve Rogers was the first superhero to show up at Stuttgart, where Loki had forced a group of humans from a gala to kneel before him. Steve saved an old man who’d stood up (figuratively and literally) to Loki, and then compared the Asgardian God of Mischief to Adolf Hitler.
"This isn't freedom, this is fear."
It wasn’t just missing out on decades of history and pop culture, as well most of the people he knew back in World War II having died, that Steve struggled with early on in the MCU. There were also changing values, as evidenced by his reaction when Nick Fury revealed Project Insight to him. In Steve’s mind, having three Helicarriers take out threats preemptively was not something that would be good for the public.
“You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed... walk it off."
When the Avengers showed up in Sokovia to stop Ultron, Steve Rogers did these words to get everyone pumped up, as humanity itself was at stake. They emerged victorious in the end, although sadly, Quicksilver died in the process and was not able to walk it off.
“If I see a situation pointed south, I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could.”
Similar to Steve saying, “I can do this all day,” this quote demonstrates how far Steve Rogers will go to stand up to adversity and do what he thinks is the right thing. He said this while talking with Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War and explaining his rationale for opposing the Sokovia Accords. However, he then acknowledged that he doesn’t actually wish he could ignore such situations.
“… Take it from a guy who's been frozen for 65 years... the only way to really be cool is to follow the rules.”
Steve Rogers made amusing cameos throughout Spider-Man: Homecoming through a series of PSAs for high school students that were filmed sometime after the events of The Avengers. These cheesy and punny lines, the above being perhaps the biggest offender, were made all the funnier by the fact that at this point in the MCU timeline, Steve was a fugitive from the law.
“And Hulk? Smash!”
When the Avengers finally came together for the first time as a team, Steve Rogers issued orders for his teammates so they could more effectively combat Loki’s Chitauri army. But Steve wisely decided to not give Hulk anything complicated to carry out, instead just telling the green behemoth to do what he does best.
"... The price of freedom is high. It always has been. And it's a price I'm willing to pay."
Steve said these inspiring words as part of his speech to all the S.H.I.E.L.D. employees at the Triskelion who had no idea that their ranks had been infiltrated by HYDRA since the beginning. It paid off, as agents like Sharon Carter rebelled against STRIKE and all the other HYDRA operatives who’d made their true allegiances known.
"I keep telling everybody they should move on and grow. Some do. But not us."
Those who were left alive by Thanos’ snap were traumatized, and five years after this genocide, those on Earth were barely coping with how life changed in an instant. When Steve met with Natasha Romanoff at the Avengers Compound, he acknowledged that he hasn’t been following his own advice, and that the two of them have stayed stuck.
“… I had a date.”
When Nick Fury and his people caught back up with Steve Rogers after he broke out of confinement and took his first steps into contemporary times, the one-eyed spy informed the super soldier that he’d been asleep for almost 70 years. Remembering his last words to Peggy Carter before he went on ice, Steve was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to keep their appointment.
"I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking for permission. Earth just lost their best defender. So we're here to fight. If you wanna stay in our way... we'll fight you, too."
Steve Rogers may have spent the two years between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War as a fugitive from the law, but he was still fighting for what he believed was right. So when Thunderbolt Ross accused him of acting as those all were forgiven for what went down in Civil War just because aliens had invaded, Steve told him this.
“My faith's in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, they haven't let me down. Which is why I can't let them down either.”
Things didn’t end well between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War, but that didn’t stop the former from trying to make peace with the latter by the end. Steve left Tony a note that included this assessment of himself, an apology for hiding the truth about Bucky Barnes killing his parents, and a flip phone that Tony could use in case he ever needed help.
"When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."
Steve Rogers was still very much a man out of time when The Avengers began, but he’d done a fair amount of research about what happened during his time being frozen. As he learned the Allies won World War II, but he also wondered at what cost that was reflected in contemporary society, as he told Nick Fury.
“For as long as I can remember, I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could throw myself back in: follow orders, serve. It's just not the same."
When Steve wanted to serve in World War II, it was to do his part in a conflict that had a distinct line between good and evil. But during the time of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, that line was no longer as clear cut, and while he was visiting with the elderly Peggy Carter, he reflected on how being a soldier from his original time period didn’t feel the same anymore.
“I knocked out Adolph Hitler over 200 times.”
After Abraham Erskine was shot and the original Super Soldier Serum formula was lost, Senator Brandt decided Steve would be put to better use as a propaganda figure, specifically for a stage show to promote war bonds during World War II. This show involved him “punching” Adolf Hitler, so technically he could count that as an accomplishment to mention before he infiltrated Red Skull’s base.
"Let's go get this son of a bitch."
Steve cursed towards the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron when he called Nick Fury a “son of a bitch,” obviously harkening back to the “Language!” moment. But this instance of cursing hit way harder, as Steve said the above after he and the remaining Avengers discovered Thanos’ location, with the Avengers: Endgame title card following immediately afterward.
“Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right.”
It didn’t take long for Ultron to decide after gaining sentience that all of life on Earth needed to be eliminated in order for there to be peace. Naturally, the Avengers had to stop the robotic menace, but Steve also felt it was important for him and his teammates to prove that humanity wasn’t as despicable as Ultron claimed.
"This job... we try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, next time... maybe nobody gets saved."
Wanda Maximoff tried her best to get the soon-to-explode Crossbones away from civilians in Lagos during Captain America: Civil War, but the blast still hit a nearby building and killed some Wakandan humanitarian workers. Wanda took this hard, and Steve tried his best to comfort her, which included saying the above to her.
“I am Steve Rogers.”
When Thor returned to Earth to aid in fighting Thanos’ forces in Wakanda, he brought with him Rocket and Root. The latter said his standard three words when the God of Thunder introduced him to Steve Rogers, and Steve responded by sharing his own name, unaware that “I am Groot” is literally the only thing the sentient tree can say.
"We lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back."
Once Earth’s Mightiest Heroes figured out time travel in Avengers: Endgame, they formed teams for the Time Heist, where they would retrieve alternate timeline versions of the Time Stone to undo the effects of Thanos’ snap. Before they headed off to their respective missions, Steve Rogers kicked off his inspirational speech with these words and capped off with how they were “going to win. Whatever it takes.”
“There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.”
Steve took the arrival of Thor on Earth during The Avengers pretty well. After the Odinson snatched Loki and Tony Stark flew after them, the first Captain America took it upon himself to follow after them. When Black Widow advised him to stay on the sidelines since Thor and Loki were “basically gods,” he countered that they were far from he considered to be the real deal.
"That was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95, not dead."
When Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff were trying to avoid being noticed by Brock Rumlow and the STRIKE team while being discreet inside a mall, the latter took it upon herself to kiss the former so that their faces would be hidden as Rumlow passed by. Later on, when Natasha inquired about if this was his first kiss since he went on ice, Steve denied that, although he didn’t share any further details.
