Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant’s Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones.
You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, “Movie Monsters of the Deep.”
Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant.
Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone is credited with reviving the Western TV genre, by taking the typical themes found in a classic Western and updating them for a modern audience. The resulting series introduced The Duttons, one of TV’s best crime families, and expanded into a saga spanning generations as the family fight to establish and protect their cattle ranch. Each season of Yellowstone tells a new chapter of The Dutton family‘s story and brings some new and sometimes questionable wisdom from its members, especially its iconic patriarch.
Kevin Costner’s powerhouse performance makes John Dutton into one of the best characters in Yellowstone. As the series’ protective, traditional, and often ruthless patriarch, his presence is the heart of the show and its central ranch. John acts as a father to many of the men working there, giving life advice that is often just as harsh as they lead, and infinitely quotable.
“All The Angels Are Gone, Son. There’s Only Devils Left”
Season 2 of Yellowstone sees the Dutton family facing a brutal battle with the formidable Beck brothers, who are not above killing their cattle. The brothers are honest about their intentions, which John respects, but he finds himself put in an impossible position, with the family pressured to make a deal with them. Jamie warns his father that dealing with the Beck brothers is “making a deal with the devil,” and John replies with this iconic quote.
John is hard to intimidate, and this is him at his most cynical. Despite sticking to his principles for the majority of the series, John spent some time considering the deal anyway, and his foreboding sentiment defines the episode, which is called “Only Devils Left.” With the Beck brothers already being two of Taylor Sheridan’s best villains, there is another layer to John’s line, as it acknowledges that to some, he might also be counted among the devils.
How Cute Does An Animal Have To Be Before You Care If It Dies To Feed You?”
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As the owner of a cattle ranch who is set in his ways, it is not surprising that John Dutton might not understand vegetarians. When animal rights activist Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo) and her group arrive to protest industrialized farming, he challenges her views on the industry, with some insightful if inaccurate observations. John asks if Summer cares that to plant the crops that feed her, everything else living on the land must die, including the snakes, frogs, and mice.
While many modern farming methods are less destructive to the earth, his question is still thought-provoking, making Summer question the factors that she finds valuable. The storyline was one of Yellowstone‘s most controversial, with Summer’s relationship with John becoming romantic, but John’s line could be used as a metaphor for many aspects of life, making it age better than the storyline that inspired it.
You Build Something Worth Having, Someone’s Gonna Try and Take It.”
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Kevin Costner’s best Yellowstone quotes as John Dutton reveal a lot about his character though the way he sees the world. John has had to fight relentlessly to protect the ranch from developers, rival factions, and external threats, but it is likely that if he was in the opposite position, he would also try to take something for his family. With John being considerably corrupt, it is telling that he believes most other people would act in the way he does.
John is sharing this life advice with his son, Kayce, preparing for their final showdown with the Beck brothers. John might be speaking from a lifetime of experience, preparing Kayce for the fact that he will be expected to fight for the ranch for the rest of his life as part of his legacy, but the line highlights another main theme of the series. The family believe that the ranch is worth all of this trouble and conflict to protect.
Lawyers Are The Swords Of This Century. Words Are Weapons Now. I Need You To Learn How To Use Them.”
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John’s worldview changes during the course of Yellowstone‘s five seasons, and the events that lead to him delivering this quote show his evolving strategy. When he pushes Jamie to go to Harvard and become a lawyer, Jamie is confused, as John has made no secret of the fact that he hates lawyers. Understanding that physical force is no longer the only way to protect the family’s interests, John secretly applied to Harvard on Jamie’s behalf, handing him the acceptance letter.
This line illustrates the way in which John sees even his own family as tools for use in protecting the ranch. Steering Jamie into the legal profession was a spectacular moment of foresight, anticipating legal trouble years ahead, and the risk appeared to pay off, with Jamie becoming the family’s main fixer. Still, John did not have the foresight to see Jamie becoming one of Yellowstone‘s villains and causing Beth’s greatest tragedies, resulting in his messy end.
Well, If You’re Marrying Beth, You’ve Already Proved You’re Not Scared Of Anything.”
Yellowstone‘s Beth Dutton is as quotable as her father, and more formidable than almost any other character in the show, with John fully understanding how fierce she is, and often respecting her all the more for it. That said, when John says this to Rip Wheeler, there is more to the line than an affectionate tease to his daughter’s fiancé, as the scene reveals one of John’s few insecurities.
John jokes to Rip that he could be the only family member who talks to him, with Rip replying honestly, telling John that people are afraid to disappoint him. John’s response, “well, if you’re marrying Beth, you’ve already proved you’re not scared of anything,” affirms his respect and trust in Rip, welcoming him to the family, while acknowledging that Beth can be volatile. As Beth’s childhood sweetheart, Rip has already proven himself to John, but this iconic line states it outright.
You Think You’re Winning This Game, You Don’t Even Know The G——- Rules. But Don’t Worry: I’m Gonna Teach Them To You.”
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John spends much of season 3 embroiled in a bitter land dispute with Roarke Morris, who wants to acquire land that John owns with the intention of developing it into a luxury ski resort city. Roarke constantly uses underhand tactics to sabotage John and his family, but the antagonist underestimates them, and John knows it, with this line being his best in a tense scene during which the warring parties look into their legal options.
Roarke might have the wealth and experience to make such a development project sound attractive, and he is charming enough to flirt his way into the affections of some of his opponents, but he lacks John Dutton’s ruthlessness and the family’s willingness to kill. Having already angered Rip, Roarke’s horrifying death in Yellowstone season 4 is one of the show’s most stomach-clenching scenes, and illustrates the fact that John was right. Roarke didn’t know the rules.
Leverage Is Knowing That If Someone Had All The Money In The World, This Is What They’d Buy.”
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John Dutton has Yellowstone‘s most emotive introduction, with viewers seeing him have to put down his horse, instantly establishing him as a character who will make difficult choices when they need to be made. That said, one of the later scenes in Yellowstone‘s first episode shows us a more calculating side to the Dutton family patriarch. John is very aware that he and his family have something that other people want, and this can be used to manipulate them.
Yellowstone is almost beyond value to the Dutton family, and John’s line explains this to Jamie, encouraging him to understand the ranch’s true value before allowing somebody to talk him into surrendering a single part of it. With John seeing money as a tool, the quote highlights that for him, real power comes from owning something so desired that no amount of cash can truly rival it.
That’s Gonna Be Your Last Lesson, Son: How To Be Meaner Than Evil And Still Love Your Family. And Still Enjoy A Sunrise.
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The season 3 episode “Meaner Than Evil” contains John Dutton’s best Yellowstone line and some of the show’s most powerful moments. When Kayce was rebuked for failing to kill Walker, John’s response represents his legacy on the show: “You can’t reason with evil, son. Evil wants what it wants and won’t stop until it’s won or you kill it. The only way to kill it is to be meaner than evil. That’s gonna be your last lesson, son: how to be meaner than evil and still love your family. And still enjoy a sunrise.”
John has occasionally been Yellowstone‘s resident antihero, with several characters certainly seeing him as evil, but his final comment reminding Kayce to be mean, while also appreciating the free joys in life perfectly sums up his character. With the show’s stunning location and ugly business existing side by side, it is also the best quote in Yellowstone by far, with Costner’s delivery being spot on.
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