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Alexander Hamilton
Aaron Burr is Hamilton’s nemesis and ideological opposite. He is also, in a structural move that immediately raises the stakes, the musical’s narrator, introducing audiences to Hamilton through his own vengeful eyes. Whereas Hamilton sees his own mortality as motivation to work harder, Burr’s knowledge of death causes him to bide his time and be patient: “I am the one thing in life I can control” (“Wait For It”). And while Hamilton is vocal about his strong opinions, Burr prefers to play both sides, singing that his motto is “talk less / smile more” (“Aaron Burr, Sir”). Though the two men are never close, during the Revolutionary War, they are able to work together, bonded by their shared status as orphans (though Burr grew up in wealth), and by their love of their newborn children (“Dear Theodosia”). After the war, Hamilton climbs the political ranks while Burr falls by the wayside, causing Burr to fume that he wants—above all else—to be in the “room where it happens.” Seeking revenge, Burr tries to tarnish Hamilton’s honor, threatening to expose his affair with Maria Reynolds (“We Know”). When Hamilton endorses Thomas Jefferson over Burr for the presidency, it is the final straw, and Burr challenges his lifelong enemy to a duel (“Your Obedient Servant”). Burr shoots and kills Hamilton, but he is aware that by doing so, he makes himself “the villain in [the audience’s] history”; though Hamilton may have lost his life, Burr has lost his legacy (“The World Was Wide Enough”).
Aaron Burr Quotes in Hamilton
The Hamilton quotes below are all either spoken by Aaron Burr or refer to Aaron Burr. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1: Alexander Hamilton
Quotes
BURR: There would have been nothing left to do for someone less astute,
He woulda been dead or destitute,
Without a cent of restitution,
Started workin’—clerkin’ for his late mother’s landlord,
Tradin’ sugar cane and rum and all the things he can’t afford
Scammin’ for every book he can get his hands on
Plannin’ for the future see him now as he stands on
The bow of a ship heading for a new land.
In New York you can be a new man.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1: Aaron Burr, Sir
Quotes
BURR: Talk less.
HAMILTON: What?
BURR: Smile more.
HAMILTON: Ha.
BURR: Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for.
HAMILTON: You can’t be serious.
BURR: You wanna get ahead?
HAMILTON: Yes.
BURR: Fools who run their mouths oft wind up dead.
Act 1: Wait for It
Quotes
BURR: Death doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints,
It takes, and it takes, and it takes
And we keep living anyway.
We rise and we fall
And we break,
And we make our mistakes.
And if there’s a reason I’m still alive
When ev’ryone who loves me has died
I’m willing to wait for it.
I’m willing to wait for it.
Act 1: Dear Theodosia
Quotes
BURR: My father wasn’t around
HAMILTON: I swear that
BURR, HAMILTON: I’ll be around for you.
HAMILTON: I’ll do whatever it takes.
BURR: I’ll make a million mistakes.
BURR, HAMILTON: I’ll make the world safe and sound for you…
Will come of age with our young nation
We’ll bleed and fight for you, we’ll make it right for you.
If we lay a strong enough foundation
We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you, and you’ll blow us all away….
Someday, someday
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Act 1: Non-Stop
Quotes
BURR: The Constitution’s a mess.
HAMILTON: So it needs amendments.
BURR: It’s full of contradictions.
HAMILTON: So is independence.
We have to start somewhere.
BURR: No. No way.
HAMILTON: You’re making a mistake.
BURR: Goodnight.
HAMILTON: Hey.
What are you waiting for?
What do you stall for?
BURR: What?
HAMILTON: We won the war.
What was it all for?
Do you support the Constitution?
BURR: Of course.
HAMILTON: Then defend it.
BURR: And what if you’re backing the wrong horse?
Act 2: The Room Where it Happens
Quotes
HAMILTON, JEFFERSON, MADISON, WASHINGTON: What do you want, Burr?
What do you want, Burr?
If you stand for nothing,
Burr, what do you fall for?
BURR: I
Wanna be in
The room where it happens.
The room where it happens.
I
Wanna be in
The room where it happens.
The room where it happens.
Act 2: Election of 1800
Quotes
HAMILTON: I have never agreed with Jefferson once.
We have fought on like seventy-five diff’rent fronts!
But when all is said and all is done.
Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none.
Act 2: The World Was Wide Enough
Quotes
BURR: They won’t teach you this in your classes,
But look it up, Hamilton was wearing his glasses.
Why? If not to take deadly aim?
It’s him or me, the world will never be the same.
I had only one thought before the slaughter:
This man will not make an orphan of my daughter.
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Explanation and Analysis:
HAMILTON: If I throw away my shot, is this how you remember me?
What if this bullet is my legacy?
Legacy. What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me.
America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me.
You let me make a difference.
A place where even orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up.
I’m running out of time, I’m running and my time’s up. Wise up. Eyes up.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Hamilton LitChart as a printable PDF.
Aaron Burr Quotes in Hamilton
The Hamilton quotes below are all either spoken by Aaron Burr or refer to Aaron Burr. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1: Alexander Hamilton
Quotes
BURR: There would have been nothing left to do for someone less astute,
He woulda been dead or destitute,
Without a cent of restitution,
Started workin’—clerkin’ for his late mother’s landlord,
Tradin’ sugar cane and rum and all the things he can’t afford
Scammin’ for every book he can get his hands on
Plannin’ for the future see him now as he stands on
The bow of a ship heading for a new land.
In New York you can be a new man.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1: Aaron Burr, Sir
Quotes
BURR: Talk less.
HAMILTON: What?
BURR: Smile more.
HAMILTON: Ha.
BURR: Don’t let them know what you’re against or what you’re for.
HAMILTON: You can’t be serious.
BURR: You wanna get ahead?
HAMILTON: Yes.
BURR: Fools who run their mouths oft wind up dead.
Act 1: Wait for It
Quotes
BURR: Death doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints,
It takes, and it takes, and it takes
And we keep living anyway.
We rise and we fall
And we break,
And we make our mistakes.
And if there’s a reason I’m still alive
When ev’ryone who loves me has died
I’m willing to wait for it.
I’m willing to wait for it.
Act 1: Dear Theodosia
Quotes
BURR: My father wasn’t around
HAMILTON: I swear that
BURR, HAMILTON: I’ll be around for you.
HAMILTON: I’ll do whatever it takes.
BURR: I’ll make a million mistakes.
BURR, HAMILTON: I’ll make the world safe and sound for you…
Will come of age with our young nation
We’ll bleed and fight for you, we’ll make it right for you.
If we lay a strong enough foundation
We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you, and you’ll blow us all away….
Someday, someday
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 1: Non-Stop
Quotes
BURR: The Constitution’s a mess.
HAMILTON: So it needs amendments.
BURR: It’s full of contradictions.
HAMILTON: So is independence.
We have to start somewhere.
BURR: No. No way.
HAMILTON: You’re making a mistake.
BURR: Goodnight.
HAMILTON: Hey.
What are you waiting for?
What do you stall for?
BURR: What?
HAMILTON: We won the war.
What was it all for?
Do you support the Constitution?
BURR: Of course.
HAMILTON: Then defend it.
BURR: And what if you’re backing the wrong horse?
Act 2: The Room Where it Happens
Quotes
HAMILTON, JEFFERSON, MADISON, WASHINGTON: What do you want, Burr?
What do you want, Burr?
If you stand for nothing,
Burr, what do you fall for?
BURR: I
Wanna be in
The room where it happens.
The room where it happens.
I
Wanna be in
The room where it happens.
The room where it happens.
Act 2: Election of 1800
Quotes
HAMILTON: I have never agreed with Jefferson once.
We have fought on like seventy-five diff’rent fronts!
But when all is said and all is done.
Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none.
Act 2: The World Was Wide Enough
Quotes
BURR: They won’t teach you this in your classes,
But look it up, Hamilton was wearing his glasses.
Why? If not to take deadly aim?
It’s him or me, the world will never be the same.
I had only one thought before the slaughter:
This man will not make an orphan of my daughter.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
HAMILTON: If I throw away my shot, is this how you remember me?
What if this bullet is my legacy?
Legacy. What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me.
America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me.
You let me make a difference.
A place where even orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up.
I’m running out of time, I’m running and my time’s up. Wise up. Eyes up.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
