Context

This line is spoken by Mike Ehrmantraut (played by Jonathan Banks) in an episode of Breaking Bad, written by Sam Catlin and Peter Gould (2008-2013).

In season 3 of Breaking Bad, Walter White is making illegal crystal meth, but he's doing it so he can provide for his family if his cancer ends up killing him. But, at the end of the season, something changes as he runs over some drug dealers with his trusty Volvo and orders his assistant, Jesse, to shoot his former chemist, the adorable Gale Boetticher.

This change is triggered by a monologue delivered by Mike Ehrmantraut, a corrupt Philly beat cop turned jack of all criminal trades. He tells Walter about how he decided to let a 280-pound domestic abuser "sleep it off in the drunk tank" instead of shooting him in the head. And the very next day, the abuser killed his girlfriend with a blender.

The lesson that Walter takes from this dark, gruesome story is to be utterly ruthless in dealing with his rivals in the meth trade. He goes from wanting to make some quick money to help his family with medical bills to blowing up a hospital and getting people to kill for him.

Yeah, we don't know if Mike saw his little speech having that crazy of an effect.

Where you've heard it

Hopefully, you haven't heard this quote in the context of any illegal activities, but you may have heard this quote before you do something utterly ruthless or outrageous. Like if you're playing the ancient game of chess, and instead of just going for the king, you decide to knock out all the pawns along the way, and get uninvited from all future game nights.

Additional Notable References:

• The "half measures" speech proudly got a spot on Forbes' list of the "perfect moments on Breaking Bad.
• "No More Half Measures" is the title of a documentary about the filming of the final, gripping season of Breaking Bad.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

It's good to go all out in all of your endeavors, but we hope that endeavor doesn't include becoming a drug kingpin or vigilante. This is the real world, not Daredevil.