Mad Men
Jon Hamm as Don Draper
Quotes
All character quotes are submitted by Mad Men fans. If you would like to submit (or correct) a Don Draper quote, click here.
"Advertising is based on happiness. We make the lie, we invent want."
--Season 1, Episode 1: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"
"I'm living like there's no tomorrow, because there isn't one."
--Season 1, Episode 1: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"
"It wasn't a lie, it was ineptitude with insufficient cover."
--Season 1, Episode 3: "Marriage of Figaro"
"Mourning is just extended self-pity."
--Season 1, Episode 6: "Babylon"
"I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent."
--Season 1, Episode 7: "The Hobo Code"
"The day you sign a client is the day you start losing them.'"
--Season 1, Episode 10: "Long Weekend"
"Just think about it deeply, then forget it...then an idea will jump up in your face.'"
--Season 1, Episode 11: "Indian Summer"
"You don’t cover for me. You manage people's expectations."
--Season 2, Episode 3: "The Benefactor"
"Get out of here and move forward. This never happened. It will shock
you how much it never happened."
--Season 2, Episode 5: "The New Girl"
"You want to be on vacation Pete? Because I can make that happen."
--Season 2, Episode 11: "The Jet Set"
"There will be fat years and there will be lean years, but it is going to rain."
--Season 3, Episode 1: "Out of Town"
"If you don't like what's being said, change the conversation."
--Season 3, Episode 2: "Love Among the Ruins"
"Change isn't good or bad. It just is."
--Season 3, Episode 2: "Love Among the Ruins"
"Maybe I'm late because I was spending time with my family reading the Bible."
--Season 3, Episode 7: "Seven Twenty Three"
About
Don Draper was the Creative Director at the Sterling Cooper advertising agency, where his ad campaigns and client relations earned him partnership. He's now a Founding Partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.
Don lives in New York City after separately from his wife Betty. They have three children: Sally, Bobby and Gene. Over the years, he's had a number of extramarital affairs, most notably with Midge Daniels, a freelance illustrator; Rachel Menken, a Sterling Cooper client; and Bobbie Barrett, the manager-wife of comedian Jimmy Barrett who starred in Sterling Cooper’s Utz potato chips campaign. When news of this last affair was revealed to Betty, she kicked Don out of the house; the couple reconciled after Betty learned of her pregnancy.
Don is also harboring a secret: Namely, that he was born Dick Whitman, the son of a prostitute who died during childbirth. Don is now assuming the identity of Donald Draper, an officer he served under during the Korean War. Pete Campbell, a subordinate co-worker at Sterling Cooper, discovered this information and tried to use it against Don, but the revelation made little impression on company founder Bertram Cooper. The only other person who knows Don's actual identity is Anna Draper, wife of the "real," now-dead Don Draper. Don continues to provide financial assistance to Anna, who lives in California. A half-brother Adam who also knew Don’s secret has committed suicide.
Read the Ad Age interview with Don Draper »
View Don Draper's three-year contract for Sterling Cooper from Season 3 »
Go to iTunes if you want to download the Don Draper playlist.
Or to get a listen now, simply use the playlist below.
