We all know John Dutton (Kevin Costner) as the hard-nosed, relentless patriarch of the Dutton family empire on the Taylor Sheridan juggernaut, Yellowstone. He’s the father to Beth, Kayce, his adopted son, Jamie (we all know how that turned out), and the late Lee Dutton. He’s devoted his whole life to protecting both the Dutton family name and the ranch, willing to go to any extent possible to keep that legacy alive and well for generations to come.
Throughout the series, John Dutton is immersed in conflict, constantly fending off greedy land developers, corporate giants, and the neighboring Broken Rock Indian Reservation… and they all want one thing: his land. But for John, the land was everything. Even as Governor of Montana, his sole purpose to protect the land. He operates by a strict and often ruthless code, even teaching his children to “learn to be meaner than evil” to survive and protect their property.
In the fifth season, John Dutton is found dead from a gunshot wound in the bathtub of the Governor’s Mansion. While it is initially staged to look like a suicide, it is later revealed that he was murdered by assassins who were hired by Market Equities viper, Sarah Atwood. The series was never quite the same once John left, and while the sequel series Dutton Ranch is quite good, it’s missing that signature John Dutton wisdom. The kind of knowledge that only can only be learned by spending decades on the back of a horse.
Taylor Swift recently quoted him in her Songwriters Hall of Fame induction speech, and it got me thinking about some of his best work. So without further ado, here’s the 10 best quotes from the great John Dutton himself:
10. “This is America.. we don’t share land here.”
9. “Learn to be meaner than evil and still love your family and enjoy a sunrise.”
8. “All the angels are gone, son. There’s only devils left.”
7. “Leverage is knowing that if someone had all the money in the world, this is what they’d buy.”
6. “There’s a saying out here. If your daughter’s riding a horse, no one’s riding her.”
5. “Killing’s the one thing everything on this planet does to survive, Tate. It’s the one thing we all share. Now you share it, too.”
4. “No one will mourn your loss, son, because this isn’t losing your life… this is quitting it.”
3. “It’s the one constant in life. You build something worth having, someone’s gonna try to take it.”
2. “You think you’re winnin’ this game? You don’t even know the goddamned rules. But don’t worry, I’m gonna teach ’em to ya.”
And of course… his hard truth to Summer:
1. “How cute does an animal have to be before you care if it dies to feed you?”
For more John Dutton wisdom, check out Life According to John Dutton:
