25 Best Iron Fist Quotes (TV Shows & Comics)

Iron Fist is a character with an awesome background story that was much better received in the comics than it was in the titular TV show on Netflix. Be that as it may, Danny Rand is a very smart guy, with deep thinking and understanding about the world and people in it.

To prove my point, here are the 25 best Iron Fist quotes from the TV show and the comics. The quotes aren’t ranked in any way but are focused on Daniel Rand’s Iron Fist, not any other version of the character.

Best Iron Fist Quotes From The TV Show

“I have a vision of total victory and nothing else. It’s the reason I’ve gotten this far. Defeat has no place in my mind.”

Danny Rand was raised in K’un-Lun, taught to persevere no matter which obstacle is in front of him. This quote really speaks volumes about Danny and his character. Iron Fist never gives up. Even when the odds are completely against him, Rand doesn’t give up.

The only thing he can envision is emerging victorious. The reason why he endured through all the hardships of his life is exactly that – he has the mentality of a winner, and it guides him to do great things. This quote came in the episode Immortal Emerges from Cave. I just wish it guided him to create a better TV show, but that’s just me.

“Never let the enemy choose the battlefield. Always work from a position of strength.”

This wise quote came in the episode caller The Mistress of All Agonies. Iron Fist offers some advice about combat. People always say you should choose your battles carefully. While that is true, sometimes it takes a bit more. I know they speak of a literal battlefield here, but I found the quote inspiring as a life lesson, too.

Never let anybody draw you into a fight where you are inferior – be it an argument about a topic you aren’t completely confident about in terms of your knowledge, or simply letting yourself play someone else’s game – a game where you’re not in control.

“I was a warrior. Only in the middle of a fight did I fully come alive. The harder someone hit me, the more everything came into focus.”

Danny Rand is a powerhouse – a warrior that only a handful of characters could defeat in a fight. However, the Iron Fist isn’t just a fancy name – it’s a power that flows through his body. And, as we learn in the episode Shadow Hawk Takes Flight, sometimes even Danny isn’t fully aware of his power.

Sometimes, it takes discomfort to help you focus and turn it into comfort, which is exactly what Danny is saying with this epic quote.

“I’m Danny Rand, son of Wendell Rand. I’ve been away a long time.”

Coming home after years of not being there sometimes might feel scary. However, if you know who you are and what you’re after, it’ll give you all the confidence you need. In Snow Gives Way, Danny finally returns home and introduces himself as the son of Wendell Rand. For some reason, the quote really resonated with me.

“I’m not just an ordinary fighter, okay? I’m the Iron Fist.”

This quote came in the episode Immortal Emerges from Cave, where Danny explains the nature of his powers. Everyone can train and become a fighter, a martial artist, or a soldier. However, there’s a reason why Danny Rand is so much more than just a fighter.

He is the Iron Fist, a conduit of a powerful, mythical force that runs through his body, allowing him superhuman strength, durability, quickness, and fighting skills unmatched by anyone in the world. Except for, maybe, Shang-Chi – a guy he fought with and against numerous times.

“A man fights with his mouth when his fists are lacking.”

I loved this Danny Rand quote from the Iron Fist episode called The Blessing of Many Fractures. His enemy – not to spoil anything – is a loudmouth, using his tongue to talk his way in or out of fights.

The Iron Fist is the opposite. He’s a man of a few words that lets his actions do the talking. He sees a man who talks too much as a man who’s trying to get away from a real fight because he’s either a coward or knows he can’t win.

“One never really knows one’s own true intentions.”

People sometimes don’t know what they even want out of life, of another person, or a situation of any kind. However, even when you think you know what you really want, it can be hard to understand your subconscious intentions, motives, and reasons that drive us to do what we do.

This quote came from the episode Under Leaf Pluck Lotus when Danny explains this in a much more concise way. You cannot know what others’ true intentions are because often, one can’t even know what their own true intentions are. 

“Well, when someone comes after my friends, I make it my fight.”

This quote from Danny actually came in the Luke Cage TV show, specifically in The Main Ingredient episode in the show’s second season. Cage is going up against the Bushmaster, but when Iron Fist offers help, Luke tells him: “That’s my fight, not yours.”

Nevertheless, Danny shows his true personality and decides to “make it his fight” because he can’t sit around and watch as someone comes after his friend. It made me love the Netflix Danny Rand a bit more, but I still can’t say I’m a fan.

“You’re right, though. Money is power. I hate to admit it, but it’s true.”

Iron Fist has a more philosophical view of the world, but in the same episode mentioned in the previous quote, Luke Cage gives him a reality check. In the real world, money is power. Those who are wealthy have the power over those who aren’t. In our world, enough money can buy you anything, and Danny learns that the hard way.

Still, it doesn’t make him or Luke give up on their goals. Why? Because the power that money gives you isn’t real – it’s a fiction that can come and go at any given moment. The real power comes from within, and both Danny and Luke have plenty of it.

“It’s just the… it’s just the turbulence. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

This quote from Danny came in The Defenders series’ first episode. Danny, Shaft, and Colleen Wing are in a plane, where Rand experiences severe nightmares. When Colleen wakes him up, he says it’s just the turbulence, but we know why someone as strong, brave, and powerful as the Iron Fist has a fear of flying.

When Danny was a child, a plane crash (which we later learn was deliberately caused) killed his parents and left Danny stranded in the mountains all alone. I’m surprised he ever sat on a plane after something like that.

“I hurt you. I get it. It was selfish and wrong of me to leave without telling you. But coming here has taught me that the Iron Fist isn’t just for K’un-Lun. Others before me may have felt it was their destiny… but I am Danny Rand. And I’m the Iron Fist.”

Davos was destined to become the Iron Fist and guard the pass of K’un-Lun before Danny Rand arrived at the mystical city after the fateful plane crash. Davos accepted the fact that Danny would take the Iron Fist instead of him, and although he was jealous, he accepted it. However, he couldn’t forgive Danny for leaving K’un-Lun without even telling him.

When they meet again, Rand tries to explain his decision with the quote above, but nothing could’ve changed Davos’ mind. This quote is from the Iron Fist episode called Bar the Big Boss, soon after which Davos is arrested.

“It’s, uh, it’s been a long road to get back home. And that’s what Rand is to me. Home. My father, Wendell Rand, instilled in me a love and respect for this company that has never faded. I left here, ten years old, on a jet with my parents. We never reached our destination. I lost my family in that crash, and I became the lone survivor. I then was rescued by monks and raised in a monastery, a much different life to what I had here in New York. Ultimately, it taught me the value of life of hard work of never giving up on the things that matter to me. And Rand matters.”

Not much to explain here, really – in the episode Eight diagram Dragon Palm, Danny explains his love for the Rand Enterprises company that never died, even after his parents passed away. It was a cool way for the Iron Fist to tell us his life story.

Best Iron Fist Quotes From The Comics

“If a man ceases to exist – how long will his memory survive him?”

Daniel Rand from the comics was, truth be told, a much more loveable character than the one in the TV show. This quote came in Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1 #31, where Danny asks a philosophical question? When is a man truly dead? When do we cease to exist?

I believe that you are alive for as long as there are people who remember you. That’s why the answer to this question is so individual – some people are gone as soon as they die, while others live forever.

“Do not force me to battle you, officers of the law. For I am blameless of any wrongdoing and would remain so.”

The reason why I enjoyed Iron Fist in the comics so much is just the way he speaks and behaves. He’s just poetic, even in the simplest interactions. This encounter with the police in Marvel Premiere Vol. 1 #22 perfectly depicts what I’m talking about. The officers want to arrest Danny while he tries to explain his innocence.

“Yes… I like it – Partners!”

This quote came from Power Man and Iron Fist Vol. 1 #54. Daniel Rand and Luke Cage have teamed up in the Netflix shows, but fans probably didn’t realize that, in the comics, the two were best friends for a long time.

Iron Fist and Power Man worked together for quite some time, but it was in this particular conversation that they agreed to become partners. I wouldn’t want to be the bad guy going against these two guys.

“Self-pity and a defeatist attitude will hurt your progress a lot more than ill health does.”

Daniel Rand always has a winner’s mentality. That’s why he believes he always wins – he only envisions winning, and losing is simply never even an afterthought to him. So, when his good friend gets hurt in Power Man and Iron Fist Vol. 1 #79, he explains that feeling sorry for yourself will get you nowhere.

If you want to make progress in your recovery, the first thing you ought to do is to WANT to recover. Instead of self-pity, you have to have the right attitude, and recovery will come with time. Keep that in mind the next time you start doubting yourself about anything.

“Yeah, yeah, Hydra is a legion. But, when was the last time you faced a dragon?”

No matter who you are or what you do, you do NOT want to get on Iron Fist’s bad side. In Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 1 #1, Daniel explains what he’s all about.

He is powerful, harnessing the might of a dragon – not just physically but mentally. Many fear Hydra, but not Danny Rand. The Iron Fist is fearless, regardless of who he is facing.

“There is a lot going on here. I get that. But I have a responsibility to the other worlds, too. There are parts of the Book of the Iron Fist that are unwritten. And right now, I’m the only guy with the pen.”

Danny Rand explained several times that you couldn’t access K’un-Lun from this world. That’s because it hides in a completely different plane of reality. And that is why being the Iron Fist is so challenging. Daniel has responsibilities not just on our plane of existence but on other worlds, too.

He explains that fact in Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 1 #20, and he knows he cannot escape his responsibilities, no matter how much he’d like to, because he’s the only Iron Fist out there.

“The truth is the only thing that matters. I’ve lived through Hell because of a lie, and it stops here.”

In Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 1 #26, Daniel explains his attitude towards lies and deceit. The Iron Fist is as righteous as they come, and the only thing that matters to him is the truth. I loved this quote because it showed what a genuine person Danny is – despite all the power he’s wielding, his core values remain intact, and that’s all one could ask for from a hero.

“My fist wasn’t forged in iron… But irony. An orphan of two worlds. Two families. Stuck in that place in-between.”

This was a heart-wrenching quote from Danny in Iron Fist: The Living Weapon Vol. 1 #5, as he fought the giant android, Shu-Hu. Daniel explains the heartbreaking truth about his life. His family had been taken away from him at a young age. After that, he was taken to K’un-Lun, where he lived and trained, but chose to leave after a while.

It left Danny somewhere in between the two worlds. He can’t go back to K’un-Lun, but out here, he’s all alone – an orphan of two worlds.

“Great! Who put a contract on me this time?”

As I mentioned several times before, Danny Rand has no fear of combat – against anybody. He knows that there are people out there who want them dead, and he’s fine with it.

I found this quote from Iron Fist Vol. 5 #6 quite interesting, showing what Daniel Rand’s personality really is. Above everything else, he’s a warrior who loves to fight – a contract on his head means nothing to him because he knows the Iron Fist always prevails.

“Believe in yourself. But don’t fight for yourself. Fight for your friends. For the ones you love.”

I loved this quote from Immortal Iron Fists Vol. 1 #6. Yes, you read that correctly – Iron Fists. A new Iron Fist emerged in a young warrior named Pei. Just like Danny, he strays from his path here and there, but Daniel serves as his mentor to get him right back on track.

The quote is probably my favorite Iron Fist quote ever. He teaches Pei that fighting for selfish reasons won’t ever get you far. However, when you fight for those you love – that’s when your true power comes out. That goes for everybody – superhero or not.

“‘Heroes’ are very different on Earth, your radiance. They are not of a single mind, nor all so pure of heart.”

Iron Fist talks to Quan Yin, one of the leaders in K’un-Lun, trying to explain heroes on Earth. In K’un-Lun, a hero is always righteous, almost flawless. However, on Earth, things are different. Heroes are real people, living in the real world and dealing with real problems.

Some of them aren’t completely pure of heart, nor do they all think and work the same. That’s what makes them unique. Every hero has a story, and I love how Daniel explains it. This quote came in Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon Vol. 1 #2.

“Superhero life can be a lonely existence at times. Sure, there’re friends in the community that you see now and then. But it’s not like there’s superhero company picnics or Avengers-sponsored bowling nights. For the most part, you are out there by yourself doing your own thing. For the most part, the only time you see each other is when the really bad stuff is going down. But sometimes, just sometimes… you’re there for the good stuff too. And those are the best parts.”

I found this Daniel Rand quote from Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors Vol. 1 #3 awesome. It hits right on the money – being a superhero is a hard life to live. Your friends are usually out there doing their own thing, and the only time you get to spend together is when the threat is so big that you have to team up. 

I can see how it could be lonely, but hey – I’d rather see my friends fewer times a year, but have superpowers, than having them raid my fridge every couple of days, and I have no power to do anything about it other than starting to hide my food.

“Who am I now? What am I without my fist?”

It seems like every superhero goes through an identity crisis at some point. Who are you when you take away the powers? Well, that’s exactly the question Daniel Rand had to ask himself in Iron Fist – Marvel Digital Original Vol. 1 #1 after he had lost the Iron Fist.

As it turns out, Danny was still a hero. He found a way to return and gain back his powers, continuing to serve as the conduit for truth, doing the right thing, and fighting for good in this bad, bad world.