How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from 12 Monkeys.
Quote #4
DR. PETERS: I think, Dr. Railly, you're given the alarmists a bad name.
RAILLY: I have?
DR. PETERS: Mm-hm. Surely there's very real and very convincing data that the planet cannot survive the excesses of the human race.
RAILLY: This is true.
DR. PETERS: Proliferation of atomic devices; uncontrolled breeding habits; pollution of land, sea, and air; the rape of the environment. In this context, isn't it obvious that Chicken Little represents the sane vision, and that Homo sapiens' motto, "Let's go shopping," is the cry of the true lunatic?
Dr. Peters' argument regarding the "excesses of the human race" points to how completely we have dominated the natural world by the end of the 20th century. His language even suggests an attack. As we later learn, his plan is to use some scientifically buffed nature (in the form of a virus) to give nature a fighting chance.
Quote #5
COLE [laughing]: Ah, I love the music of the 20th century! I love this air! Ah, love to breathe this air!
The movie isn't all about pitting nature and people against each other in a no-holds-bar cage match of dominance. In fact, it recognizes that people are creatures of nature; we evolved to live in it, so it can satisfy us as easily as it can suppress us. Consider this scene, where Cole is happy, genuinely happy, just because he has some fresh air to breathe.
"Fresh" here being a relative term. It is, after all, Philadelphia air he's breathing.
Quote #6
RAILLY [bandaging Cole's wound]: You shouldn't put your weight on it. You need stitches and antibiotics. Lucky for you it's near the surface.
COLE: I love seeing the sun. [Goes to stand.] Oh.
RAILLY: Wait. Let me help you.
Going off the idea of nature as curative or therapeutic, notice how this is one of the few scenes in the film that occurs in a natural setting. It is also one of the few scenes showing Cole being healed, rather than injured.