Captain Nemo: Think of it. On the surface there is hunger and fear. Men still exercise unjust laws. They fight, tear one another to pieces. A mere few feet beneath the waves their reign ceases, their evil drowns. Here on the ocean floor is the only independence. Here I am free! Imagine what would happen if they controlled machines such as this submarine boat. Far better that they think there's a monster and hunt me with harpoons.
Captain Nemo: Mr. Land, you saved my life. Why?
Ned Land: That's a good question. Well, there's only one thing a fella can do when he's made a mistake as big as this.
Conseil: What?
Ned Land: Get drunk.
Captain Nemo: The natives over there are cannibals. They eat liars with the same enthusiasm as they eat honest men.
Captain Nemo: I am not what is called a civilized man, Professor. I have done with society for reasons that seem good to me. Therefore, I do not obey its laws.
Captain Nemo: Do you know the meaning of love, professor?
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: I believe I do.
Captain Nemo: What you fail to understand is the power of hate. It can fill the heart as surely as love can.
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: I'm sorry for you. That's a bitter substitute.
Ned Land: There's one thing you ought to know, Professor: Nemo's cracked. I've yet to see the day you can make a deal with a mad dog. So while you're feeding him sugar, I'll be figuring a plan to muzzle him.
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: A strange twilight world opened up before me, and I felt as the first man to set foot on another planet, an intruder in this mystic garden of the deep.
Answer: To see what kind of men they are, especially Ned Glass. They held on to the sub against the harshness of the ocean. They did not scream, cry, or beg for mercy.