Admiral William Adama: Mr. Lampkin, what are you doing here?
Romo Lampkin: Writs of forfeiture for the ships you're borrowing. The captains want to be absolved of any blame should anything untoward happen.
[Adama takes the legal papers and examines them]
Romo Lampkin: One of the less ennobling consequences of a legal culture. No one wants responsibility. Lee said you once gave him something before a mission. A lighter, was it?
[Adama begins signing them]
Admiral William Adama: Belonged to my father. Foolish to think a hunk of metal could keep him safe.
Romo Lampkin: And yet, that's what we do, isn't it? Hang on to hope, in every hopelessly irrational way that we can.
[Romo looks at the fighter crews below them]
Romo Lampkin: But not like those poor bastards, giving away their luck, just when they need it most. It's like they've given up.
Admiral William Adama: If you never been in combat, you have no idea what they're thinking.
Romo Lampkin: I always imagined you a realist, Admiral, not one to indulge a vain hope at the cost of lives. But then, everyone has his limits. "Sine qua non", as they say.
Admiral William Adama: "Without which not."
Romo Lampkin: Yes. Those things we deem essential, without which we cannot bear living, without which life in general loses its specific value... becomes abstract.
Admiral William Adama: You may have a point, Counselor.
Romo Lampkin: And while I'm on a roll, Tom Zarek may not be an ideal president, but we could do worse.
Admiral William Adama: You're right. There are limits to my realism. Goodbye, Counselor.