“Did you know, in nine hundred years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important before.”
– The Doctor, Doctor Who
Christmas special, “Christmas Carol”

So many Doctor Who quotes to choose from, so little time! 🙂

There are witty lines, poignant lines, pointed lines… but I think what I like best about the Doctor is simply how he, the last and greatest Time Lord of Gallifrey, truly values all the good people he comes into contact with. He is a wanderer, almost never setting down any roots, yet he treasures the lives of everyone he meets, that’s why he meddles in every crisis he comes across. It’s what really separates the Doctor from his many enemies, who dismiss the importance of others.

In this particular scene, the Doctor is meeting with a cranky old man, the sort who would make Ebeneezer Scrooge seem downright charitable. He asks about a woman who happens to be in cryostasis at the time, and the man dismisses her as “nobody important.” That’s when the Doctor says this, and while it’s very pointed in the moment, it’s held true in the Doctor’s behavior across the entire series.

When Rose travels back in time with him and saves her father when he was supposed to die, the Doctor tries to tell her how bad that was. She argues that he’s not going to be a world leader or start World War 3, but the Doctor answers that this is a man who is alive when he’s supposed to be dead, and the world is different for his continued life.

“An ordinary man. That’s the most important thing in creation.”
– The Doctor, Doctor Who
Season 1, Episode 8, “Father’s Day”

When David Tenant’s time as the Doctor ends, in “The End of Time,” it’s right after he’s done the incredible and saved the universe from the threat of his own people, the Time Lords gone mad, and, even more incredible, his life has been spared. Just as he’s on the brink of weeping with relief for his ongoing existence, he realizes that a friend of his, an old, ordinary man, has been trapped in a machine that’s practically waiting to kill him. And he’s angry and hurt and cries and shouts, because he could “do so much more,” and his friend isn’t special at all. But then, even as his friend tries to tell him not to, to just leave him and let him die, the Doctor steps in and takes his place, with only three words:

“It’s my honor.”

The greatest of all considers it his honor to die in the place of his perfectly-ordinary friend.

Yes. That is my favorite part of the Doctor.