I am a movie fan and also a movie quotes fan. I quote movies all the time but I am going to list only movie quotes that I actually liked the moment I heard them in the movie. The first time. Sometimes you are quietly watching and something you hear hits you sort of like an epiphany. A punch in the face. A revelation. Something that had to be said or you had to hear. Many times how you receive a quote depends on your state of mind at the moment, and the same quote would have felt different in any other circumstance. Anyways, in no particular order, these are my favorite quotes.
As good as it gets
What if this is as good as it gets?
Melvin
Melvin leaves his psychiatrist’s office very frustrated and to a waiting room full of people (other patients) shoots that phrase… This is one of the oldest movies here and it may be from my more sarcastic/negative phase but still, Melvin was wrong when he said that, he got better and the movie had a quite happy ending after all his nonsense. There always is a way out.
Groundhog Day
Anything different is good
Phil Connors
Phil finally breaks through from the cycle and is willing to accept anything, except more of the same. But he had to change first, before anything else would change for him. He made the effort and was rewarded with a renewed life.
Troy
I chose nothing. I was born and this is what I am.
Achilles
Troy is one of those movies that seems to have been written just to be quoted, although it is also a good movie to watch. Achilles is asked why is he a warrior and that quote is his answer. Hmm, is there really free will? I think so, but even if what we are is unavoidable, what we can become is not.
Dead Man
The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn from the crow
Nobody
The main character asks what to do next and the sidekick answers bluntly. This one is actually, as I learned right after watching the movie, a verse from a poem by William Blake who is quoted often in the movie as the main character is his namesake and the sidekick is a big fan of the poet. Nobody was telling Blake that he himself was nobody to learn from. In fact, Nobody was very clever.
Office Space
I gotta get outta here. I think I’m gonna lose it.
Peter
This may be the only FIRE quote in here, haha.. Peter just arrived at work but can’t handle it anymore. Goes to his buddies and wants to get out for coffee, or any excuse to be elsewhere. The movie about cubicleland at its best.
Star Wars V: The empire strikes back
You must unlearn what you have learned.
Yoda
Yoda trains Luke and shoots a few one-liners at him. I like this one even more than the more popular one (“… there is no try”). It is really hard to rid ourselves of old bad training, old bad thinking, old bad mental traps. Many times forgetting the old is harder than understanding and accepting the new.
The American President
People don’t drink the sand because they’re thirsty. They drink the sand because they don’t know the difference.
The president
Tense meeting at the White House. The team is trying to wake up the president to the damage caused by an opponent’s cheap talk, telling him the people want leadership and when they get to the mirage and don’t find water, they’ll drink the sand in the absence of water. The president responds wittingly with the quote. However, later on he follows the advice and punches back crushing the challenger.
The Equalizer 2
It takes talent to make money, but it takes brains to keep it.
McCall
McCall is trying to mentor a young guy from his building that is a talented artist but seems to be taking on the wrong path. So he kind of tells him he is only halfway there… This is, I believe, the newest quote/movie and the only one I heard anew since I started writing this blog. It may be here mostly because it is about money, which was going to be my main topic when I started blogging. Or was it?
The Departed
I don’t want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me.
Frank Costello
I can’t remember the exact context of the quote but this is a mobster that creates an environment quite bloody. This may be the only movie listed that I would not watch again. It was a good movie but seems like everyone in it dies, very Shakespearean. I like happy endings. Oh, I want to be like that mobster, but in a good way.
The Good Lie
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Titles, last lines
Actually an African proverb, so I feel like I am cheating, but anyways. Great story in a good movie about refugee brothers that fight to reunite with their sister. I want to get far. Together.
Jerry McGuire
I wish you my kind of success
Happy old guy
These are the last lines from the movie that brought us “You had me at hello” and “Show me the money!”. Spoken by one of the older guys from the older couples reflecting on their lives. He is happily married, satisfied with the life he’s lived. Such a goodhearted but also envy-inspiring wish…
After putting these together I realized that I followed some unwritten rules here: to not quote what everyone else quotes. Maybe because those very popular quotes wear out with use or maybe because I already knew the quote when I saw the movie so it didn’t have as big an impact. Also, I got two quotes from Jack Nicholson even though I am not a big fan of him.
I am quite shocked that two of my favorite movies, The Shawshank Redemption and Dead Poets Society don’t have any quotes here, despite having many quotable moments. Not sure why. Maybe I’d just like to quote the whole movie!
What quotes or movie lines had an impact on you the first time you heard them?
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Which movie had the line, ” I haven t slept since I was 14″?