"Here, we will trade you this ARVN rifle, it's only been dropped once"

Full Metal Jacket

"What we have here is a failure to comunicate"

Struther Martin in Cool Hand Luke

OK, not that I learned anything but they are good lines.

"Sooner or later we have to choose between what is right and what is easy."

Albus Dumbledore, can't remember which flick but I think it was goblet of fire.

Yeah, I like the potter...what of it?

Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have more responsibility here than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. I know deep down in places you dont talk about at parties, you don't want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it. I prefer you said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand to post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!

Jack Nicholson (Col. Jessup)

(I already knew this .. some of you need to learn from it! :D)

In the Dustin Hoffmann/ Steve McQueen classic Papillon, there is a dream sequence. Steve McQueen's charachter is doing time on Devil's Island. His life is utter hopelessness and futility. In his dream he is a young man again. Proud, defiant he faces a French panel of judges.

The judge booms, "You stand accused... of a wasted life."

McQueen is surprised by the charge. Not what he was expecting. The defiance is gone. He hangs his head and mutters " Guilty... Guilty."

That scene has replayed in my head many times. Maybe it stuck a nerve. I don't know. A wasted life. Wow.

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William Munney to (wounded) Little Bill as he looks at him down the barrel of his rifle preparing to end Bill's life.

"Deserve's got nothing to do with it."


The correct line from Cool Hand Luke is:
"What we have here, is failure, to communicate."

My other favorite from that movie:
"My mind's right Boss. My mind's right."

how did you sit through the whole thing is what I want to know.

My life has too much value for me to sit through a crappy movie.

Here is one of my favorite literary quotes, from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow (which is, by most estimations, one of the most difficult books in the English language to decode into a set of organizing symbologies). The quote is brilliant because it not only says something about life in general, but also acts as a disclaimer to those attempting to decode the book:

"He gets back to the Casino just as big globular raindrops, thick as honey, begin to splat into giant asterisks on the pavement, inviting him to look down at the bottom of the text of the day, where footnotes will explain all. He isn't about to look. Nobody ever said a day has to be juggled into any kind of sense at day's end." (204)

My favorite quote from that movie:

"It's your world, Boss."

That one has stuck in my head for 15 years. It reminds me that I have to abide by the "Boss"'s rules when I'm in his "world". For example, Wayne is the "Boss" of Pelican, and it is his world.

It also reminds me that some people think they are the boss of their own world (like a self-absorbed teenager), when they are really not.

My favorite line and one that I apply in many situations. It has helped me in more tight spots than any. It was the total dialogue performed by Yule Brenner in Westworld. His line you ask? He said nothing the entire movie. His performance taught me the less said is better and you never questioned his motivation for the entire movie.

I absolutely love this passage from Walden:

"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour."

Sean Connery The Rock:
"Losers always whine about giving their best, while the winners are out f***ing the prom queen."

Me:
"There are two kinds of people in the world, ones that get told what to do and ones that tell others what to do, and you get to decide which one you want to be."

No end to 'what you can do' or 'what you can't do'?

"This beer tastes like piss"
"That's because we pissed in it"

Sometimes the answer is simple, even if it's not what we wanted to hear.

No, the double negative is intentional, I think. He's saying if you think effort will compensate for skill, you're wrong - watch how little you get accomplished.

"I'm fixin ta kill you with it .... "

slingblade.

Slacker,

I'm right there with you. Not only with Freeman's quote, which struck a chord with me, but also with putting an important conference call on mute and watching a movie (or some other such distraction).

Thanks for helping me out with the Cool Hand Luke quote Mule, and I know you didn't understand the line from Full Metal Jacket.

Uh yeah? that's what I meant, cuz I'm such a smart fker.

Ha, I think I screwed it up; again!
Thanks PBH, I'm a gonna fix that.
Should've proofed it a little closer before I stole it?
Hey I'm a Christian, plagarism is welcomed.

I've hit "stop" on a few, and walked out of a handful of movies. It was kind of like a trainwreck, and I thought it was going to get better at some point. Never did.

Weren't some of you guys throwing quotes out the same ones slagging the writers and saying they were no-talent, didn't deserve a job, etc? Not that there's any irony in this thread ;)