In the Cinema

"Look, when I came here, my eyes were big blue question marks. Now they're big green dollar marks."
        --Jean Arthur, in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"

"This land is yours. You must protect it. It won't be yours long if you don't protect it -- if necessary with your lives and your children with their lives. Don't discount your enemies. They will be back. And if your house is burned, build it again. If your corn is destroyed, replant. If your children die, bear more. If they drive you out of the valley, live in the sides of the mountains -- but live!"
        --Marlon Brando, in "Viva Zapata!"

"Those ain't lies. Those are campaign promises. They expect 'em."
        --William Demarest, in "Hail the Conquering Hero"

"What do you got in place of a conscience? Don't answer. I know: a lawyer."
        --Kirk Douglas, in "Detective Story"

"Any lie will find believers as long as you tell it with force."
        --Greta Garbo, in "Queen Christina"

"I'm not sure she's capable of any real feelings. She's television generation. She learned life from Bugs Bunny."
        --William Holden, in "Network"

"Allie and I are only united in the holy bonds of politics."
        --Bob Hope, in "Beau James"

"You are protected by the enormity of your stupidity -- for a time."
        --Madame Konstantin, in "Notorious"

"Now don't you be so stiff-necked bout it. Politics is a practical profession. If a criminal has what you want, you do business with him."
        --Charles Laughton, in "Spartacus"

"I knew one thing: as soon as anyone said you didn't need a gun, you'd better take one along that worked."
        --Robert Mitchum, in "Farewell, My Lovely"

"There may be honor among thieves, but there's none in politicians."
        --Peter O'Toole, in "Lawence of Arabia"

"I thought when I was a young man that I would conquer the world with truth. Thought I would lead an army greater than Alexander ever dreamed of, not to conquer nations but to liberate mankind -- with the truth, with the golden sound of the word -- but only a few of them heard. Only a few of you understood."
        --Walter Pidgeon, in "How Green Was My Valley"

"Why did God make so many dumb fools and Democrats?"
        --William Powell, in "Life With Father"

"Make it ten. I'm only a poor corrupt official."
        --Claude Rains, lowering a 20,000-franc bet in "Casablanca"

"I apologize for the intelligence of my remarks, Sir Thomas. I had forgotten that you were a member of Parliament."
        --George Sanders, in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

"My home is hell. We've got a 23-year-old boy. I threw him out of the house last year. Shaggy-haired Maoist! I don't know where he is -- presumably building bombs in basements as an expression of his universal brotherhood. We've got a 17-year-old daughter who's had two abortions in two years. Got arrested last week at a rock festival for pushing drugs. They let her go. A typical affluent American family. I don't mean to be facile about this. I blame myself for those two useless young people. I never exercised parental authority."
        --George C. Scott, in "The Hospital"

"You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading 'the land of the free' in history books. When they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say, 'I'm free -- to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't. I can. And my children will."
        --James Stewart, in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"

"Republic. I like the sound of the word -- means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. Some words give you a feeling. Republic is one of those words that makes me tight in the throat--the same tightness a man gets when his baby takes his first step or his first baby shaves or makes his first sound like a man. Some words can give you a feeling that make your heart warm. Republic is one of those words."
        --John Wayne, in "The Alamo"