Homer Parrish: I was afraid you wouldn't be able to stand up for me. Fred Derry: I'd stand up for you, kid, til I drop.
[after Peggy tells her parents that they never had any trouble in their relationship] Milly Stephenson: "We never had any trouble." How many times have I told you I hated you and believed it in my heart? How many times have you said you were sick and...
[Al is explaining to the bank president why he made the loan to Mr. Novak] Al Stephenson: You see, Mr. Milton, in the Army I've had to be with men when they were stripped of everything in the way of property except what they carried around with them ...
[last lines] Fred Derry: You know what it'll be, don't you, Peggy? It may take us years to get anywhere. We'll have no money, no decent place to live. We'll have to work, get kicked around.
Marie Derry: Say, who is this Peggy Stephenson? Fred Derry: She's a girl. Marie Derry: I didn't think she was a kangaroo!
Homer Parrish: I didn't see much of the war... I was stationed in a repair shop below decks. Oh, I was in plenty of battles, but I never saw a Jap or heard a shell coming at me. When we were sunk, all I know is there was a lot of fire and explosions....
Fred Derry: You gotta hand it to the Navy; they sure trained that kid how to use those hooks. Al Stephenson: They couldn't train him to put his arms around his girl, or to stroke her hair.
Wilma Cameron: You wrote me that when you got home, you and I were going to be married. If you wrote that once, you wrote it a hundred times. Isn't that true? Homer Parrish: Yes, but things are different now. Wilma Cameron: Have you changed your mind...
Butch Engle: Give 'em time, kid; they'll catch on. You know your folks'll get used to you, and you'll get used to them. Then everything'll settle down nicely. Unless we have another war. Then none of us have to worry because we'll all be blown to bit...
Wilma Cameron: Tell me the truth, Homer. Do you want me to forget about you? Homer Parrish: I want you to be free, Wilma, to live your own life. I don't want you tied down forever just because you've got a kind heart. Wilma Cameron: Oh, Homer! Why ca...
[Homer has asked Wilma into his bedroom to see what happens as he prepares for bed. After removing his hooks and harness, he 'wiggles' into his pajama top] Homer Parrish: I'm lucky. I have my elbows. Some of the boys don't. But I can't button them up...
Al Stephenson: I've seen nothing, I should have stayed at home and found out what was really going on.
Rob Stephenson: We've been having lectures in atomic energy at school, and Mr. McLaughlin, he's our physics teacher, he says that we've reached a point where the whole human race has either got to find a way to live together, or else uhm...
Milly Stephenson: What do you think of the children? Al Stephenson: Children? I don't recognize 'em. They've grown so old. Milly Stephenson: I tried to stop them, to keep them just as they were when you left, but they got away from me.
Al Stephenson: You know, I had a dream. I dreamt I was home. I've had that same dream hundreds of times before. This time, I wanted to find out if it's really true. Am I really home?
Milly Stephenson: You're crazy. Al Stephenson: No. Too sane for my own good.
[Al and Fred have arrived at Al's fancy apartment building] Fred Derry: Some barracks you got here. Hey, what are you? A retired bootlegger? Al Stephenson: Nothing as dignified as that. I'm a banker.
