In 1940, we knew who we were, we knew who the enemy was, we knew the dangers and the issues," he told me when I pressed him for a reading of the struggle against Islamic radicalism. "In our island, we knew we would prevail, that the Americans would b...
Mrs. Clinton, speaking to a black church audience on Martin Luther King Day last year, did describe President George W. Bush as treating the Congress of the United States like 'a plantation,' adding in a significant tone of voice that 'you what I mea...
Without Thomas Jefferson and his Declaration of Independence, there would have been no American revolution that announced universal principles of liberty. Without his participation by the side of the unforgettable Marquis de Lafayette, there would ha...
The attacks of 9/11 were the biggest surprise in American history, and for the past ten years we haven't stopped being surprised. The war on terror has had no discernible trajectory, and, unlike other military conflicts, it's almost impossible to def...
Lee’s hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp. “Don’t you see?” he cried. “The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a...
Most of my friends like words too well. They set them under the blinding light of the poem and try to extract every possible connotation from each of them, every temporary pun, every direct or indirect connection - as if a word could become an object...
There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. If, for the sake of argument, 1 million are violent, that's a mere .000625 percent of them. I wonder who among you wants to be judged on such a tiny minority. Further, at 1.6 billion, if all Muslims - or ev...
...Americans didn’t stick to cities, which makes us different from the people in other industrialized countries. We no sooner arrived in town, turning those towns into great mid-century metropolises, than we decided to take off for the green world ...
[while cross-examining one of Maroni's thugs on the witness stand, the thug pulls a gun and fires it at Harvey Dent; it mis-fires, and Harvey decks the thug with a right cross, and takes the gun away] Harvey Dent: Carbon fiber, .28 Caliber, made in C...
Alain Charnier: Our American friends are becoming overcautious. Pierre Nicoli, Hit Man: What about our timetable? Alain Charnier: We MUST follow it. Pierre Nicoli, Hit Man: But will they? Alain Charnier: I don't know. Boca's scared. He sees policemen...
Boss Tweed: You may or may not know, Bill, that everyday I go down to the waterfront with hot soup for the Irish as they come ashore. Its part of building a political base. Bill: I've noticed you there, you may have noticed me. Boss Tweed: Indeed I h...
Capt. Vasili Borodin: I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me. And I will have a pickup truck... maybe even a "recreational vehicle." And drive from state to state. Do they let ...
Major Dieter Hellstrom: [Hellstrom is trying to guess the famous person on his forehead, which is King Kong] [in German; subtitled] Major Dieter Hellstrom: I'll start, give you the idea. Am I German? Bridget von Hammersmark: [in German] No. Major Die...
Dave Lizewski: Even with my metal plates and my fucked up nerve endings, I gotta tell you, that hurt! But not half as much as the idea of leaving everything behind. Katie, my dad, Todd and Marty... and all the things I'd never do. Like learn to drive...
[first lines] Sid Hudgens: [voiceover] Come to Los Angeles! The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. There are jobs aplenty, and land is cheap. Every working man can have his o...
[the presidential nominee is making his acceptance speech while Raymond Shaw has his sniper-rifle aimed at him] Benjamin K. Arthur: ...Nor would I ask of any fellow American in defense of his freedom that which I would not gladly give myself - my lif...
Macaulay Connor: [speaking of Tracy] What are her leading characteristics? C. K. Dexter Haven: She has a horror of men who wear their hats in the house. Elizabeth (Liz) Imbrie: Leading characteristics to be filled in later. Macaulay Connor: I can fil...
Lester Burnham: How's Jane? Angela Hayes: What do you mean? Lester Burnham: I mean, how's her life? Is she happy? Is she miserable? I'd really like to know, and she'd die before she'd ever tell me about it. Angela Hayes: She's... she's really happy. ...
Detective Richie Roberts: I got possession, supply, conspiracy, bribing a law officer, I got your offshore bank accounts, your real estate, your businesses, all bought with money from heroin, I got hundreds of parents from dead kids, addicts who OD'E...
Mr. Kroot: All right, all right, Bolander, break that up. You know the rules. You and your girlfriend want to do that, go someplace else, huh? Steve Bolander: Hey, Kroot! Why don't you go kiss a duck? Mr. Kroot: What did you say? Steve Bolander: I sa...
Bob Falfa: Hey, you know a guy around here with a piss yellow deuce coupe, supposed to be hot stuff? Terry Fields: You mean John Milner? [Falfa nods slowly] Terry Fields: Hey, nobody can beat him, man. He's got the fastest... Bob Falfa: [cutting him ...
