But there is no doubt that to attempt a novel of ideas is to give oneself a handicap: the parochialism of our culture is intense. For instance, decade after decade bright young men and women emerge from their universities able to say proudly: 'Of cou...
Happiness doesn't lie in conspicuous consumption and the relentless amassing of useless crap. Happiness lies in the person sitting beside you and your ability to talk to them. Happiness is clear-headed human interaction and empathy. Happiness is home...
Why do they [Americans] quarrel, why do they hate Negroes, Indians, even Germans, why do they not have science and poetry commensurate with themselves, why are there so many frauds and so much nonsense? I cannot soon give a solution to these question...
[the Ghetto is being "cleared out", with machine gun fire all around, two SS Guards stop and listen to a fellow Guard playing the piano] First S.S. Guard: Was ist das? Ist das Bach? Second S.S. Guard: Nein. First S.S. Guard: Ist das Bach? Second S.S....
[first lines] Pilot: Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin our descent into Los Angeles. The sound you just heard is the landing gear locking into place. Los Angeles weather is clear; temperature is 72. We expect to make our 4 hour and 18 minut...
Dr. Mahin, Minister: The commandments say 'Thou shalt not kill,' but we hire men to go out and do it for us. The right and the wrong seem pretty clear here. But if you're asking me to tell my people to go out and kill and maybe get themselves killed,...
Eddie: I don't know. What I do know is there's no more Harry. Which means there's no more debt. And if there's no more debt, there's no more problem. And there's no problem with the neighbors... because they're all dead. And I think, if I get this ri...
Mr. Banks: Just a moment, Mary Poppins. What is the meaning of this outrage? Mary Poppins: I beg your pardon? Mr. Banks: Will you be good enough to explain all this? Mary Poppins: First of all, I would like to make one thing quite clear. Mr. Banks: Y...
Homer Stokes: And I say to you that the great state a Mississippi cannot afford four more years a Pappy O'Daniel - four more years a cronyism, nepotism, racialism and service to the Innarests! The choice, she's a clear 'un: Pappy O'Daniel, slave a th...
Tom Baxter: Cecilia, it's clear how miserable you are with your husband. And if he hits you again, you tell me. I'd be forced to knock his teeth out. Cecilia: I don't think that'd be such a good idea. He's big. Tom Baxter: I'm sorry. It's written int...
Rosemary Woodhouse: [crying] I *won't* have an abortion! Joan Jellico, Rosemary's Girlfriend: But nobody's telling you to have an abortion! Elise Dunstan: Rosie, a pain like that is a clear sign that something is not right. We just want you to get an...
Fortune: I rode the bench for two years. Thought I wasn't being played because of my color, I got filled up with a lotta attitude. So I quit. Still not a week goes by I don't regret it. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret...
Sick Boy: [Sean Connery accent] Do you shee the beasht? Have you got it in your shights? Mark "Rent-boy" Renton: [aiming the pellet gun at a dog] Clear enough, Missh Moneypenny! This should preshent no shignificant problemsh! [shoots the dog which st...
Smith: Clear. Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller: Yes. I don't think I've ever seen such a flat calm. Smith: Like a mill pond, not a breath of wind. Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller: It will make the bergs harder to see... with no bre...
Veruca Salt: [after Willy gives an Everlasting Gobstopper to each of the kids] Hey, she's got two! I want another one! Violet Beauregarde: [showing her Gobstopper to Veruca] Stop squawking, you twit! Willy Wonka: [making it clear he's not going to st...
It is clear I was never the Pretty Girl. I had my two front teeth knocked out when I was 10 and didn't fix them until I was 19. I have a crooked smile and a nose that looks like it's been broken 12 times but never has been. My nose was always red, so...
Patrick Bateman: I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly blo...
We have one crystal clear reason apart from the blessed happiness of this way of life. It is this: prayer is the core of our day. Take prayer out, and the day would collapse, would be pithless, a straw blown in the wind. But how can you pray--really ...
. . . I have decided to forgive myself for pushing the fucking rock up the hill, because, hell, sometimes life is like that. I recognize that things aren’t always clear – not love or value or work – and that it is necessary to wrestle with a ro...
...It’s hard to watch the game we make of love, like everyone’s playing checkers with their scars, saying checkmate whenever they get out without a broken heart. Just to be clear I don’t want to get out without a broken heart. I intend to leave...
I think the Mogadishu effect, if I had to define it, is we need to be more careful where we decide to commit US forces, and for what reason, and to make a clear judgment as to what we can and can't do and whether it's in our interests, or we could af...
