There are very few works of fiction that take you inside the heads of all characters. I tell my writing students that one of the most important questions to ask yourself when you begin writing a story is this: Whose story is it? You need to make a co...
Once again I had the desolating sense of having all along ignored what was finest in him. Perhaps it was just the incongruity of seeing him aloft and stricken, since he was by nature someone who carried others. I didn't think he knew how to act or ev...
Every time you hear someone read your book and liked your book, you're never sure whether that's going to follow with a similar remark from someone else. Perhaps I have low expectations, but whenever I hear someone say, 'I liked your book,' I don't k...
How do you top 'Mormon?' I get sent scripts all the time and I don't know what I would do next. What do you do after that? So I think if you do see me onstage, you'll see me in something dramatic, maybe, or you'll see me try my hand at something else...
Abbe Faria: With two of us digging, we can cover twice the ground. It'll only take us, oh... 8 years to reach the outer wall. [Edmond laughs] Abbe Faria: Ohh... and does something else demand your time? Some pressing appointment, perhaps?
Woman: What makes saloonkeepers so snobbish? Banker: Perhaps if you told him I ran the second largest banking house in Amsterdam. Carl: Second largest? That wouldn't impress Rick. The leading banker in Amsterdam is now the pastry chef in our kitchen....
[last lines] Casares: [voice over narration] What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Lik...
John Dunbar: [voice-over] I had never really known who John Dunbar was. Perhaps because the name itself had no meaning. But as I heard my Sioux name being called over and over, I knew for the first time who I really was.
Uther Pendragon: To kill and be king, is that all? Merlin: Perhaps not even that. Uther Pendragon: You strike me with words hard as steel! Merlin: You betrayed the Duke. You stole his wife. You took his castle. Now no one trusts you. You're not the o...
M. Gustave: I was perhaps for a time considered the best lobby boy we ever had at the Grand Budapest. I think I can say that. This one finally surpassed me. Although I must say, I am an exceptional teacher.
Albus Dumbledore: [talking about Tom Riddle in the Great Hall] Every day, every hour, this very minute, perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle's walls. [pause] Albus Dumbledore: But in the end, their greatest weapon... is you.
Mal: If I jump, would I survive? Cobb: A clean dive, perhaps. Mal, what are you doing here? Mal: I thought you might be missing me. Cobb: You know I am but I can't trust you anymore. Mal: So what?
Gang Boss: I see you like to chew. Perhaps you should chew... on my fist! [smashes fist on table] Po: [voice-over] The warrior said nothing, for his mouth was full. Then he swallowed... [swallows] Po: ...and then he spoke! "Enough talk, let's fight!"
Queen Elizabeth: [Using the name "Mrs. Johnson"] My husband is, um... well, he's required to speak publicly. Lionel Logue: Perhaps he should change jobs. Queen Elizabeth: He can't. Lionel Logue: Indentured servitude? Queen Elizabeth: Something of tha...
Humbert Humbert: What drives me insane is the twofold nature of this nymphet, of every nymphet perhaps, this mixture in my Lolita of tender, dreamy childishness and a kind of eerie vulgarity. I know it is madness to keep this journal, but it gives me...
Clown: [singing] [looking at a present Jack brought] Clown: It's a bat! Man Under the Stairs: [singing] Will it bend? Clown: [singing] It's a rat! Man Under the Stairs: [singing] Will it break? Undersea Gal: [singing] Perhaps it's the head that I've ...
Captain von Trapp: My fellow Austrians, I shall not be seeing you again perhaps for a very long time. I would like to sing for you now... a love song. I know you share this love. I pray that you will never let it die.
Janet Mackensie: Perhaps you can help me, your Lordship. Six months, I have applied for my hearing aid and I am still waiting for it. Judge: My dear madame. Considering the rubbish that is being talked nowadays, you are missing very little.
Rorschach: The engines! Dan Dreiberg: They're icing up. Hold on to something! Rorschach: Daniel, you're coming in too low. Don't wish to interfere with running of ship, but perhaps should pull up sharply before... Dan Dreiberg: Yeah, I know, I'm tryi...
Right from the start with music, I was like, 'I'm just going to do this, and I don't care about anything else. There are certain things you have to give up, even at 13, 14: your Friday and Saturday nights, having a regular girl, lots of things like t...
Lumiere: [trying to prepare the Beast for his dinner with Belle] Voila! Oh, you look so... so... Beast: [fur done up in curls and bows] Stupid. Lumiere: Not quite the word I was looking for, but perhaps a - little more off the top. Cogsworth: [Clears...
