Forest WhitakerQuotes

Forest Whitaker
Birthday
July 15th, 1961
From
Longview, Texas, USA
Actor

Battlefield Earth - Introducing a New Character in the Scene

Terl: Ker, I'd like you to meet Chirk.
Terl: She's, um ... she's, um ...
Chirk: His soon-to-be newly acquired secretary.
Terl: Yes.
Ker: [''Eagerly''] Really?
Terl: [''Quietly, to Ker''] She's stupid enough not to be a menace, good-looking enough to be decorative; she gets drunk with economical speed ... and has other advantages.
Ker: Ooh. I can see that.

Battlefield Earth - Endless Cycles of Unwanted Commitment

Zete: Home Office is well aware of your academic achievements and obvious talents. That's why we've decided not to keep you here for another five cycles.
Ker: It's a joke!
Terl: Oh, thank you sir. I don't know if I could have kept my sanity to be here another five cycles!
Zete: [laughs maniacally] We've decided to keep you here another fifty cycles, with endless options for renewal! Those options, of course, being at Home Office's discretion, not yours. The senator has a lot of friends!

Battlefield Earth - Perceptions of Beauty in Unfamiliar Worlds

Terl: It is a pleasure to see you, Your Excellency, and I would be honored to expedite your clearance through security.
Zete: [[Earth] Please, call me Zete. Does all of ] look like this?
Terl: Oh, I'm afraid so, sir.
Zete: Pathetic. All the green and the blue sky. They told me this planet was ugly, but this has got to be one of the ugliest crap holes in the entire universe.
Terl: I couldn't agree with you more.
Zete: I hate these puny undersized planets. The gravity is so ... different.
Terl: Well, one does get used to it.
Zete: And the human animals, grossly undersized.
Ker: They don't make very good eating, Your Excellency.

Battlefield Earth - Finding Positivity in Adversity

Ker: [laughs] Look at the bright side! You may not be wallowing in luxury on Psychlo, but at least you finally got your gold.

Battlefield Earth - A Character's Plan for New Relationships

Ker: I'm going to fire all my wives and buy new ones! Maybe pretty ones this time.

The Crying Game - Tension Between Characters and Cultural Identity

Fergus: What the fuck, do you know about my people?
Jody: Only that you're all tough, undiluted motherfuckers... And it's not in your nature to let me go.
Fergus: Shut the fuck up, will ya?

The Last King of Scotland - Conflicting Loyalties Between Friends and Leaders

Idi Amin: You promised to me you would help me build a new Uganda. You swore an oath.
Nicholas Garrigan: The oath is... erm... it's, it's a doctor's oath of confidentiality; we all take it. It's got nothing to do with Uganda.
Idi Amin: Huh? Nothing? Nothing comes from nothing. You have a conscience, I know you do. That is why you came here in the first place. Or are you like all the other British? Just here to fuck and to take away? No? Why else would I trust you with my family? You are like my own son.
Nicholas Garrigan: My name is Nicholas Garrigan, and I'm from Scotland. I need to go home now.
Idi Amin: Your home... is here.

The Last King of Scotland - Unfinished Business in a Troubling Situation

Nicholas Garrigan: I can't. It fucking stinks. I can't help coming back to that moment when I asked you to talk to him. This isn't me. I have to go home now.
Idi Amin: You cannot.
Nicholas Garrigan: What?
Idi Amin: Your work is not finished here yet.

The Last King of Scotland - Love and Betrayal in Unlikely Circumstances

Nicholas Garrigan: I didn't want him to die though.
Idi Amin: But you did it. Why? You want to know why?
Nicholas Garrigan: Yes.
Idi Amin: You did it because you love me.

The Last King of Scotland - Confrontation of Power and Immaturity

Idi Amin: You dare try to poison me? After everything I gave you? I am Idi Amin! President-for-life and ruler of Uganda. I am the father of Africa.
Nicholas Garrigan: You're a child. You have the mind and ego of an angry, spoiled, uneducated child. And that's what makes you so fucking scary.

The Last King of Scotland - Trust and Responsibility in Leadership

Idi Amin: I want you to tell me what to do.
Nicholas Garrigan: You want ME to tell YOU what to do?
Idi Amin: Yes, you are my advisor. You are the only one I can trust in here. You should have told me not to throw the Asians out, in the first place.
Nicholas Garrigan: I DID!
Idi Amin: But you did not persuade me, Nicholas. You did not persuade me!

The Last King of Scotland - Fear and Strength in Human Nature

Idi Amin: I am ashamed that you saw me like that. I was frightened.
Nicholas Garrigan: I'm a doctor. Everything that passes between us is confidential. Ok? I've taken an oath.
Idi Amin: But a man that shows fear... he is weak, and he is a slave.
Nicholas Garrigan: Well... if you're afraid of dying, shows you have a life worth keeping.

The Last King of Scotland - Amin's Admiration for Scottish Bravery

Idi Amin: You are British?
Nicholas Garrigan: Scottish. I am Scottish.
Idi Amin: Scottish? Ha! Ha! Why didn't you say so?... Great soldiers. Very brave. And good people. Completely. Let me tell you, if I could be anything instead of a Ugandan, I would be a Scot.
Nicholas Garrigan: Right... Really?
Idi Amin: He. Except for the red hair, which I'm sure is attractive to your women, but which we Africans, we find is quite disgusting.

The Last King of Scotland - Confronting Reality and Consequences

Idi Amin: Look at you. Is there one thing you have done that is good? Did you think this was all a game? I will go to Africa and I will play the white man with the natives. Is that what you thought? We are not a game, Nicholas. We are real. This room here, it is real. I think your death will be the first real thing that has happened to you.

The Last King of Scotland - Amin's Claim of Paternal Authority

Idi Amin: I am the father of this nation, Nicholas. And you have most... grossly... offended your father.

The Last King of Scotland - From Poverty to Power: Amin's Journey

Idi Amin: [imitating British] You see. You are a doctor and a philosopher. Yes, I do have a good life now. Please, please. Sit here. I come from a very poor family, I think you should know this. My father left me when I was a child. The British Army; became my home. They took me as a cleaner, in the kitchens, cleaning pots. They used to beat me. "Beat this wall, Amin." "Dig the latreen, Amin." And now, here I am. The President of Uganda. And who put me here, huh? It was the British.

The Last King of Scotland - The Consequences of Violence and Suffering

Idi Amin: They take you to a tree and hang you by your skin. Each time you scream the evil comes out of you. Sometimes, it can take three days for your evil to be spent. Pull him up.

The Last King of Scotland - The Importance of Honest Advisors in Leadership

Idi Amin: [about Nicholas] You see, Jonah? This is the sort of man a president needs around him. Someone who is not afraid to speak his mind.

Phone Booth - A Warning to Jonah from Captain Ramey

Captain Ramey: And Jonah, don't look up!

Phenomenon - Struggling with Ideas and Communication

Banes: What did they find out?
George: [Roger smirks] I'm pregnant. That's how it feels.
Roger: How what feels?
George: Yeah, you know, to be full of ideas and you can't deliver, okay? I mean, you know, you're ready to break out and you can't deliver. You know, uh, this professor, he won't even talk to me. He won't even talk to me.
Nate Pope: You're not going to Berkeley, George?
George: Oh, come on. Me, at Berkeley? That's a thought, huh?
Nate: I'm sorry, buddy.
Jimmy: You mean, inventions? You got inventions?
George: [shows papers; slides papers to her; shows Jimmy diagram on legal pad] No, no. Ideas, okay? I get a thousand ideas a day, every d-damn minute. Okay? I got big, big, holy cow kind of ideas and, and little what if ideas. All right? Hey, I got ideas for you, Jimmy. Look at this. Look at this. Your parking lot- it's laid out all wrong, okay? Now, if you just follow this, right, you can put six more cars in and no one gets fender benders. All right? Where's Paulette? Where is she? Bonnie, here. Take this. This is a new route for our mail. Okay? Now, if she does this, she can save an hour a day and everybody gets their mail by three o'clock. Imagine, three o'clock. Oh, and l got a holy shit idea too. Look at this. Now this may be the most efficient way to store solar energy. Okay? Take it.
Jimmy: Well, what am I gonna do with it?
George: What the hell am I supposed to do with it, huh? You know what that light was? You know what that sound was?
Jimmy: Tell us.
George: I'm gonna tell you what it was.
Jimmy: Well, tell us!
Banes: It was a damn alien.
Nate: Don't say that. You don't know what it was.
George: I know what it is, Nate.
Nate: You don't know what it was. Don't say that.
Jimmy: Well, tell us!
George: [his psychic powers slightly break the glass panel at the bar and Jimmy heads for cover] It's a GODDAMN mistake, is what it is! Okay? It was supposed to happen to someone smart, someone that's scientific, someone who is a leader. But it didn't. It happened to me, George freakin Malley. Look at him. Now look at him. Look!

Panic Room - Truth Revealed Through Actions

Burnham: [about Stephen Altman] He's telling the truth.
Raoul: [Raoul points the gun at Burnham] Yeah, he's telling the truth... you know how I know? Cause when I do this... ...people don't lie.

Panic Room - Wealth and Tension in a Crisis Situation

Raoul: [to Sarah] Don't you look at me.
Burnham: [fills syringe with insulin] Hey, all I know about this is what I've seen on TV. You gotta talk me through this. Nice house you guys got. Mom's rich?
Sarah: Dad's rich. Mom's just mad.
Burnham: Like this?
Sarah: Tap it.
Burnham: I wish I could put my kid in a place like this. Not that I didn't try. Just sometimes things they don't work out the way you want them to. Wasn't supposed to be like this. You weren't supposed to be here.
Sarah: [reads jumpsuit] Thanks. Burnham.
Burnham: Wasn't supposed to be like this.

Panic Room - Consequences of Inaction and Dependency

Burnham: [about the insulin shot] Do you need this?
Burnham: Can you do it yourself?
Burnham: What happens if you don't get it?
Sarah: [weak whispering] Coma. Die.

Panic Room - Irony in Security and Intrusion

Junior: How do we get in to that room?
Raoul: [Burnham laughs] Hey! What is funny about this?... Is this shit funny to you?
Burnham: Well, I spent the last 12 years of my life building these rooms specifically to keep out people like us.
Junior: It's all so ironic and amusing, okay? Now, how do we get in?

Panic Room - Reassurance Amidst Chaos

Burnham: [After shooting Raoul dead. To Meg and Sarah; Leaves] You're gonna be okay now.

Panic Room - Job Security in a Dangerous Profession

Burnham: This is what I do; if some idiot with a sledgehammer could break in do you really think I'd still have a job?

Panic Room - Urgent Plea to Turn Off the Gas

Burnham: [Hearing Meg clicking a striker in the panic room. To Raoul] Turn the gas off. Turn the gas off right now.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - A Request for Reflection and Understanding

Louie: It's like you said -- better you than me, right? Nothing makes any sense anymore...
Ghost Dog: It's okay, Louie. I've seen everything I need to see. Do me one favor, though. One favor.
Louie: What do you want me to do?
Ghost Dog: You take this book and read it some time. Then later on, you can tell me what you think.
Louie: Yeah. Sure, I will.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Cultural Perspectives on Nature and Equality

Ghost Dog: You know, in ancient cultures, bears were considered equal with men.
Shane: This ain't no ancient culture here, mister.
Ghost Dog: Sometimes it is.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Perceptions of Power and Equality in Brotherhood

Samurai in Camouflage: Ghost Dog, power, equality.
Ghost Dog: Always see everything, my brother.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Cultural Perspectives on Equality and Tradition

Ghost Dog: You know, in ancient cultures, bears were considered equal with men.
Shane: This ain't no ancient culture here, mister.
Ghost Dog: Sometimes it is.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Unintended Consequences of Loyalty and Conflict

Louie: Goddamn it. You shot me in the exact same fucking place as last time!
Ghost Dog: I'm sorry. I mean you no disrespect. I'm your retainer. I don't want to put too many holes in you.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Samurai Loyalty and Moral Dilemmas

Louie: Go ahead, kill me now.
Ghost Dog: I'm your retainer. It's against the code of the Samurai to kill you.
Louie: [Ghost Dog shoots him in the shoulder] Look, if you're my retainer -- whatever the fuck that is -- do what I'm telling you and fuckin shoot me! What the hell'd you do that for?
Ghost Dog: You told me to. I don't mean you no disrespect.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Loyalty and Respect in a Tense Moment

Louie: You gonna kill me, you might as well kill me.
Ghost Dog: I'm your retainer. I follow a code. I've always given you my respect.
Louie: So that's why you got that big fuckin gun to my head?
Ghost Dog: Forgive me. I don't mean you no disrespect.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Language Barriers in Friendship

Pearline: Can't you understand what he's saying?
Ghost Dog: No, I don't understand him. I don't speak French, only English. I never understand a word he says.
Pearline: And that's your best friend?
Ghost Dog: Yeah.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - The Weight of Leadership and Loyalty

Ghost Dog: Now you gonna be the boss of your own clan, right, Louie? Cause... ain't nobody else left. Ain't that right, Louie?

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Embracing the Spirit of Each Generation

Ghost Dog: It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation. (01:33:15)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Lessons from Embracing Life's Challenges

Ghost Dog: There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. By doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to all things. (01:28:40)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - The Importance of the Present Moment

Ghost Dog: There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. (01:24:29)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - The Relationship Between Form and Emptiness

Ghost Dog: Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase, "Form is emptiness." That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase, "Emptiness is form." One should not think that these are two separate things. (01:19:32)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - The Samurai Approach to Decision-Making

Ghost Dog: When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be very difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong. (01:13:13)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - The Importance of Appearance for a Samurai

Ghost Dog: It is good to carry some powdered rouge in one's sleeve. It may happen that when one is sobering up or waking from sleep, a samurai's complexion may be poor. At such a time it is good to take out and apply some powdered rouge. (01:08:50)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Determination Beyond Death in Samurai Philosophy

Ghost Dog: Even if a samurai's head were to be suddenly cut off, he should still be able to perform one more action with certainty. If one becomes like a revengeful ghost and shows great determination, though his head is cut off, he should not die. (01:04:16)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - The Essence of Timely Decision-Making

Ghost Dog: In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break through to the other side. (00:58:04)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Focus on the Target, Ignore the Rest

Ghost Dog: According to what one of the elders said, taking an enemy on the battlefield is like a hawk taking a bird. Even though it enters into the midst of a thousand of them, it gives no attention to any bird other than the one that it has first marked. (00:46:45)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Balancing Seriousness and Lightness in Life

Ghost Dog: Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige's wall there was this one: "Matters of great concern should be treated lightly." Master Ittei commented, "Matters of small concern should be treated seriously." (00:23:01)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Seeing the World as a Dream

Ghost Dog: It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this. (00:19:43)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Devotion to Master Defines Samurai Identity

Ghost Dog: If one were to say in a word what the condition of being a samurai is, its basis lies first in seriously devoting one's body and soul to his master. Not to forget one's master is the most fundamental thing for a retainer. (00:15:37)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Understanding the Way of the Samurai

Ghost Dog: It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. It is the same for anything else that is called a Way. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all Ways and be more and more in accord with his own. (00:09:42)

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Meditation on Death in Samurai Philosophy

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is found in death. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. This is the substance of the way of the samurai. (00:03:05)

Black Panther - Seeking the Truth About the Past

Zuri: So, your mission did not go as planned.
T'Challa: What happened to my uncle, N'Jobu? My father told me he disappeared. There was a man today wearing a ring identical to this one.
Zuri: It is not possible.
T'Challa: He helped Klaue escape from us and he was wearing this ring. My grandfather's ring! Do not tell me what is impossible, tell me the truth!
Zuri: [Exhales deeply] Some truths... are too much to bear, T'Challa.
T'Challa:: That is not your choice to make. What happened to him?
Zuri: I promised the king to say nothing.
T'Challa: [Irritated] I AM YOUR KING NOW!
Zuri: Your uncle took a War Dog assignment in America. Your father placed me there to observe unbeknownst to him. Your uncle fell in love with an American woman, they had a child. The hardship he saw there radicalized your uncle.
N'Jobu: I observed for as long as I could. Their leaders have been assassinated. Communities flooded with drugs and weapons. They are overly policed and incarcerated. All over the planet, our people suffer because they don't have the tools to fight back. With vibranium weapons, they can overthrow all countries, and Wakanda can rule them all, the right way.
Zuri: He knew your father would not support this, so your uncle betrayed us.
T'Challa: [Shocked] No!
Zuri: He helped Klaue steal the Vibranium.
T'Challa: No.
T'Chaka: You will return home at once where you will face the council and inform them of your crimes.
Zuri: He drew his weapon on me.
Zuri: Your father killed his own brother to save my life.
T'Chaka: Speak nothing of this.
T'Challa: And the child?
Zuri: We left him. We had to maintain the lie.

Black Panther - Planning a Quick Escape

N'Jobu: Hey, look if we get in and out quick, it'll be no worries. You and the van come in from the west and laying right here. Me and the twins come in on the east, leaving this car behind. We'll come in .....
N'Jobu: Hide the straps.
Zuri: Yo, is it the Feds?
N'Jobu: No.
Zuri: [[Grace Jones] It's these two ] looking chicks. They hold spears.
N'Jobu: [Recognizing who the women are] Open it.
Zuri: Are you serious?
N'Jobu: They won't knock again.