James Stewart Quotes

Elwood P. Dowd I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whoever I'm with.

Buttons How long do you think this can go on before something happens?

Brad Braden It's the circus, isn't it?

Buttons Do you believe in prayer?

Brad Braden And practice.

Rupert Cadell I mean that tonight you’ve made me ashamed of every concept I ever had of superior or inferior beings. But I thank you for that shame, because now I know that we are each of us a separate human being, Brandon. With the right to live and work and think as individuals, but with an obligation to the society we live in. By what right do you dare to say that there's a superior few to which you belong? By what right did you decide that that boy in there was inferior and could be killed? Did you think you were God, Brandon? Is that what you thought when you choked the life out of him? Is that what you thought when you served food from his grave?! I don't know who you are but I know what you've done. You've murdered! You choked the life out of a fellow human being who could live and love as you never could, and never will again!

Charlie Anderson You run a sad kind of ], mister.  It takes people away when they don't want to go, and won't bring them back when they're ready.

Glenn Miller Bought you a present for your birthday.

Helen Burger My birthday? That isn't until next November.

Glenn Miller This is for your last birthday...

Jefferson Smith Did you ever have so much to say about something, you just couldn't say it?

Clarissa Saunders Try sitting down.

Jefferson Smith I did - I got right back up again.

Clarissa Saunders Now look. Let's get down to particulars. How big is this thing? Where's it gonna be? How many boys will it accommodate? You've got to have all of that in it, you know.

Jefferson Smith Yeah, yeah, and something else, Miss Saunders. The uh, the spirit of it. The idea - the - How do ya say it? That's what's got to be in it!

Clarissa Saunders What?

Jefferson Smith The Capitol Dome.

Clarissa Saunders On paper?

Jefferson Smith I want to make that come to life for every boy in this land. Yes, and all lighted up like that too! You see, you see, boys forget what their country means by just reading the land of the free in history books. And they get to be men - they forget even more. Liberty's too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I'm free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn't. I can. And my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that.

Glenn Miller Alright, alright, let's have the five saxes right in there...

Si Schribman Five saxes?

Glenn Miller And the trombones, right on the left here, over there, right in there, and the four trumpets right behind them...

Si Schribman Four trombones and four trumpets! When they get playing, what's gonna hold the roof on?

Si's Assistant He's trying five saxes with a trumpet lead.

Si Schribman Maybe it's good and maybe it ain't, but it's radical!

Janet Walker Well, now, you don't really approve of murder, Rupert? If I may?

Rupert Cadell You may... and I do. Think of the problems it would solve: unemployment, poverty, standing in line for theatre tickets...

Charlie Anderson What d'you do with ] ]?

Holly When things go wrong, and life's no song, and you're flat on your back, that doesn't mean you have to lie there: be a jumping jack!

Buttons Keep on the hop, and if you flop, and everything looks black, stand on your head and holler "hi there!" Be a jumping jack!

Holly When things go up, they must come down, and also visa verse. If things look bad, don't fret and frown - they could be ten times worse!

Buttons Your train of luck, it may get stuck if something's on the track; give a good jump and you'll get by there...

Holly, Buttons Be a jumping jack!

Dr. Chumley This sister of yours is at the bottom of a conspiracy against you. She's trying to persuade me to lock you up. Today, she had commitment papers drawn up. She has your power of attorney and the key to your safety box, and she brought you here!

Elwood P. Dowd She did all that in one afternoon. That Veta certainly is a whirlwind, isn't she?

Buttons Clowns are funny people, they only love once.

Holly All men aren't that way, even if they act like clowns.

Ransom Stoddard You're not going to use the story, Mr. Scott?

Maxwell Scott No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

Jacob Anderson   They come closer everyday, pa.

Charlie Anderson   They on our land?

Jacob Anderson   No, sir.

Charlie Anderson   Well, then, it doesn't concern us.

Tony Kirby There's a tiny little engine in the green of this grass and in the green of the trees that has the mysterious gift of being able to take energy from the rays of the sun and store it up. You see that that's how the heat and power in coal and oil and wood is stored up. Well, we thought if we could find the secret of all those millions of little engines in this green stuff, we could, we could make big ones! And then we could take all the power we could ever need, right from the sun's rays.

Jefferson Smith There's no compromise with truth. That's all I got up on this floor to say. When was it? A year ago, it seems like....Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so's he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, uh, if that's what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we'd better get those boys camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it's not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here; you just have to see them again!

Sebastian Why are you in make-up?

Buttons Why are you The Great Sebastian?

Rupert Cadell Brandon has told me a lot about you.

Janet Walker Did he do me justice?

Rupert Cadell Do you deserve justice?

Glenn Miller A band oughta have a sound all of its own, oughta have a personality.

Helen Burger Sort of like a person.

Glenn Miller Uh-huh.

Helen Burger Well, how do you get this different sound?

Glenn Miller You see, the arrangements, the way you score each one of the individual instruments. Some bands have that sound already, like Pollack, but it's not the right sound, not for me.

Helen Burger What is?

Glenn Miller I don't know. I don't know. I haven't found it yet. But someday I'm gonna find it.

Tony Kirby You're so beautiful. Like, sometimes you're so beautiful it just gags me. Maybe you're not real? Maybe you're a phantom or something? I-I keep expecting you to vanish.

Elwood P. Dowd You've been away.

Mr. Miggles For 90 days. Been doin a job for the state. Makin license plates.

Elwood P. Dowd Oh, is that so? Interesting work?

Mr. Miggles I can take it or leave it alone.

Elwood P. Dowd Oh, I see.

Mr. Miggles I did a job for em last year too. Helpin em build a road.

Brandon Shaw What are you doing?

Rupert Cadell It's not what I'm going to do, Brandon. It's what society is going to do. I don't know what that will be, but I can guess, and I can help. You're going to die, Brandon. Both of you. You are going to die.

Charlie Anderson There's nothing much I can tell you about this war.  It's like all wars, I suppose.  The undertakers are winning it.  Oh, the ] will talk a lot about the "glory" of it, and the old men'll talk about the "need" of it—the ], they just want to go home.

Dr. Ben McKenna Sorry we were gone so long, but we had to pick up Hank!

Jefferson Smith I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don't know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for, and he fought for them once, for the only reason any man ever fights for them: Because of just one plain simple rule: Love thy neighbor. And in this world today, full of hatred, a man who knows that one rule has a great trust. You know that rule, Mr. Paine. And I loved you for it just as my father did, and you know that you fight for the lost causes harder than for any others. Yes, you even die for them, like a man we both knew, Mr. Paine. You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked. Well, I'm not licked, and I'm gonna stay right here and fight for this lost cause, even if this room gets filled with lies like these! . When the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place, somebody'll listen to me! Some---

Brandon Shaw It's awfully good to see you again.

Rupert Cadell Why?

Charlie Anderson Lord, We cleared this land; We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn't be here—we wouldn't be eating it—if we hadn't done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel But we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we're about to eat. Amen.

Elwood P. Dowd Here, let me give you one of my cards. Now if you should want to call me, use this number. That — that's the old one. If you happen to lose the card, don't worry — I — have plenty more.

Linus Rawlings Thank ya, ma'am. That's right tasty.

Rebecca Prescott You've only ate four plates, I was beginning to think you didn't like it.

Linus Rawlings No, well, it don't pay to eat too much on an empty stomach, ma'am.

Helen Burger You know, I'm the kind of wife that steals money out of your pockets and puts it in the bank.

Glenn Miller Would you really do that?

Helen Burger Sure. I've already started.

Glenn Miller You think I'm kinda rudderless, don't you? Wandering over the country with the band.

Helen Burger Yes, I guess I do.

Glenn Miller But I'm not, though. I know exactly where I'm going. I know exactly what I want to do.

Helen Burger You do?

Glenn Miller I'm not gonna be a sideman all my life, a trombone player. I'm - I'm gonna have a band all of my own. I'm gonna play my own kind of music.

Senator Joseph Paine I wish to ask my distinguished colleague, has he one scrap of evidence to add now to the defense he did not give and could not give at that same hearing?

Jefferson Smith I have no defense against forged papers!

Senator Joseph Paine The Committee ruled otherwise! The gentleman stands guilty, as charged. And I believe I speak for every member when I say that no one cares to hear what a man of his condemned character has to say about any section of any legislation before this House.

President of Senate Order, order, gentlemen.

Jefferson Smith Mr. President, I stand guilty as FRAMED! Because section 40 is graft! And I was ready to say so, I was ready to tell you that a certain man in my state, a Mr. James Taylor, wanted to put through this dam for his own profit. A man who controls a political machine! And controls everything else worth controlling in my state. Yes, and a man even powerful enough to control Congressmen - and I saw three of them in his room the day I went up to see him!

Senator Joseph Paine Will the Senator yield?

Jefferson Smith No, sir, I will not yield! And this same man, Mr. James Taylor, came down here and offered me a seat in this Senate for the next 20 years if I voted for a dam that he knew, and I knew, was a fraud. But if I dared to open my mouth against that dam, he promised to break me in two. Alright, I got up here, and I started to open my mouth, and the long and powerful arm of Mr. James Taylor reached into this sacred chamber and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck!

General Arnold I want to congratulate you on that band of yours.

Glenn Miller Thank you, sir.

General Arnold Great morale builder! Giving the men music they like. The effect was astonishing! You keep up the good work, Miller.

Glenn Miller Yes, sir.

General Arnold You know, I like your music myself. Makes me think of home. My children are playing your records day and night.

Alice Sycamore I resent what you said about your brain. I think it's beautiful.

Tony Kirby You do, huh?

Alice Sycamore Mmmhm

Tony Kirby I see. Yeah, that's probably the first thing you noticed about me that you liked - my colossal brain.

Alice Sycamore Well, no. No, it was the back of your head.

Tony Kirby The back of my head? I've got a big bump back there. Well, what happened when I turned around?

Alice Sycamore Well, I figured I'd just have to get used to that.

Tony Kirby Oh, you figured.

Alice Sycamore And, you know, it might not take very long, but I just figured I'd...

Tony Kirby ...you just figured you'd just... well, I'm glad you figured.

George Bailey Clarence! Clarence! Help me, Clarence! Get me back! Get me back, I don't care what happens to me! Get me back to my wife and kids! Help me, Clarence, please! Please! I wanna live again. I wanna live again. I want to live again. Please, God, let me live again.

Elwood P. Dowd Wouldn't that get a little monotonous, just Akron, cold beer and "poor, poor thing" for two weeks?

Jefferson Smith My Dad had the right idea. He had it all worked out. He used to say to me, "Son, don't miss the wonders that surround you; because, every tree, every rock, every ant hill, every star is filled with the wonders of nature." And, he used to say to me, "Have you ever noticed how grateful you are to see daylight again after coming through a long, dark tunnel?" Well, he'd say, "Always try to see life around you, as if you'd just come out a tunnel.

Jefferson Smith You sure had the right idea about me, Saunders. You told me to go back home, keep fillin those kids full of hooey. Yeah. Just a simple guy you said was still wet behind the ears. A lot of junk about American ideals. Yeah, that's certainly a lot of junk, all right...I don't know. This is a whole new world to me. What are you gonna believe in? And a man like Paine, Senator Joseph Paine gets up and swears that I've been robbing kids of nickels and dimes. A man I've admired and worshiped all my life. There are a lot of fancy words here. Some of them are carved in stone, some of them men like Taylor put up there. So suckers like me could read them. Then you find out what those men actually do. I'm getting out of this town so fast. Away from all the words, the monuments, the whole rotten show.

Clarissa Saunders I see. When you get home, what are you gonna tell those kids?

Jefferson Smith I'll tell em the truth. Might as well find it out now as later.

Clarissa Saunders I don't think they'll believe you, Jeff. You know, they're liable to look up at you with hurt faces and say, Jeff, what did you do? Quit? Didn't you do something about it?

Jefferson Smith Well, what do you expect me to do? An honorary stooge like me against the Taylors and Paines and machines and lies...

Clarissa Saunders Your friend ] had his Taylors and Paines. So did every other man whoever tried to lift his thought up off the ground. Odds against em didn't stop those men. They were fools that way. All the good that ever came into this world came from fools with faith like that. You know that Jeff. You can't quit now. Not you! They aren't all Taylors and Paines in Washington. Their kind just throw big shadows, that's all. You didn't just have faith in Paine or any other living man. You had faith in something bigger than that. You had plain, decent, every day, common rightness. And this country could use some of that. Yeah - so could the whole cock-eyed world. A lot of it. Remember the first day you got here? Remember what you said about Mr. Lincoln? You said he was sitting up there waiting for someone to come along. You were right! He was waiting for a man who could see his job and sail into it. That's what he was waiting for. A man who could tear into the Taylors and root em out into the open. I think he was waiting for you Jeff. He knows you can do it. So do I.

Jefferson Smith What? Do what, Saunders?

Clarissa Saunders You just make up your mind you're not gonna quit and I'll tell you what. I've been thinkin about it all the way back here. It's a forty foot dive into a tub of water, but I think you can do it.

Jefferson Smith Clarissa, where can we get a drink?

Clarissa Saunders Now you're talkin'!

Elwood P. Dowd Harvey and I have things to do... we sit in the bars... have a drink or two... play the juke box. Very soon the faces of all the other people turn towards me and they smile. They say: "We don't know your name, mister, but you're a very nice fellow." Harvey and I warm ourselves in these golden moments. We came as strangers — soon we have friends. They come over. They sit with us. They drink with us. They talk to us. They tell us about the great big terrible things they've done and the great big wonderful things they're going to do. Their hopes, their regrets. Their loves, their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. Then I introduce them to Harvey, and he's bigger and grander than anything they can offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back, but that's — that's envy, my dear. There's a little bit of envy in the best of us. That's too bad, isn't it?

Philip Stevens Benjy, I'm your Grandpa.

Helen Burger Glenn and the boys are gonna do a movie in the fall.

Mrs. Miller Why, Glenn Miller, are you gonna be a movie star?

Glenn Miller Oh, yes, Mother. I'm gonna play Tarzan and swing from the trees playing my trombone.

Buttons Mother They've been around again, asking questions.

Buttons I know Mother. They'll never find me, behind this nose.

Buttons Mother Be very careful, dear.

Buttons Now, how about a nice smile, that I can remember until next year?

Buttons Mother God be with you my boy.

Buttons It's all right Mother.

IRS Agent Mr. Vanderhof, our records show that you've never paid an income tax.

Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff That's right!

IRS Agent Why not?

Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff I don't believe in it.

Tony Kirby Ha!

Mr. Cracker What can I do for you, Mr. Dowd?

Elwood P. Dowd What did you have in mind?

Rupert Cadell Brandon, till this very moment, this world and the people in it have always been dark and incomprehensible to me. I’ve tried to clear my way with logic and superior intellect. And you’ve thrown my own words right back in my face, Brandon. You were right, too. If nothing else, a man should stand by his words. But you’ve given my words a meaning that I never dreamed of! And you’ve tried to twist them into a cold, logical excuse for your ugly murder! Well, they never were that Brandon, and you can't make them that. There must have been something deep inside you from the very start that let you do this thing, but there’s always been something deep inside me, that would never let me do it – and would never let me be a party to it now.

Jennie   Yes, I'm a ], but I don't see anybody here that I can't outrun, outride, and outshoot.  I'll unstrap for you, papa, and unhook, and I'll even sit here and watch you ride out of sight.

Charlie Anderson   And then what?

Jennie   And then I'll follow.

Charlie Anderson   That's what I thought.

President of Senate The Chair recognizes... Senator Smith!

Jefferson Smith Thank you, sir.

Clarissa Saunders Diz, here we go.

Jefferson Smith Well, I guess the gentlemen are in a pretty tall hurry to get me out of here. The way the evidence has piled up against me, I can't say I blame them much. And I'm quite willing to go, sir, when they vote it that way - but before that happens I've got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before, and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I'd like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I'm not going to leave this body until I do get them said.

Senator Joseph Paine Mr. President, will the Senator yield?

President of Senate Will the Senator yield?

Jefferson Smith No, sir, I'm afraid not, no sir. I yielded the floor once before, if you can remember, and I was practically never heard of again. No sir. And we might as well all get together on this yielding business right off the bat, now.

Jefferson Smith Now, I had some pretty good coaching last night, and I find that if I yield only for a question or a point of order or a personal privilege, that I can hold this floor almost until doomsday. In other words, I've got a piece to speak, and blow hot or cold, I'm going to speak it.

Don Haynes Red Nichols is getting together a pit band for a new musical, "Girl Crazy". I know you're still looking for that sound but it's been two years now. You're not gonna find it on an empty stomach.

Glenn Miller No, you sure can't.

Don Haynes Besides, a lot of your friends are in the band: ], ], ]. It's a great chance, Glenn, and it'll run all season.

Glenn Miller I guess I better take it.

Tom Doniphon Ransom Stoddard, At... torney at Law You're a persistent cuss, pilgrim. You really aim to hang that up outside somewhere?

Ransom Stoddard That's why I painted it.

Tom Doniphon Well, take some advice, pilgrim. You put that thing up, you'll have to defend it with a gun... and you ain't exactly the type.

Tony Kirby I was just thinking about that family of yours. Living with them must be like living in a world of ], my good fellow. Everybody does just as he pleases, doesn't he?

Alice Sycamore Yes. Grandpa started it. He just suddenly left business one day. He started up in the elevator one day and he turned around and came right down. He never went back. He could have been a rich man; but, he said he wasn't having any fun.

Tony Kirby Oh, that's wonderful.

Alice Sycamore Then he started collecting stamps because that's what he likes best.

Tom Doniphon That's my steak, Valance.

Liberty Valance You heard him, Dude. Pick it up.

Ransom Stoddard No!

Tom Doniphon Pilgrim, hold it. I said you, Valance; you pick it up.

Liberty Valance Three against one, Doniphon.

Tom Doniphon My boy, Pompey; kitchen door.

Floyd I'll get it, Liberty!

George Bailey Now wait...now listen...now listen to me. I beg of you not to do this thing. If Potter gets hold of this Building and Loan, there'll never be another decent house built in this town. He's already got charge of the bank. He's got the bus line. He got the department stores. And now he's after us. Why? Well, it's very simple. Because we're cutting in on his business, that's why. And because he wants to keep you living in his slums and paying the kind of rent he decides. Joe, you had one of those Potter houses, didn't you? Well, have you forgotten? Have you forgotten what he charged you for that broken-down shack? Here, Ed. You know, you remember last year when things weren't going so well, and you couldn't make your payments? You didn't lose your house, did you? Do you think Potter would have let you keep it? Can't you understand what's happening here? Don't you see what's happening? Potter isn't selling. Potter's buying! And why? Because we're panicking and he's not. That's why. He's picking up some bargains. Now, we can get through this thing all right. We've got to stick together, though. We've got to have faith in each other.

Tony Kirby Your family, boy, they knocked me for a loop. I don't know, it just seems like in their own way, they found what everybody's looking for. People spend their whole lives building castles in the air and then nothing ever comes of it. I wonder why that is? Well, it takes courage. Everybody's afraid to live.

Alice Sycamore You ought to hear Grandpa on that subject. He says most people nowadays are run by fear. Fear of what they eat, fear of what they drink, fear of their jobs, their future, fear of their health. They're scared to save money and scared to spend it. You know what his pet aversion is? The people who commercialize on fear, you know they scare you to death so they can sell you something you don't need. So, he kinda taught all of not to be afraid of anything, but do what we want to do. Well, its kinda fun, anyway.

Charlie Anderson   I've got five hundred acres of good, rich dirt, here, and as long as the rains come and the sun shines, it'll grow anything I have a mind to plant.  And we pulled every stump, and we cleared every field, and we done it ourselves without the sweat of one ].

Johnson   So?

Charlie Anderson   "So"!?  So, can you give me one good reason why I should send my family, that took me a lifetime to raise, down that road like a bunch of damn fools to do somebody else's fighting?

Johnson   ] ], Mr. Anderson.

Charlie Anderson   That might be so, Johnson, but these are my sons! They don't belong to the state.   When they were babies, I never saw the state coming around with a spare tit!  We never asked anything of ], and never expected anything.  We do our own living and thanks to no man for the ].  But seeing as how you're so worried about it, I'll tell ya:  If any of my boys thinks this war's right, and wants to join in, he's free to do it.  You all hear that!?  Did you hear it!?  You wanna dress up like these fellas, go ahead; here's your chance. 

Mailman Beautiful day, isn't it?

Elwood P. Dowd Every day is a beautiful day.

Elwood P. Dowd We talked like that for a while and then I said to him, "You have the advantage on me. You know my name and I don't know yours." And right back at me he said, "What name do you like?" Well, I didn't even have to think twice about that. Harvey's always been my favorite name. So I said to him, I said, "Harvey." And, this — this is the interesting thing about the whole thing. He said, "What a coincidence. My name happens to be Harvey.

Charlie Anderson My corn I take serious because it's my corn, and my potatoes and my tomatoes and fences I take note of because they're mine.  But this war is not mine and I take no note of it!

Elwood P. Dowd I plan to leave. You want me to stay. Well, an element of conflict in any discussion's a very good thing. It means everybody is taking part and nobody is left out.

Elwood P. Dowd Oh, yes! Yes. Yes — these things always work out just the way Harvey says they will. He is very, very versatile. Did I tell you he could stop clocks? Well, you've heard the expression His face would stop a clock'? Well, Harvey can look at your clock and stop it. And you can go anywhere you like — with anyone you like — and stay as long as you like. And when you get back, not one minute will have ticked by. ... You see, science has overcome time and space. Well, Harvey has overcome not only time and space — but any objections.

Charlie Anderson I'm not going to kill you.  I want you to live.  I want you to live to be an old man, and I want you to have many, many, many ], and I want you to feel about your children then the way I feel about mine now.  And someday, when a man comes along and ] one of em, I want you to remember!  Okay?  I want you to remember.

Rupert Cadell You're quite a good chicken strangler as I recall!

Boy Anderson   What's confiscate mean, pa?

Charlie Anderson   ]!

Elwood P. Dowd You see, science has overcome time and space. Harvey has overcome not only time and space but also any objections.

Dr. Chumley Fly specks, fly specks! I've been spending my life among fly specks while miracles have been leaning on lampposts at 18th and Fairfax!

Dr. Sanderson Think carefully, Dowd. Didn't you know somebody, sometime, someplace with the name of Harvey? Didn't you ever know anybody by that name?

Elwood P. Dowd No, no, not one, Doctor. Maybe that's why I always had such hopes for it.

Col. Spaulding In all my 27 years in the Army I have never witnessed a more flagrant, outrageous breach of military decorum.

Glenn Miller I'm sorry, Colonel.

Col. Spaulding An officer deliberately walking through a reviewing column!

Glenn Miller I had to get to the band, sir.

Col. Spaulding Then playing blues!

Glenn Miller I've tried all sorts of standard combinations. I never found out what I was looking for. If I start again, I've got to have an entirely different kind of a band. Different tunes. I wanna try something radical!

Si Schribman Fine, fine. Go get radical. But just get going! I gotta have something in here making a noise the kids can dance to. That's all.

Jefferson Smith Now, you're not gonna have a country that can make these kind of rules work, if you haven't got men that have learned to tell human rights from a punch in the nose. It's a funny thing about men, you know. They all start life being boys. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some of these Senators were boys once. And that's why it seemed like a pretty good idea for me to get boys out of crowded cities and stuffy basements for a couple of months out of the year. And build their bodies and minds for a man-sized job, because those boys are gonna be behind these desks some of these days. And it seemed like a pretty good idea, getting boys from all over the country, boys of all nationalities and ways of living. Getting them together. Let them find out what makes different people tick the way they do. Because I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn't have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness and a - a little lookin out for the other fella, too...That's pretty important, all that. It's just the blood and bone and sinew of this democracy that some great men handed down to the human race, that's all. But of course, if you've got to build a dam where that boys camp ought to be, to get some graft to pay off some political army or something, well that's a different thing. Oh no! If you think I'm going back there and tell those boys in my state and say: Look. Now fellas. Forget about it. Forget all this stuff I've been tellin you about this land you live in is a lot of hooey. This isn't your country. It belongs to a lot of James Taylors. Oh no! Not me! And anybody here that thinks I'm gonna do that, they've got another thing comin'. That's all right. I just wanted to find out if you still had faces. I'm sorry gentlemen. I-I know I'm being disrespectful to this honorable body, I know that. I- A guy like me should never be allowed to get in here in the first place. I know that! And I hate to stand here and try your patience like this, but EITHER I'M DEAD RIGHT OR I'M CRAZY.

George Bailey Dear Father in heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way... show me the way.

Elwood P. Dowd Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be," — she always called me Elwood — "In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.

Wilson Who's Harvey?

Miss Kelly A white rabbit, six feet tall.

Wilson Six feet?

Elwood P. Dowd Six feet three and a half inches. Now let's stick to the facts.

Helen Burger Two years and not a word, and then a present like this.

Glenn Miller Well, you know, with some people, ya don't have to write. You just know.

Elwood P. Dowd Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it.

Elwood P. Dowd I'd just helped Ed Hickey into a taxi. Ed had been mixing his rye with his gin, and I felt he needed conveying. I started to walk down the street when I heard a voice saying: "Good evening, Mr. Dowd". I turned, and there was this big white rabbit leaning against a lamp-post. Well, I thought nothing of that, because when you've lived in a town as long as I've lived in this one, you get used to the fact that everybody knows your name. And naturally, I went over to chat with him.

Charlie Anderson   Now it concerns us.