Jean Arthur Quotes

Nora Shelley Listen, I can't hang around here even if I wanted to. Lightcap's ordered me out 50 times since last night. I'm here now only by the grace of being in his pajamas. One minute I'm out of these and I'm out on my ear!

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.

Joe O'Brien A woman's place in the world is to tend the male.

Mary Jones Not this woman and not this male.

Mary Jones I wish you'd marry me, just like it is. I'm not afraid.

Joe O'Brien Marriage? You're not afraid? Women are never afraid. How long do you think you'd be in love with me living off your salary?

Mary Jones That's nothing to be ashamed of. You can't help it.

Joe O'Brien Not to you; but it is to me.

Mary Jones Scientists can write all the books they like about love being a trap of nature. I remember reading that. That it's biology and the chemistry inside a woman that fools her. But, all the scientists are going to convince the other scientists; but not women in love.

Merrick Now, look around us. There's a couple over there. They think they were made for each other. He's biting her ear. Now, she's biting his ear. Very touching.

Mary Jones I think so.

Merrick They've found each other, haven't they? Out of this whole wide world, these two were lucky enough to come together. But, don't you think, if she hadn't met him, there wouldn't be somebody else biting her ear now? And don't you think he would be at some other girl's ear - probably 10 feet away?

Mary Jones Maybe. But that doesn't prove anything.

Mary Jones I don't say Joe's the greatest thing that ever lived. I probably wouldn't love him if he was. I'd just want to look at him. But, you see, I'm not the greatest girl in the world either. Two people look at each other, and they see something way deep inside, that nobody else can. And that's it. I wouldn't be surprised if the greatest love affair in the world was between a Chinaman wearing a pigtail and a girl who's missing two front teeth. If you could measure it. If they feel it, they feel it.

Merrick Do you?

Mary Jones Not the way you see in the movies or hear in those songs, you know, about the touch of your hand, you set me on fire. I guess I'm not the combustible type.

Diz Moore In protest, the whole Senate body rose and walked out.

Clarissa Saunders No! No, not that straight stuff. Now listen, kick it up, get on his side, fight for him! Understand?

Diz Moore You love this monkey - don't you?

Clarissa Saunders What do you think? Now listen, go to work. Do as I tell you, you do know that, don't you?

Diz Moore Throw out that last, take this. This is the most titanic battle of modern times. A David without even a slingshot rises to do battle against the mighty Goliath, the Taylor machine, allegedly crooked inside and out. Yeah, and for my money and an extra bonus prize, you can cut out the "allegedly.

Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff Incidentally, what's his name?

Alice Sycamore Eh, Tony Kirby.

Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff Not the son of - the Kirby?

Alice Sycamore Yes.

Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff Pretty snooty outfit aren't they?

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.

Mary Jones Just forget all about it.

Merrick I'm an elephant, Miss Jones, a veritable elephant. I never forget a good deed done me or an ill one. I consider myself a kind of divine justice. Other people in this world have to forget things. I do not.

Mary Jones Now, don't talk like you're out of your mind and don't be blasphemous about divine justice'.

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'!

Mary Jones You... ] in sheep's clothing!

Alice Sycamore It's for you.

Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff Why bless my soul, a new harmonica.

Alice Sycamore I got it for you for your birthday.

Grandpa Martin Vanderhoff How do you know when my birthday is? Even I don't know.

Alice Sycamore Anytime I get an impulse to get you something, that's your birthday.

Mary Jones I can't understand how you've never eaten in an automat before.

Merrick I never thought of it. I could sue them, getting my finger caught like that.

Mary Jones Well, I don't know. I've been eating there for years. I never heard of anybody getting their fingers caught before. Say, tell me the truth, was the manager right, did you try to get that blueberry pie without putting in a nickel?

Merrick You too. I tell you I did put in a nickel. But I went to get coffee, and somebody must have sneaked the pie out.

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.

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.

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.

Mary Jones Don't you feel badly. He'll get his just desserts one of these days.

Merrick I'd like to be as certain of the hereafter, Miss Jones.

Mary Jones Elizabeth, you know, you've lived a very sheltered life. Now, men aren't exactly what they seem to be. Some men are wonderful. Other men are beasts.