Conflict Over a Woman's Happiness and Choices
Mother Miriam Ruth: [about Sister Agnes]
I am saying that you have a beautifully simple woman here.
Martha Livingston:
An unhappy woman.
Mother Miriam Ruth:
She's happy with us, and she could go on being happy if she were left alone.
Martha Livingston:
Then why did you call the police in the first place, Mother, huh? Why didn't you just throw the baby into the incinerator and be done with it?
Mother Miriam Ruth:
Because I am a moral person.
Martha Livingston:
Bullshit.
Mother Miriam Ruth:
Bullshit yourself.
Martha Livingston:
The Catholic Church doesn't have a corner on morality.
Mother Miriam Ruth:
Who said anything about the Catholic Church?
Martha Livingston:
You just did.
Mother Miriam Ruth:
What the hell does the Catholic Church got to do with you?
Martha Livingston:
Nothing.
Mother Miriam Ruth:
What have we done to hurt you? And don't deny it, I can smell an ex-Catholic a mile away. What did we do? Burn a few heretics, sell some indulgences? That was in the days when the Church was a ruling body, we let Governments do those things today. So what did we do to you, hey?...
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Imagining Saints in Modern Habits
Martha Livingston:
Suppose the saints would have smoked if tobacco'd been popular back then.
Mother Miriam Ruth:
Undoubtedly. Not the ascetics, of course, but, well, St. Thomas More.
Martha Livingston:
Long, thin, and filtered!
Mother Miriam Ruth:
St. Ignatius would smoke cigars and then stub them out on the soles of his bare feet. And of course all of the apostles?
Martha Livingston:
Hand rolled.
Mother Miriam Ruth:
Even Christ would partake socially.
Martha Livingston:
St. Peter?
Mother Miriam Ruth:
Pipe!
Martha Livingston:
Right!
Mother Miriam Ruth:
Mary Magdalene?
Martha Livingston:
Ohhh! You've come a long way, baby!
Mother Miriam Ruth:
And St. Joan would chew tobacco!
Martha Livingston:
All right! What do you suppose today's saints are smoking?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Questioning Sanity and Clarity of Mind
Mother Miriam Ruth:
Is she totally bananas or just slightly off-center?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Mother Miriam Ruth Invites Questions
Mother Miriam Ruth:
So, you have questions. Fire away!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Seeking Meaning in Memory and Miracle
Martha Livingston: [last lines of the movie]
I don't know the meaning behind the song she sang. Perhaps it was a song of seduction, and the father was a field hand. Perhaps the song was simply a lullaby she remembered from many years ago, and the father was hope, and love, and desire and a belief in miracles. I want to believe that she was blessed. And I do miss her. And I hope she's left something; some little part of herself with me. That would be miracle enough, wouldn't it?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Struggle with Smoking Addiction
Martha Livingston:
Smoking is an obsession with me. Maybe someday I'll become obsessed with something else and give up smoking.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
