Awakenings (1991) - Quotes

The Importance of Remembering Life's Joys

Leonard Lowe: We've got to tell everybody. We've got to remind them. We've got to remind them how good it is.

Dr. Sayer: How good what is, Leonard?

Leonard Lowe: Read the newspaper. What does it say? All bad. It's all bad. People have forgotten what life is all about. They've forgotten what it is to be alive. They need to be reminded. They need to be reminded of what they have and what they can lose. What I feel is the joy of life, the gift of life, the freedom of life, the wonderment of life!

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Unexpected News of a Past Divorce

Margaret: Miriam, there's no easy way to tell you this, so - your husband - he was granted a divorce from you in 1952.

Miriam: Oh, thank God!

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Acknowledgment of Consciousness in Awakenings

Dr. Sayer: [smiling] No. You're awake.

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Exploring Consciousness in Awakenings

Dr. Sayer: [about the catatonic patients] What's it like to be them? What are they thinking?

Dr. Peter Ingham: They're not. The virus didn't spare the higher faculties.

Dr. Sayer: We know that for a fact?

Dr. Peter Ingham: Yes.

Dr. Sayer: Because?

Dr. Peter Ingham: Because the alternative is unthinkable.

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Desire for a different life experience

Lucy: I can't imagine being older than 22. I've no experience at it. I know it's not 1926. I just need it to be.

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Questioning Luck in the Face of Adversity

Mrs. Lowe: When my son was born healthy, I never asked why. Why was I so lucky? What did I do to deserve this perfect child, this perfect life? But when he got sick, you can bet I asked why! I demanded to know why! Why was this happening?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Importance of Remembering Life's Joys

Leonard Lowe: Read the newspaper. What does it say? All bad. It's all bad. People have forgotten what life is all about. They've forgotten what it is to be alive. They need to be reminded. They need to be reminded of what they have and what they can lose. What I feel is the joy of life, the gift of life, the freedom of life, the wonderment of life!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Reintroduction and Acknowledgment of Return

Leonard Lowe: Hello. My name is Leonard Lowe. It has been explained to me that I've been away for quite some time. I'm back.

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The Weight of Isolation and Despair

Dr. Sayer: His gaze is from the passing of bars so exhausted, that it doesn't hold a thing anymore. For him, it's as if there were thousands of bars and behind the thousands of bars no world. The sure stride of lithe, powerful steps, that around the smallest of circles turns, is like a dance of pure energy about a center, in which a great will stands numbed. Only occasionally, without a sound, do the covers of the eyes slide open-. An image rushes in, goes through the tensed silence of the frame- only to vanish, forever, in the heart.

The Power of the Human Spirit

Dr. Sayer: What we do know is that, as the chemical window closed, another awakening took place; that the human spirit is more powerful than any drug and that is what needs to be nourished: with work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matter. This is what we'd forgotten. The simplest things.

Disagreement in Perspective and Understanding

Dr. Sayer: I'm sorry, if you were right, I would agree with you.

Awkward Turtles and Their Unusual Offspring

Dr. Sayer: Awkward turtles make weird babies.

Struggling with Understanding Human Behavior

Dr. Sayer: I'm not very good with people. I like them. I wish I could say I had more than a rudimentary understanding of them. Maybe if they were less unpredictable...