Awakenings Quotes

Dr. Sayer Awkward turtles make weird babies.

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...

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?

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

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!

Dr. Sayer No. You're awake.

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.

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.

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!

Dr. Sayer 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.

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!

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.

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.