Braveheart (1995) - Quotes

Craig: Sir William, where are you going?

Cheltham: Mornay, Lochlan, Craig. Here are the king's terms. Lead this army off field and he will give you each estates in Yorkshire, including hereditary title, from which you will pay- from which you will pay him an annual duty-

William: I have an offer for you.

Mornay: Cheltham, this is William Wallace.

Cheltham: From which you will pay the king an annual duty-

William: I said I have an offer for you.

Lochlan: You disrespect a banner of truce?

William: From his king? Absolutely. Here are Scotland's terms. Lower your flags, and march straight back to England, stopping at every home you pass by to beg forgiveness for a hundred years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today.

Cheltham: [laughs] You are outmatched. You have no heavy cavalry. In two centuries no army has won without—

William: I'm not finished! Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse.

Mornay: I'd say that was rather less cordial than he was used to.

William: You be ready and do exactly as I say. On my signal, ride round behind our position and flank them.

Mornay: We must not divide our forces!

William: Do it. And let the English see you do it.

Mornay: They'll think we're running away?

William: Aye. Take out their archers. I'll meet you in the middle.

Stephen: The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It's drawn the finest people.

Lochlan: Where is thy salute?

William: For presenting yourselves on this battlefield, I give you thanks.

Lochlan: This is our army. To join it you give homage.

William: I give homage to Scotland. And if this is your army, why does it go?

Veteran: We didn't come here to fight for them.

Young Soldier: Home! The English are too many!

William: Sons of Scotland! I am William Wallace.

Young Soldier: William Wallace is seven feet tall!

William: [[eyes; [lightning; the Scots laugh; [tyranny] Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds. And if he were here, he'd consume the English with fireballs from his ], and bolts of ] from his arse. I am William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my country men here in defiance of ]. You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?

Veteran: Fight? Against that? No, we will run. And we will live.

William: Aye. Fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live...at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take...OUR FREEDOM!!!

William: [[w:Alba gu bràth|ALBAAA GU BRÀÀÀTH] ]!!! (SCOTLAND FOREVER!!!)

Soldiers: Alba gu bra! (Scotland forever!)

Stephen: [laughs, speaking heavenward; Heavenward; to William] Him? That can't be William Wallace. I'm prettier than this man. All right Father, I'll ask him. If I risk my neck for you, will I get a chance to kill Englishmen?

Hamish: Is your father a ghost, or do you converse with the Almighty?

Stephen: [Heavenward; to William and Hamish] In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God. Yes, Father! The Almighty says don't change the subject, just answer the fuckin question.

Hamish: Mind your tongue.

Campbell: Insane Irish.

Stephen: Smart enough to get a dagger past your guards, old man.

William: That's my friend, Irishman. And the answer to your question is yes, if you fight for me, you get to kill the English.

Stephen: [puts knife away] Excellent! Stephen is my name. I'm the most wanted man on my island. Except I'm not on my island of course. More's the pity.

Hamish: Your island? You mean Ireland.

Stephen: Yeah, it's mine.

Hamish: You're a madman.

Stephen: [laughs] I've come to the right place then.

William: You know, eventually Longshanks will send his whole Northern Army against us.

Campbell: Heavy cavalry, armored horse; shake the very ground.

Hamish: They'll ride right over us.

William: Uncle Argyle used to talk about it; how no army had ever stood up to a charge of heavy horse.

Hamish: So what'll we do?

Campbell: Run, hide, the highland way.

William: [looking at the trees] We'll make spears. Hundreds of them! Long spears, twice as long as a man.

Hamish: That long?

William Wallace: Aye.

Hamish: Some men are longer than others.

Campbell: Your mother been telling you stories about me again, eh?

Nicolette: When the king returns, he will bury them in those new clothes. Scotland is in chaos. Your husband is secretly sending an army north.

Isabella: How do you know this?

Nicolette: Last night, I slept with a member of the War Council.

Isabella: He shouldn't be telling secrets in bed!

Nicolette: Englishmen don't know what a tongue is for.

Isabella: [scoffs] This Scottish rebel, Wallace. He fights to avenge a woman?

Nicolette: I nearly forgot. A magistrate wished to capture him and found he had a secret lover. So, he cut the girl's throat to tempt Wallace to fight, and fight he did. Knowing his passion for his lost love, they next plotted to take him by desecrating the graves of his father and brother and setting an ambush at the grave of his love. He fought his way through the trap and carried her body to a secret place. Now that's love, no?

Isabella: Love? I wouldn't know.

Robert: A rebellion has begun.

The Leper: Under whom?

Robert: A commoner... named William Wallace.

The Leper: We will embrace this rebellion. You will support it from our lands in the north while I gain English favor by condemning it, and ordering it opposed from our lands in the south. Sit down. Stay a while.

Robert: This Wallace, he doesn't even have a knighthood, but he fights with passion and he inspires.

The Leper: [laughs] And you wish to charge off and fight as he did. So would I.

Robert: Well, maybe it's time.

The Leper: It is time to survive. You're the seventeenth Robert Bruce. The sixteen before you passed you land and title because they didn't charge in. Call a meeting of the nobles.

Robert: But they do nothing but talk.

The Leper: Rightly so. They're as rich in English titles and lands as they are in Scottish, just as we are. You admire this man, this William Wallace. Uncompromising men are easy to admire. He has courage, so does a dog. But it is exactly the ability to compromise that makes a man noble. And understand this: Edward Longshanks is the most ruthless king ever to sit upon the throne of England. And none of us, and nothing of Scotland will remain, unless we are as ruthless. Give an ear to our nobles. Knowing their minds is the key to the throne.

Longshanks: Scottish nobles have routed one of my garrisons, and murdered the noble lord.

Edward: I heard. This Wallace is a brigand, nothing more.

Longshanks: And how would you deal with this brigand?

Edward: Like any common thief. Have the local magistrate arrest him and punish him accordingly.

Longshanks: [to advisors; Longshanks' advisors leave the room, and he strikes Edward hard across the face, knocking him to the ground; he pulls Edward to his feet; Edward nods nervously] Leave us. Wallace has already killed the magistrate, and taken control of the town. Stand up. Stand up! In the morning, I depart for France to press our rights there, and I leave you here to quell this little rebellion. Understood? Is it? One day, you will be a king. At least try to act like one.

Edward: [to Philip] Get away from me! Convene my military council!

Nicolette: [to Isabelle] I hope your husband to Scotland and meets Wallace, and then you'll be a widow.

Lord Bottoms: I have dispatched a hundred soldiers to Lanark. They will be returning now!

William: Were they dressed like this? Actually, it was more like fifty.

William: Of course, running a farm is a lot of work, but that will all change when my sons arrive.

Murron: [confused] So, you've got children?

William: Not yet, but I was hoping you could help me with that.

Murron: So, you want me to marry you then?

William: Well, that's a bit sudden, but alright.

Murron: Is that what you call a proposal?

William: [Murron kisses him] I love you, always have. I want to marry you. Is that a "yes?

Murron: Aye, that's a "yes.

Campbell: Your father was a fighter! And a patriot.

William: I know who my father was. I came back home to raise crops and, God willing, a family. If I can live in peace, I will.

William: How did you know me after so long?

Murron: Why, I didn't.

William: No?

Murron: It's just that I saw you staring at me and I didn't know who you were.

William: Oh sorry, I suppose I was. Are you in the habit of riding off in the rain with strangers?

Murron: It was the best way to make you leave.

William: Well, if I can ever work up the courage to ask you again, I'll send you a written warning first.

Murron: Oh, it wouldn't do you much good. I can't read.

William: Can you not?

Murron: No.

William: Well that's something we shall have to remedy, isn't it.

Murron: You're going to teach me to read, then?

William: Aye, if you like.

Murron: Aye.

William: In what language?

Murron: Are you showing off now?

William: That's right. Are you impressed yet?

Murron: No. Why should I be?

William: [in French] Yes. Because every single day I thought about you.

Murron: Do that standing on your head and I'll be impressed.

William: My kilt may fly up but I'll try.

Murron: You certainly didn't learn any manners on your travels.

William: I'm afraid the Romans have far worse manners than I.

Murron: You've been to Rome?

William: Aye, my uncle took me on a pilgrimage.

Murron: What was it like?

William: [in French] Not nearly as beautiful as you.

Murron: What does that mean?

William: Beautiful. But I belong here.

William: [points at his head] Well, a test of a soldier is not in his arm, it's here.

Hamish: [points at his arm] No, it's here.

William: Hamish?

Hamish: Uh huh.

Campbell: [giving Hamish a huge rock] Here you go, son. Show him how. Come on! Haha, my boy!

William: That's a good throw.

Hamish: Ay. Ay, it was.

William: I was wondering if you could do that when it matters. That is, as is

Hamish: I could crush you, like a worm.

William: You could?

Hamish: Ay.

William: [to the crowd] Well then do it. Would you like to see him crush me like a worm?

Crowd: Ay!

William: Then do it.

Hamish: You'll move.

William: I will not.

Campbell: He'll move.

Campbell: Fine display, young Wallace.

William: [to Hamish] You alright? You look a wee bit shaky.

Hamish: I should have remembered the rocks.

William: [A Scottish dancing jig begins to play] Ay, you should have. Get up you big heap. It's good to see you

Hamish: Ay, welcome home.

Toothless Girl: William, will you dance with me?

William: Of course I will.

William: You dropped your rock.

Hamish: Test of manhood.

William: You win.

Hamish: Call it a test of soldiery, then. The English won't let us train with weapons, so we train with stones.

William: [points at his head] Well, the test of a soldier is not in his arm, it's here.

Longshanks: [Isabelle walks in] Scotland. My land. The French will grovel to anyone with strength, but how will they believe our strength when we cannot rule the whole of our own island?! Where is my son?

Isabelle: Pardon, my lord. He asked me to come in his stead.

Longshanks: I sent for him, and he sends you?

Isabelle: Shall I leave, my lord?

Longshanks: If he wants his queen to rule when I am gone, then by all means, stay and learn how. Please. Nobles. Nobles are the key to the door of Scotland. Grant our nobles lands in the north, give their nobles estates here in England, and make them too greedy to oppose us.

Advisor: But sire, our nobles will be reluctant to uproot. New lands mean new taxes and they are already taxed for the war in France.

Longshanks: [glaring at Isabelle; Longshanks' advisors laugh] Are they? Are they? The trouble with Scotland... is that it's full of Scots! Perhaps the time has come to reinstitute an old custom. Grant them prima noctes. First night, when any common girl inhabiting their lands is married, our nobles shall have sexual rights to her on the night of her wedding. If we can't get them out, we'll breed them out. That should fetch just the kind of lords we want to Scotland, taxes or no taxes, eh?

Advisor: A most excellent idea, sire.

Longshanks: Is it?

Malcolm: Where do you think you're going?

Young William: I'm going with you.

Malcolm: Oh, you're going with, are ya? And what are you going to do?

Young William: I'm gonna help.

Malcolm: [''takes William off the horse''] Hey, and a good help you'd be, too. But I need you to stay here and look after the place for me while I'm away.

Young William: I can fight!

Malcolm: I know. I know you can fight. But it's our wits that make us men. See you tomorrow.

Malcolm Wallace: [[heart; [free; [courage] Your ] is ]. Have the ] to follow it.

Robert the Bruce: After the beheading, William Wallace's body was torn to pieces. His head was set on London Bridge, his arms and legs sent to the four corners of Britain as a warning. It did not have the effect that Longshanks planned. And I, Robert the Bruce, rode out to pay homage to the armies of the English King and accept his endorsement of my crown.

Robert the Bruce: [[w:Philip IV of France|King of France] Many years later, Edward the Longshanks, King of England, supervised the wedding of his eldest son, who would succeed him to the throne. As bride for his son, Longshanks had chosen the daughter of his rival: the ]. It was widely whispered, that for the princess to conceive, Longshanks would have to do the honors himself. That may have been what he had in mind all along.

Robert the Bruce: * Opening narration

Robert the Bruce: [[England; [liar; [history; [heroes; [w:Alexander III of Scotland|King of Scotland] I shall tell you of William Wallace. Historians from ] will say I am a ], but ] is written by those who have hanged ]. The ] had died without a son and the King of England, a cruel pagan known as Edward the Longshanks, claimed the throne of Scotland for himself. Scotland's nobles fought him, and fought each other, over the crown. So Longshanks invited them to talks of truce — no weapons, one page only. Among the farmers of that shire was Malcolm Wallace, a commoner with his own lands. He had two sons, John and William.

King Edward I "Longshanks: The trouble with Scotland...is that it's full of Scots!

King Edward I "Longshanks: Someday, you will be king, at least try to act like one!

King Edward I "Longshanks: Bring me Wallace, alive if possible, dead ... just as good.

King Edward I "Longshanks: I gave Mornay double his lands in Scotland, matching estates in England. Lochlan turned for... for much less.

King Edward I "Longshanks: Not the archers. My scouts tell me their archers are miles away and no threat to us. Arrows cost money. Use up the Irish. The dead cost nothing.

Sir William Wallace: * Closing narration

Sir William Wallace: In the year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsmen. And won their freedom.

Sir William Wallace: * Praying before his execution

Sir William Wallace: [[strength; [die] I'm so afraid. Give me the ] to ] well.

Sir William Wallace: [[William Wallace; [England; [Scotland] I am ]! The rest of you will be spared. Go back to ], and tell them there, that ]'s daughters and her sons are yours no more! Tell them Scotland is free!