31 quotes
The Search for Meaning and Forgiveness
Ben
What choice do you have if the woman is going to tell her? You have to confess the wrong and hope for understanding. Maybe Miriam was responsible in some ways too. You have to discuss it and hope for the best. And maybe you and Miriam can never go back to the old life; but, maybe there's a new one with maturity and understanding; maybe - maybe even a richer one.
Judah
You know, it's funny, for our entire adult lives, you and I have been having this same conversation in one form or another.
Ben
Yes, I know. Its a fundamental difference in the way we view the world. You see it as harsh and empty of values and pitiless. And I couldn't go on living if I didn't feel it, with all my heart, a moral structure with real meaning and - forgiveness. And some kind of higher power; otherwise, their's no basis to know how to live.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unexpected Incident Involving a Family Member
Clifford Stern
A strange man defecated on my sister.
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The Cost of Belief and Morality
Judah Rosenthal
God is a luxury I can't afford.
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A Year of Lost Intimacy
Clifford Stern
Honey, you're the one who stopped sleeping with me, okay? It'll be a year come April 20th. I remember the date exactly, because it was ]'s birthday.
[[Hitler]
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The Need for Love in a Cold Universe
Professor Louis Levy
But we must always remember that when we are born we need a great deal of love in order to persuade us to stay in life. Once we get that love it usually lasts us. But the universe is a pretty cold place. It is we who invest it with our feelings. And under certain conditions, we feel the thing isn’t worth it any more.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Humor of Bending and Breaking
Lester
If it bends it's funny. If it breaks, it's not funny.
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The Inevitability of Truth in Murder
Sol Rosenthal
Whether it's the Old Testament or Shakespeare, murder will out!
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A Documentary Journey of Self-Discovery
Lester
Idea for a farce. A poor...loser does a documentary of a great man and in the process learns some deep values.
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The Dual Nature of Love and Childhood
Professor Louis Levy
When we fall in love, we are seeking to re-find all or some of the people to whom you were attached as children. On the other hand, we ask our beloved to correct all the wrongs that these early parents or siblings inflicted on us. So, love contains in it the contradiction, the attempts to return to the past and the attempt to undo the past.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Frustration with life's contradictions and filmmaking
Clifford Stern
I got 600,000 feet of film on this guy. And he's telling how great life is and everything and now, you know. What am I gonna do? I'll cut it up and make it into guitar picks.
[after Levy's suicide]
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Lessons on Life and Observation
Clifford Stern
While we're waiting for a cab I'll give you your lesson for today. Don't listen to what your teachers tell ya, you know. Don't pay attention. Just, just see what they look like and that's how you'll know what life is really gonna be like.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Plan to Secure a Cab
Clifford Stern
I think I see a cab. If we run quickly we can kick the crutch from that old lady and get it.
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The Harsh Realities of Show Business
Clifford Stern
Show business is, is dog-eat-dog. It's worse than dog-eat-dog. It's dog-doesn't-return-other-dog's-phone-calls. You know, it's just terrible. Which reminds me, I should really check my service. I don't know why, I haven't had a message in seven years! You know, I call up and I hear the girls on the other end giggling.
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Reflection on Intimacy and Experience
Clifford Stern
The last time I was inside a woman was when I visited the ].
[[Statue of Liberty]
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Manipulation and Uncertainty in Relationships
Lester
I told you I'm putty in your hands.
Halley
What am I gonna do with a handful of putty?
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On Comparisons and Human Reactions
Clifford Stern
What's the guy so upset about? You'd think nobody was ever compared to ] before.
[[Mussolini]
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Consequences of Choices and Relationships
Halley
: He wants to produce something of mine.
[about Lester]
Clifford
Yeah. Your first child.
Ben
You fool around with her for your pleasure; then, when you think its enough, you want to sweep her under the rug.
Judah
There's no other solution, but Jack's men. I push one button and I can sleep again.
Ben
Could you sleep with that? Is that who you really are?
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The Weight of Choices and Human Experience
Professor Louis Levy
We're all faced throughout our lives with agonizing decisions, moral choices. Some are on a grand scale, most of these choices are on lesser points. But we define ourselves by the choices we have made. We are, in fact, the sum total of our choices. Events unfold so unpredictably, so unfairly, Human happiness does not seem to be included in the design of creation. It is only we, with our capacity to love that give meaning to the indifferent universe. And yet, most human beings seem to have the ability to keep trying and even find joy from simple things, like their family, their work, and from the hope that future generations might understand more.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
American Phenomena in Conversation
Halley
After all, he is an American phenomenon.
[about Lester]
Clifford
Yeah, but so is ].
[[w:Acid rain|acid rain]
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Body for Science or Personal Gain?
Lester
If you play your cards right, you could have my body.
Halley
Wouldn't you rather leave it to science?
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Teaching Responsibilities Amidst Challenging Circumstances
Wendy Stern
We really do have to go. I have to get up at dawn and teach ] to a bunch of upper-middle class crack addicts.
[[Emily Dickinson]
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Hidden Motives Behind Intellectual Exchanges
Clifford Stern
When he tells you he wants to exchange ideas, what he really wants is to exchange fluids.
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A Candid Admission of Preference
Lester
I'll be honest. You're not my first choice.
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Reflection on God's Observing Presence
Judah Rosenthal
I remember my father telling me, "The eyes of God are on us always." The eyes of God. What a phrase to a young boy. What were God's eyes like? Unimaginably penetrating, intense eyes, I assumed. And I wonder if it was just a coincidence that I made my specialty ophthalmology.
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Confronting Reality and Idealism in Life
Judah Rosenthal
Jack lives in the real world. You live in the kingdom of heaven. I'd managed to keep free of that real world, but suddenly it's found me.
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Complicated Feelings About Marriage and Betrayal
Clifford
You must have had a pretty terrible marriage if you don't want to be asked out on any dates.
Halley
Well, no, I mean, he was great. You know, very brilliant. He's an architect. Real handsome and everything. But, if you're going to have an affair, not with my best friend, in my four poster bed, and they definitely didn't have to finish all my pistachio nuts.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Profound Departure from Reality
Professor Louis Levy
I've gone out the window.
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The Relationship Between Comedy and Tragedy
Lester
Comedy is tragedy plus time.
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Consequences of Sin in Life Choices
Judah Rosenthal
One sin leads to a deeper sin.
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Reflections on Love and Regret
Halley
He was very eloquent on the subject of love, didn't you think?
[on the philosopher Lewis Levy]
Clifford
I wish I had met him before I got married. It would've saved me a gall bladder operation.
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Reflections on Unhappiness and Suicide
Clifford Stern
I don't know from suicide. Where I grew up in Brooklyn, nobody committed suicide - they were too unhappy.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.