Five Easy Pieces (1970) - Quotes

Acceptance in Harsh Conditions

Truck driver: Where we're goin', it's gonna get colder than hell.

Bobby: Nah, it's okay. I'm fine. Fine. I'm fine.

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The Contrast of Innocence and Harsh Reality

Rayette: [to Carl; Samia stops angrily in mid-sentence] I had a baby kitty-cat once. It was a little fluffy thing. Bobby gave it to me. Remember, Bobby? The little pussy cat you gave me.

Bobby: Yeah.

Rayette: It had two little white front paws. You know, I was crazy after her. We left her at some friends house and she got squashed flatter than a tortilla right outside their mobile home.

Samia: There. Do you see what I mean? The choice of words juxtaposed with the image of a fluffy kitten. The enchantment of words: "squashed," "flat" et cetera, et cetera.

Rayette: She was.

Samia: Perhaps, but it was just what I was trying to point out.

Bobby: Don't sit there pointing at her.

Samia: I beg your pardon.

Bobby: I said don't point at her, you creep!

Samia: But I was just telling about the—

Bobby: Where the hell do you get the ass to tell anybody anything about class or who the hell's got it or what she typifies? You shouldn't even be in the same room with her, you pompous celibate!

Samia: Carl, this is really too much.

Carl: Just calm down now, Bobby.

Bobby: You're totally full of shit. You're all full of shit!

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Discussion on Appearance and Authenticity

Betty: That's a wig you wear, isn't it?

Bobby: Me?

Betty: [pats him on the head; laughs] Yeah, I told her it was you but that you were wearin a wig because on the TV you're mostly all, uh - bald up there!

Bobby: [laughs] Your, your little friend's real, real sharp. Uh, I don't, uh, I don't wear the wig on TV because if you're gonna be out there in front of two and a half million people, you've got to be sincere. I mean, I like to wear it when I'm in bowling alleys and slipping around, stuff like that. I think it gives me a little class. What do you think?

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Exploring Home and Its Activities

Bobby: What else do you do?

Catherine: [Laughs] Well, there's fishing, boating, and concerts on the mainland. I feel funny telling you this. This is really your home. You probably know better than I what there is to do.

Bobby: Nothing.

Catherine: Nothing?

Bobby: Nothing.

Catherine: Well, it must be very boring for you here.

Bobby: That's right.

Catherine: I find that very hard to comprehend. I don't think I've ever been bored. Excuse me.

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Direct Conversations in Everyday Life

Bobby: What are you doing screwing around with all this crap?

Catherine: I do not find your language very charming.

Bobby: It isn't. It's direct.

Catherine: I'd like you to leave so that I can take a bath. Is that direct?

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Concerns About Safety in Daily Activities

Bobby: That's dangerous, you know.

Catherine: Riding?

Bobby: Mm-hmm. You play the piano all day and then jump on a horse, you could get cramps.

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The Frustration of Unused Innovations

Palm: You know, I read where they, uh, invented this car that runs on, ummm... that runs on, ummm... when you boil water?

Terry: Steam.

Palm: Right, steam. A car that you could ride around in and not cause a stink. But do you know they will not even let us have it? Can you believe it? Why? Man! He likes to create a stink! I mean, I've seen filth that you wouldn't believe. Ugh! What a stink! I don't even want to talk about it.

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Cleverness and Frustration in a Tense Exchange

Palm: Fantastic that you could figure that all out and lie that down on her so you could come up with a way to get your toast. Fantastic!

Bobby: Yeah, well, I didn't get it, did I?

Palm: No, but it was very clever. I would have just punched her out.

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Diner Menu Restrictions and Customer Frustration

Bobby: I'd like a, uh, plain omelette, uh, no potatoes, tomatoes instead, a cup of coffee, and wheat toast.

Waitress: No substitutions.

Bobby: What do you mean? You don't have any tomatoes?

Waitress: Only what's on the menu. You can have a number two - a plain omelette. It comes with cottage fries and rolls.

Bobby: Yeah, I know what it comes with, but it's not what I want.

Waitress: Well, I'll come back when you make up your mind.

Bobby: Wait a minute. I have made up my mind. I'd like a plain omelette, no potatoes on the plate, a cup of coffee, and a side order of wheat toast.

Waitress: I'm sorry. We don't have any side orders of toast. I'll give you an English muffin or a coffee roll.

Bobby: What do you mean you don't make side orders of toast? You make sandwiches, don't you?

Waitress: Would you like to talk to the manager?

Palm: Hey, Mac . . .

Bobby: [''to Apodaca''; ''to the waitress''] Shut up. You've got bread and a toaster of some kind?

Waitress: I don't make the rules.

Bobby: Okay, I'll make it as easy for you as I can. I'd like an omelette, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce, and a cup of coffee.

Waitress: A number two, chicken sal san, hold the butter, the lettuce, and the mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else?

Bobby: Yeah. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules.

Waitress: You want me to hold the chicken, huh?

Bobby: [''Palm and Terry smirk''] I want you to hold it between your knees.

Waitress: You see that sign, sir? Yes, you'll all have to leave. I'm not taking any more of your smartness and sarcasm.

Bobby: [sweeps all the water glasses and menus off the table] You see this sign?

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The Best Places to Stop on the Road

Palm: Hey, follow that truck. They know the best places to stop.

Bobby: That's an old maid's tale.

Palm: Bullshit! Truck drivers are the only ones that know the best places to stop on the road.

Bobby: Salesmen and cops are the ones. If you'd ever waitressed, honey, you'd know that.

Palm: Don't call me honey, mac.

Bobby: Don't call me mac, honey.

Uncertainty in Love and Relationships

Rayette: You love me, Bobby?

Bobby: [they kiss] What do you think?

Celebrating Small Victories in Competition

Rayette: That was real good, wasn't it? I finally did it!

Bobby: [Turns around to bowlers at next lane] Great. You throw the big Z's for 19 frames, and then you throw a strike on the last ball of a losing game. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Isn't that wonderful, ladies?

Twinky: Are you talking to us?

Bobby: Wonderful.

Hopeful Expectations in a Casual Conversation

Bobby: You're just gonna sit here?

Rayette: Yes.

Bobby: Okay. I hope no one hits on you.

Rayette: I hope they do.

Reflections on Self-Worth and Acceptance

Palm Apodaca: People. Animals are not like that. They're always cleaning themselves. Did you ever see, umm... pigeons? Well, he's always picking on himself and his friends. They're always picking bugs out of their hair all the time. Monkeys too. Except they do something out in the open that I don't go for.

Catherine Van Oost: You're a strange person, Robert. I mean, what will you come to? If a person has no love for himself, no respect for himself, no love of his friends, family, work, something - how can he ask for love in return? I mean, why should he ask for it?

Betty: [grabs her cheeks with both her hands; presses one finger on her chin; holds one hand over her chin] When I was four, just four years old, I went to my mother and I said, "What's this hole in my chin?" - I saw this dimple in my chin in the mirror, and didn't know what it was. And my mother said - get what my mother says - she says, "When you're born, you go on a assembly line past God, and if He likes you, He says, "You cute little thing!" and you get dimples there. And if He doesn't like you, He goes, "Go away." So about six months later, my mother found me saying my prayers, and I was going, "Now I lay me down to sleep..." My mother says, "What are you covering up your chin for?" And I said, "Because if I cover up the hole, maybe He'll listen to me.

Selfless Love and Care in Relationships

Rayette Dipesto: There isn't anybody gonna look after you AND love you, as good as I do.

Conditional Love and Compromise

Rayette Dipesto: [to Bobby] I'll go out with you, or I'll stay in with you, or I'll do anything that you like for me to do, if you tell me that you love me.

Embracing the Beauty of Routine

Robert Bobby Dupea: [out of his car during a traffic jam, yelling at other motorists] Ants! Why don't we all line up like a goddamned bunch of ants! Its the most beautiful part of the day!

Struggling with Connection and Self-Identity

Robert Bobby Dupea: [to his father; sobs] I don't know if you'd be particularly interested in hearing anything about me. My life, most of it doesn't add up to much that I could relate as a way of life that you'd approve of. I move around a lot, not because I'm looking for anything really, but because I'm getting away from the things that get bad if I stay. Auspicious beginnings. You know what I mean? I'm trying to imagine your half of this conversation. My feeling is, I don't know, if you could talk we wouldn't be talking. That's pretty much the way that it got to be before I left. Are you all right? I don't know what to say. Tita suggested that we try to, I don't know— I think that she feels that we've got some understanding to reach. She totally denies the fact that we were never that comfortable with each other to begin with. The best that I can do is apologize. We both know that I was never really that good at it anyway. I'm sorry it didn't work out.