31 quotes
Audience Member Expresses Enthusiasm at Event
Audience member
YEAH! ALRIGHT!
[once Olive is done dancing]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Controversy Surrounds Beauty Pageant Winner's Forfeiture
Cindy
The girl who won had to forfeit her crown. I don't know why, something about diet pills. But anyway, now she has a place in the state contest.
[Sheryl's sister on answering machine]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Father's Pride in His Daughter's Performance
Pageant Official Jenkins
What is your daughter doing?
[outraged at Olive's talent act]
Richard
She's kickin ass, that's what she's doing.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Ice Cream Preferences Discussed Among Contestants
Olive
Do you eat ice cream?
Miss California
Yes. My favorite is Cherry Chocolate Garcia, except technically I think it's a frozen yogurt.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Language and Fashion in Little Miss Sunshine
Frank
Actually, Olive, "a la mode" in French translates as "in the fashion". A la mode. "Mode" is derived from latin "modus" do or proper...
Richard
Frank, shut up.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Acknowledging Support and Gratitude Among Friends
Frank
Not on your watch. I wouldn't do that to you.
Frank
Thank you, Dwayne. Coming from you, that means a lot. Goodnight.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Backstage Authorization Inquiry
Pageant Assistant Pam
Are you authorized to be backstage?
[Dwayne walks swiftly by]
Dwayne
No.
[emotionless, without stopping]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Embracing Suffering as a Path to Growth
Dwayne
I wish I could just sleep until I was eighteen and skip all of this, high school, everything.
Frank
Do you know who ] is?
[[Marcel Proust]
Dwayne
He's the guy you teach.
Frank
Yeah. French writer. Total loser. Never had a real job. Unrequited love affairs. Gay. Spent 20 years writing a book almost no one reads. But he's also probably the greatest writer since ]. Anyway, he, uh, he gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered, those were the best years of his life, cause they made him who he was. All those years he was happy? You know, total waste. Didn't learn a thing. So, if you sleep until you're 18-- ah, think of the suffering you're gonna miss. I mean high school? High school-- those are your prime suffering years. You don't get better suffering than that.
[[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Commitment to Team Loyalty
Frank
No one gets left behind! No one gets left behind! Outstanding soldier! Outstanding!
[saluting Dwayne]
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Finding the Dressing Rooms at the Pageant
Dwayne
Hey, where are the dressing rooms?
Contestant
Are you even allowed back here?
Dwayne
Just tell me where the dressing rooms are!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Sarcasm and Perceptions of Sympathy
Richard
I feel sorry for you.
Frank
You do?
[sarcastically]
Richard
Sarcasm is the refuge of losers.
Frank
It is? Really?
[sarcastically]
Richard
Sarcasm is losers trying to bring winners down to their level and that's step four in the program.
Frank
Thank you for opening my eyes to what a loser I am! How much do I owe you for those pearls of wisdom?
[sarcastically]
Richard
Oh, that one's on the house!
Sheryl
Guys, stop it, stop it!
Frank
He started it!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unexpected Dedication at a Pageant
Olive
I'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa, who showed me these moves.
Pageant MC
Aww, that is so sweet.
Pageant MC
Is he here? Where's your grandpa right now?
Olive
In the trunk of our car.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Silence of Choice and Philosophy
Frank
What, dinner? What you don't talk anymore?
Frank
Why not?
Frank
You can talk, but you choose not to.
Frank
Is that Nietzsche? You don't speak because of Friedrich Nietzsche?
Frank
Far out.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Embracing Individuality in Little Miss Sunshine
Sheryl
We have to let Olive be Olive.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Growing Relationship Between Olive and Frank
Olive
Hi, Uncle Frank!
Frank
Oh, hey, Olive. Wow, you're getting big, almost like a real person.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reluctance in the Face of Group Activity
Frank
Ok, but I'm not going to have any fun." Yeah, well, we're all with you on that one, Dwayne.
[reading Dwayne's writing]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Grandfather's Contribution to the Competition
Edwin
I'm not driving.
Sheryl
Well, Grandpa doesn't have to come.
Edwin
What? I coached her. I gave her the moves.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Conversation on Awareness and Clarity
Sheryl
What happened?
Richard
I'll tell you when I regain consciousness.
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Questioning Tolerance in Frustrating Situations
Frank
Is he always like this?
[about Richard's obsessiveness with winning]
Frank
How can you stand it?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Importance of Determination Over Luck
Olive
I practice everyday.
Frank
Well, then, good luck.
Richard
It's not about luck, Frank. Luck is the name losers give to their own failings. It's about wanting to win.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Exhaustion and Family Dynamics in Conversation
Edwin
Jesus, I'm tired. I'm so fucking tired. Do you know how tired I am? If some girl came up to me, begged me to fuck her, I couldn't do it. That's how tired I am.
Richard
Dad? Uh, watch the language, huh?
Edwin
She's listening to music. Olive, I'll give you a million dollars if you turn around. See?
[Olive is still listening to music while Richard and Sheryl look at her]
Richard
All right. But the rest of us.
Edwin
Oh, the rest of you. Can I give you some advice?
[turns to Dwayne]
Edwin
Well, I'm going to give it to you anyway. I don't want you making the same mistakes I made when I was young.
Richard
Can't wait to hear this.
Edwin
Dwayne, that's your name, right? Dwayne? This is the voice of experience talking. Are you listening? Fuck a lot of women, Dwayne.
Richard
Hey. Dad!
Edwin
Not just one woman. A lot of women.
Richard
That's enough, all right?
Edwin
Are you getting any?
Richard
Dad!
Edwin
You can tell me, Dwayne. Are you getting any?
Richard
Come on, please.
Grandpa
No? Jesus. You're what, 15? My God, man!
Richard
Dad!
Edwin
You should be getting that young stuff.
Richard
Dad. Dad! Hey!
Edwin
That young stuff is the best in the world. That young stuff is the best stuff in the whole world!
Richard
Hey, Dad, that's enough! Stop it!
Edwin
Will you kindly not interrupt me, Richard?! See, right now you're jailbait. They're jailbait. It's perfect. I mean, you hit 18, man, you're talking about three to five.
[turns to Dwayne]
Richard
Hey, I will pull this truck over right now!
Edwin
So pull the truck over! You're not going to shut me up! Fuck you, I can say what I want! I still got Nazi bullets in my ass!
Richard
Ah, the Nazi bullets!
Edwin
You're as bad as those fuckers at Sunset Manor.
Frank
What happened at Sunset Manor?
Sheryl
Frank, don't encourage him.
Edwin
What happened? I'll tell you what happened. I paid my money. They took my money. I should be able to do what the fuck I want!
Sheryl
He started snorting heroin.
[to Frank]
Frank
You started snorting heroin?
[to Edwin]
Edwin
I'm old!
[in response to Frank]
Frank
Well, that stuff will kill you.
Edwin
What am I, an idiot? And don't you start taking that shit. When you're young, you're crazy to do that stuff.
[to Dwayne]
Frank
Well, what about you?
[to Edwin]
Edwin
What about me? I'm old! When you're old, you're crazy not to do it.
Sheryl
We've tried, believe me. The intervention was a fiasco. He's worse than a two-year-old.
Richard
Can we please talk about something else?
Frank
I take it you didn't like it at Sunset Manor?
Sheryl
Frank.
Edwin
Are you kidding me? It was a fucking paradise. They got a pool, they got golf. Now I'm stuck with Mr. Happy here, sleeping on a fucking sofa. Look, I know you're a homo and all, but maybe you can appreciate this. You go to one of those places, there's four women for every guy. Can you imagine what that's like?
Frank
You must have been very busy.
Edwin
Whoa. I had second degree burns on my Johnson, I kid you not.
Frank
Really?
Edwin
Forget about it.
Olive
What are you talking about?
[takes off her headphones]
Edwin
Politics.
Olive
Oh.
[Puts her headphones back on]
Edwin
Fuck a lotta women, kid. I've got no reason to lie to you. Not just one woman. A lotta women.
[to Dwayne]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confronting Difficult Conversations in Family Dynamics
Olive
Why did you want to kill yourself?
Richard
No, don't answer the question, Frank.
Sheryl
Richard...
Richard
Don't answer it. He's not going to answer the question.
Frank
I wanted to kill myself because I was very unhappy..
Richard
He's sick! He is a sick man! He's sick in his head!
Sheryl
Richard!
Richard
I'm sorry, I don't think it's an appropriate conversation for a seven year-old.
Sheryl
Well, she's going to find out anyway.
Richard
Okay.
Sheryl
Go on, Frank.
Olive
Why were you unhappy?
Frank
There were a lot of reasons, mainly though I fell in love with someone who didn't love me back.
Olive
Who?
Frank
One of my grad students. I was very much in love with him.
Olive
Him? It was a boy? You fell in love with a boy?
Frank
Yes, I did. Very much so.
Olive
That's silly.
Frank
Yes, you're right. It was very, very silly.
Edwin
There's another word for it.
[under his breath]
Richard
Dad.
Olive
So that's when you tried to kill yourself.
Frank
Well, no, the boy that I was in love with fell in love with another man. Larry Sugarman.
Sheryl
Who's Larry Sugarman?
Frank
Larry Sugarman is perhaps the second most highly regarded Proust scholar in the U.S.
Richard
Who's number one?
Frank
That would be me, Rich.
Olive
So that's when...
Frank
No, uh, what happened was I was a bit upset, so I said some things that I shouldn't have said and did some things that I shouldn't have done, and subsequently I was fired from my job and forced to move out of my apartment and into a motel.
Olive
And that's when you..
Frank
Well, no. Actually, all of that was...okay, what happened was, two days ago the MacArthur Foundation, in its infinite wisdom, awarded a genius grant to Larry Sugarman. And that's when I...
Edwin
Decided to check out early.
Frank
Yes. Yes. And I failed at that as well.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Overcoming Feelings of Inadequacy
Olive
Grandpa?
Edwin
Yeah?
Olive
I don't wanna be a loser.
[tearfully]
Edwin
You're not a loser. Where'd you get the idea you're a loser?
Olive
Because... Daddy hates losers.
[breaking down]
Grandpa
Whoa whoa whoa, back up a minute. D'you know what a loser is? A real loser is someone who's so afraid of not winning, they don't even try. Now you're trying, right?
Olive
Yeah?
[tearfully]
Edwin
Well then you're not a loser! We're gonna have fun tomorrow, right?
Olive
Yeah.
[more cheerfully; takes her glasses off; wipes her eyes]
Edwin
We can tell em all to go to hell.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Officer's Warning Against Future Pageants
Officer Martinez
Okay, you're out. On the condition that you never enter your daughter in a beauty pageant in the state of California, ever again... ever.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Decision to Return
Frank
Do you want to go back?
Dwayne
Not really. Yeah, we should go back.
[long pause]
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Exploring Family and Social Connections
Frank
Who do you hang out with? No one?
[long pause]
Frank
What about your family?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Dinner Discontent and Family Tensions
Edwin
What's that? Chicken? Every night it's the fucking chicken! Holy God Almighty! Is it possible, just once, we could get something to eat for dinner around here that's not the goddamned fucking chicken?
Richard
Whenever you are ready to cook your own food, you're more than welcome to it.
Edwin
Well, at Sunset Manor, ya know...
Richard
If you liked Sunset Manor so much, you shouldn't have gotten yourself kicked out of there, right?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Playful Test of Perception and Vision
Olive
Mom, Dwayne's got 20/20 vision!
[going over eye test pamphlets]
Sheryl
I bet he does.
Olive
Now, let's see if you're colorblind.
Olive
What's the letter in the circle?
Olive
The letter in the circle?
Frank
Can you see a letter, Dwayne?
Olive
It's an "A". See? Right there?
Frank
It's bright green.
Frank
Dwayne, I think you might be colorblind.
Frank
You can't fly jets if you're colorblind.
Dwayne
FUCK!!!!!! FUCK!!!!!
[yelling; he collapses, screaming and sobbing, after breaking his nine-month vow of silence]
Sheryl
What happened?
Frank
He's colorblind. He can't fly.
Sheryl
Oh, Jesus. Oh, no. Dwayne? Dwayne, honey, I'm sorry. Dwayne, come on. We have to go.
[waits several moments, then approaches Dwayne]
Dwayne
I'm not going.
Sheryl
Dwayne.
Dwayne
I said I'm not, okay? I don't care, I'm not getting on that bus again.
Sheryl
Dwayne, for better or worse, we're your family.
Dwayne
No, you're not my family, okay? I don't want to be your family! I hate you fucking people! I hate you! Divorce, bankrupt, suicide?! You're fucking losers! You are losers!
[stands up; points to Sheryl, Richard, and Frank as he shouts]
Sheryl
Dwayne.
[whispers]
Dwayne
No, please just leave me here, Mom. Okay? Please, please. Please just leave me here.
[begins to cry again]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Concerns About Grandpa's Condition
Olive
Mom? Dad?
Richard
What is it, hon?
[half asleep]
Olive
Grandpa won't wake up.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Grandfather's Love and Affirmation of Beauty
Olive
Grandpa, am I pretty?
Edwin
Olive, you are the most beautiful girl in the whole world.
Olive
You're just saying that.
Edwin
No! I'm madly in love with you and it's not because of your brains or your personality. It's because you're beautiful, inside and out.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Mixed feelings about presence and connection
Sheryl
I'm so glad you're still here.
[after Frank tried to commit suicide]
Frank
Well, that makes one of us.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.