31 quotes
Irony in Despair and Confrontation
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
What are you laughing at?
La Condesa
My house has been burned, they have taken everything I had - now I am being taken to prison to an island I know nothing about, and you are giving me a Sunday School sermon.
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
You can put your robe back on, now.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Navigating Love and Gender Expectations
Jenny Brown
David's an artist. A wonderful one. He's caught up with social conscience right now, but he'll get over that.
Mary Treadwell
Is it serious?
Jenny Brown
I never felt about anybody the way I do about David. Only that David thinks a woman should follow three paces behind - with slippers.
Mary Treadwell
Men usually do. My husband certainly did.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Importance of Independence for Women
Jenny Brown
My mother's never been satisfied with it. She taught me that a woman had to have something of her very own outside of her husband; otherwise, it was bridge games and one day a week at the hospital.
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Desire for Unconditional Love
Mary Treadwell
Everybody on this ship is in love. Love me whether or not I love you. Love me whether I am fit to love. Love me whether I am able to love. Even if there is no such thing as love. Love me.
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The Pain of Misplaced Connection
Glocken
One of the saddest things in the world must be to see two people who feel so much for each other and who feel that they belong together and, yet they really don't belong together at all.
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Finding Goodness in Everyone
Lowenthal
I like people; if you look for it, you can find something good in anybody.
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Curiosity of an Observer in Silence
Glocken
I am sorry. I don't mean to pry. You know, the distasteful curiosity of the nonparticipant.
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Embracing Irresponsibility After Life's Trials
La Condesa
Did you ever have all the worst possible things that can happen to you, happen? Well, it gives you the most irresponsible feeling. Nothing more can happen.
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Cultural Perspectives and Personal Discontent
Lizzi Spoekenkieker
Do you know what they say in Mexico? Mexicans loathe the Americans, hate the Spaniards, distrust the English, admire the French, and love the Germans.
Rieber
That is all very nice. I am glad they say those things, but, as far as I am concerned, after a few weeks in Mexico, you can keep the Mexicans too.
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A Journey with Diverse Fools
Glocken
My name is Karl Glocken, and this is a ship of fools. I'm a fool, and you'll meet more fools as we go along. This tub is packed with them: emancipated ladies, ball players, lovers, dog lovers, ladies of joy, tolerant Jews, dwarfs - all kinds. And who knows, if you look closely enough, you may even find yourself on board.
[first lines; walks up to the ship's railing]
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Observations from Veracruz's Diverse Passengers
Capt. Thiele
I'm glad to get out of Veracruz. The whole damn country is ready to explode. Well, did you get a look at them? Anything interesting? Anything interesting at all?
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
There is a dwarf. That high. A couple of young American painters. And a Jewish salesman - with an infectious sense of humor.
[holds his hand level with his hip]
Capt. Thiele
Women, Willie. Women!
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
Well, a rather attractive middle-aged American woman, but I'm afraid she's too far from the cradle for you.
Capt. Thiele
Those are the kind that can sometimes appreciate what they are getting.
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The Illusion of Youth and Loneliness
Mary Treadwell
You are not young Mrs. Treadwell. You have not been young for years. Behind those old eyes, you hide a sixteen-year-old heart. Poor fool. Is that what men really find attractive? Baby, you just haven't managed to grow up, Mrs. Treadwell - of Murray Hill, Virginia. Now, you can paint your toenails gooey...you know how it ends don't you? Alone, sitting in a cafe, with a paid escort.
[to herself in the mirror; lights cigarette; puts cigarette out; starts to cry]
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Historical Misfortunes and Scapegoating in Dialogue
Rieber
Lowenthal, you know it is a historical fact that the Jews are the basis of our misfortunes.
Lowenthal
Of course.
Rieber
You agree?
Lowenthal
Of course. The Jews and the bicycle riders.
Rieber
The bicycle riders? Why the bicycle riders?
Lowenthal
Why the Jews?
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Reflections on Life and Death
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
When I had my heart attack, there was a dream I had. You can talk about death - I've seen it many times as a doctor - but you never know what it's like until it happens to you... I dreamt I had already died. I dreamt I was in a box with sweat broke out all over my body. I wanted to cry out I can't be dead, I haven't lived!'.
Capt. Thiele
Who has?
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Cultural Identity and Personal Connection to Music
Lowenthal
Listen to that music, Glocken. Don't try to tell me you don't react to that music.
Glocken
Schmulz.
Lowenthal
Hmph, tell me, Glocken, now honestly, when you hear that music, wherever you are, don't you have a special feeling about being a German?
Glocken
I'll tell you, Leaven's honor, honestly, when I hear that music, wherever I am, I have a special feeling about being a dwarf.
Lowenthal
Ah, I remember being thousands of miles from home in a movie theater in New York; they put on a picture of the funeral of the Kaiserin Victoria. That good woman, how much she meant to all of us.
Glocken
You are German, aren't you? You are the most German person I have ever met.
[rolls eyes]
Lowenthal
Oh, I want to show you something. I take it out every once in a while and look at it when I want to feel good.
[chuckles]
Glocken
Well, the order of the Iron Cross, second class - and a war hero besides. You may be the biggest fool on this whole boat.
Lowenthal
Why do you say that?
[looks offended]
Glocken
Where have you been during this voyage?
Lowenthal
Do you think this boat is a cross-section of the German people? Huh, no. You don't know the average German the way I know him. The people that produced a ], a ], and a ] are not to be sneezed at, you know.
[[Goethe; [Beethoven; [Bach]
Glocken
Fifty percent of the people who produced a Goethe, a Beethoven, and a Bach voted for Rieber's party last week!
Lowenthal
Forty-four percent.
Glocken
Lowenthal, you are blind; you're absolutely blind! You can't see what's going on in front of your own face.
Lowenthal
What do you mean? Ah, you mean this business about the Jews? You don't understand us. The German-Jew is something special. We are Germans first and Jews second. We have done so much for Germany; Germany has done so much for us. A little patience, a little good will; it works itself out. Huh, listen, there are nearly a million Jews in Germany. What are they going to do? Kill all of us?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Exploring Connection Beyond Physical Intimacy
David
What's the matter?
Jenny Brown
Twenty-six days in separate beds. It's probably a very good thing. We'll get to know each other. We'll find out whether we have anything going for us besides sex.
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Ephemeral Connections on a Journey
La Condesa
To think, isn't it wonderful: two strangers on a ship - we will never meet again. We can talk - we can talk like friends, or even lovers... we can talk like two people who meet on the other side of the grave.
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
Keep talking.
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The Paradox of Passion and Survival
Bill Tenny
What's the matter? Don't you make any money paintin'?
David
No.
Bill Tenny
Oh, now wait a minute. Come on, wait a minute. You mean to tell me that you work at somethin that you can't make a livin off, so you got to take a job to make enough money to go on workin at the work you can't live on?
Glocken
But that is the heroic life. That is the way men who trust themselves can afford to live.
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Friendship Across Minority Boundaries
Lowenthal
You aren't Jewish, are you?
Glocken
No. I have my own minority group.
Lowenthal
They usually leave a Jew a table of his own, on a boat like this. Why do you think they put us together?
Glocken
It's their way of being friendly.
Lowenthal
You are sure, you are not Jewish?
Glocken
Reasonably sure.
[makes iffy hand gesture]
Lowenthal
You resemble a brother-in-law of mine in Stuttgart.
Glocken
That's the way it is, people are always mistaking me for someone else.
[chuckles]
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Seeking Support and Belief in Uncertainty
David
Look, I need all the help I can get. I need someone who can believe in a man who hasn't proven himself yet. Someone to be there. To be for me.
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Self-Perception and the Weight of Expectations
Bill Tenny
You don't know what its like to be out there and the crowd's yellin for you to deliver. And they start talkin'. Pitchers they talk. "You can't hit a curve ball on the outside corner." And from then on out, that's all you see is curve balls on the outside corner. So, you've had your big chance. And you have muffed it. Now, I can still hear my old man yellin at me from the stands, even though he wasn't there, "Big wheel, you are a bum! You are a bum just like me.
Glocken
You know, I think you're being a bit harsh on yourself, Herr Tenny.
Bill Tenny
A bum.
Glocken
You know, I travel a lot. My folks give me some money, not much, but some. They are more comfortable when I'm not around, but you know what I find? I find the most amusing things about people are their guilts that they drum up for themselves. For instance, I estimate that there must be at least 873 million people in the world who don't even know what a curve ball on the outside corner is. So, I think it a bit excessive for you think that you have muffed your whole life just because you couldn't hit it! Paddle or no paddle.
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A Defiant Denunciation of Divine Presence
Fat Man
God? There is not God down here. You know what I would do if God were here? I would curse him to his face. I would spit in his face! I would turn him down into his own Hell!
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Navigating Prejudice with Understanding and Resilience
Freytag
Doesn't it bother you that you and that little man are the only two Germans not at the Captain's Table?
Lowenthal
Do you think that bothers me? Besides, I like that little man; what kind of salesman do you think I would be if I couldn't deal with a situation like that? A salesman is supposed to deal a difficult situation and overcome it. Listen, it's not a new story: white men hate black men, Muslims hate Buddhists-that's the way it goes. There's prejudice everywhere. It does no good to give it back. You have got to use your noggin'.
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Contemplating Life's Meaning on a Ship
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
I wonder if it's true, that life is as stupid and meaningless as it seems to be on this ship.
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Desire for Change Amidst Despair
Fat Man
Miracle? What miracle? Can you make us a miracle? Can you get us out of this slop and into the upper decks where a man can breathe? That is a miracle!
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The Secret to a Good Night's Sleep
La Condesa
I'm sure you never have any problems sleeping.
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
No, never.
La Condesa
Tell me your secret.
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
A clear conscience, of course.
La Condesa
That's a neat trick: having a clear conscience when you work as a doctor on a ship which has six hundred people living on an open deck.
[sarcastically]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Exploring Prejudice in "Ship of Fools
Bill Tenny
What do they got against the Jews? Back home, we don't have anything against the Jews. Hell, I never even saw a Jew until I was fifteen.
Mary Treadwell
Maybe you were too busy lynching Negroes to take time out for the Jews.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Settling for What You Can Get
Mary Treadwell
If you can't get what you want, you damn well better settle for what you can get.
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The Joy of Dancing Through Life
Jenny Brown
I think I've been happiest when I was dancing... sometimes I wish that I'd tied a tape measure to my ankle when I danced all my life - then I could tell you how many miles I traveled when I was happiest.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Debate on Cleanliness and Responsibility at Sea
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
Who puts 600 people on a deck with only two outlets to wash?
Lt. Huebner
Huh, you don't know them; they wouldn't wash if they could. You don't know what pigs they are.
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
The deck is to be cleaned. Bring the hoses out.
Lt. Huebner
The hoses?
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
Bring the hoses out, I said!
Lt. Huebner
I cannot turn the hoses on them.
Dr. Wilhelm Schumann
It's better to turn the hoses on them than for them live this way, no?
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The Journey Through Adolescence and Beauty
Lowenthal
How old are you?
Elsa
Sixteen.
Lowenthal
Adolescence. What is adolescence? Adolescence is a time when people worry about things there's no need to worry about. Sixteen... I promise you, at seventeen you will be even more charming than you are now. At twenty-one, you will be gorgeous. And at twenty-five... devastating! And I won't stand any arguments!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.