21 quotes
A Call to Action
Royal Tenenbaum
Let's shag ass.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Shared Aspirations of Belonging
Eli
I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum.
Royal
Me too, me too.
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A Conversation About Illness and Uncertainty
Royal
I'm dying, baby. I'm sick as a dog. I'll be dead in six weeks. I'm dying.
Etheline
What are you talking about? What happened? Oh, my God. I'm sorry. I didn't know. What'd they say? What's the prognosis?
Royal
Take it easy, Ethel. Hold on. Hold on.
Etheline
Where's the doctor? Let's get -
Royal
Wait a second. Listen. I'm not dying. But I need some time. A month. Maybe two. I want us to -
Etheline
What's wrong with you?
Royal
Ethel.
Etheline
Go away!
Royal
Baby. I am dying.
Etheline
Are you or aren't you?
Royal
Dying? Yes.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unrequited feelings and acceptance in conversation
Eli Cash
I'm not in love with you any more.
Margot
I didn't think you ever were.
Eli Cash
Let's not make this harder than it already is.
Margot
OK.
Eli Cash
OK what?
Margot
OK, I'm not in love with you any more either.
Eli Cash
I know. You're in love with Richie, which is sick and gross.
Margot
Do you send my mother your clippings? And your grades in ---
Eli Cash
Please stop belittling me. You never gave me the time of day until I started getting good reviews.
Margot
The reviews aren't that good.
Eli Cash
But the sales are.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unfulfilled Childhood Wishes and Support
Eli
I wish you'd've done this for me when I was a kid.
Richie
But you didn't have a drug problem then.
Eli
Yeah, but it still would've meant a lot to me.
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A Moment of Unexpected Clarity
Royal
Look, I know I'm gonna be the bad guy on this one. But I just wanna say the last six days have been the best six days of probably my whole life.
Narrator
Immediately after making this statement, Royal realized that it was true.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Eli Cash Reflects on Obsolete Vernacular
Eli Cash
Wildcat was written in a kind of obsolete vernacular. Wildcat...pkow. Okay, I'm gonna go.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Invitation to a Unique Family Reunion
Taglines
You Are Invited To A Remarkable Family Gathering.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Nature's Whispers in Dusk's Embrace
Eli Cash
The crickets and the rust-beetles scuttled among the nettles of the sage thicket. "Vámonos, amigos," he whispered, and threw the busted leather flintcraw over the loose weave of the saddlecock. And they rode on in the friscalating dusklight.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Conversation About Mescaline Usage
Richie
Did you just say you're on mescaline?
Eli
I did indeed. Very much so.
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Questioning Historical Narratives in Literature
Eli Cash
Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is... maybe he didn't?
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Unexpected Betrayal in a Life-Saving Moment
Royal
He saved my life, you know. 30 years ago, I was knifed in a bazaar in Calcutta. He carried me to the hospital on his back.
[indicating Pagoda]
Ari
Who stabbed you?
Royal
He did. There was a price on my head, and he was a hired assassin. Stuck me right in the gut with a shiv.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Family Defined Through Experience and Connection
Taglines
FAMILY ISN'T A WORD...IT'S A SENTENCE.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Casual invitation to a cemetery visit
Royal Tenenbaum
Anybody interested in grabbing a couple of burgers and hitting the cemetery?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Through Aggressive Actions
Royal Tenenbaum
I'm not talking about dance lessons. I'm talking about putting a brick through the other guy's windshield. I'm talking about taking it out and chopping it up.
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Questioning Genius and Perception in Critique
Eli Cash
Why would a review make the point of saying someone's not a genius? You think I'm especially not a genius? You didn't even have to think about it, did you?
[Pause]
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Loneliness and Love in the Ocean
Richie
Read it back to me so far, Pietro.
Pietro
Dear Eli, I'm in the middle of the ocean. I haven't left my room in four days. I've never been more lonely in my life, and I think I'm in love with Margot.
Richie
New paragraph.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Dark Humor in Despair
Royal Tenenbaum
He looks pretty good for a suicide. Attempted, anyway.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confronting Difficult Emotions Within Family Dynamics
Chas
Why'd you try to kill yourself?
Etheline
Don't press him right now.
Richie
I wrote a suicide note.
Chas
You did?
Richie
Yeah. Right after I regained consciousness.
Chas
Can we read it?
Richie
No.
Chas
Can you paraphrase it for us?
Richie
I don't think so.
Chas
Is it dark?
Richie
Of course it's dark. It's a suicide note.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Regret and Desire for Legacy
Royal Tenenbaum
Hell of a damn grave. Wish it were mine.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Locked Out of the Apartment
Etheline
Chas? What's going on?
Chas
We got locked out of our apartment.
Etheline
Well, did you call a locksmith?
Chas
Uh-huh.
Etheline
Well, I don't understand. Did you pack your bags BEFORE you got locked out?
Chas
It's not safe there.
Etheline
What are you talking about?
Chas
The apartment. I have to get some new sprinklers and a back-up security system installed.
Etheline
But there are no sprinklers here either.
Chas
We might have to do something about that too.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.