Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.
Sara
I'd better tell you I'm a virgin. That's why I'm so cheeky. And I smoke a pipe.
Sara
They started arguing about God, and then they lost their tempers. And Anders tried to twist Viktor's arm, and Viktor said that was a lousy argument for God's existence.
Sara
How sweet they both are! I always agree with the one I spoke with last.