Sometimes quotes from songs and movies become so well-known and often used that eventually many people don’t even know that the expression came from a pop song or movie.
For example, have you ever heard this quote:
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
Do you know where that simple but inspiring quote is from?
It’s a line in the song “Beautiful Boy” by John Lennon that was written for his son Sean Lennon.
John Lennon's "Double Fantasy" album (which includes the song "Beautiful Boy")
Here are some of the most often quoted lines from movies that I could think of off the top of my head (in no particular order):
I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse!
-Marlon Brando (from “The Godfather“)
(I have a feeling) we’re not in Kansas anymore
-Judy Garland (from “The Wizard Of Oz“)
Go ahead, make my day!
-Clint Eastwood (from “Sudden Impact“)
What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.
-Strother Martin (from “Cool Hand Luke“)
Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!
-Charlton Heston (from “Planet Of The Apes“)
Have you seen any of these movies? Surely you’ve heard those quotes before. Did you know they were from those movies?
What other famous movie quotes can you think of?
Tokyo Five 
Quote from Rocky Balbca:
Rocky Balboa: You ain’t gonna believe this, but you used to fit right here. I’d hold you up to say to your mother, “this kid’s gonna be the best kid in the world. This kid’s gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew.” And you grew up good and wonderful. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilege Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that! I’m always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You’re my son and you’re my blood. You’re the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain’t gonna have a life. Don’t forget to visit your mother.
http://www.moviejit.com/2013/02/rocky-balboa-world-aint-all-sunshine-and-rainbows/
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That’s from “Rocky V“, isn’t it?
That’s a nice father-to-son speech…but I was going more for famous quotes from pop culture (music, movies, TV, etc) that have become commonly quoted by people in conversation (sometimes without even knowing where it’s from.)
From “Rocky”, I think:
“Yo, Adrian!”
is pretty well-known.
I just remembered another:
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How about this one word quote from “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation”: “Squirrel”!!! It is from the scene where the elder uncle screams this aloud, after he spots a squirrel inside the Christmas tree in the family room, among the frightened Griswold family on Christmas Eve.
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Oh yeah, that was funny.
Have you ever seen “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles“? It’s a funny movie!
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“Soylent Green is people! We’ve gotta stop them somehow!”
“I am not a number, I am a free man.”
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Soylent Green (starring Charlton Heston, who said the quote from “The Planet Of The Apes” that I mentioned above) freaked me out when I watched it as a kid.
>“I am not a number, I am a free man.”
I seem to recognize that quote but I can’t recall which movie it’s from. Please remind me.
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It’s from a TV show, not a movie: The Prisoner.
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Oh I don’t think I know that show. I was thinking of this quote actually:
sometimes we wanna more in life
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Is that from a movie? I don’t recognize it. Which movie?
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How about this “classic” segment/line from the 1979 film “…And Justice For All” with the legendary Al Pacino playing “Kirkland”: “you’re out of order! You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They’re out of order!”
This movie is a goooood one and that scene still gives me ostrich bumps on my arms! 😮
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I don’t know that movie nor the quote. The only “…And Justice For All” I know is the Metallica album.
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OMG… I just knew you would mention that Metallica album! 😉
Really, if you want to watch a dramatic film classic with one of the greatest actors of our time… this is a fabulous movie to watch. I haven’t seen this movie in quite some time… now I’m gonna probably buy it if I can find it “cheap”.
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>I just knew you would mention that Metallica album!
Of course! 😉
>a dramatic film classic with one of the greatest actors of our time… this is a fabulous movie to watch.
I’ll see if I can find it the next time I’m at the video rental shop.
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“You’re gonna need a bigger boat” — Chief Brody, Jaws.
“I find your lack of faith disturbing” — Darth Vader, Star Wars.
“You talkin’ to me?” — Travis Bickle, Taxi Driver.
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Those are all classic lines. I can’t believe I didn’t remember them myself…especially since I really like JAWS and the next quote is one of Darth Vader‘s best!
How about:
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OH man. These are great. Love this movie talk!!! 🙂
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>These are great.
Thanks. Please comment on my site anytime!
>Love this movie talk!!!
Me, too.
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You have some good ones .. others famous one I can think of:
“May the force be with you” – Star Wars
“Here’s looking at you kid” – Casablanca
“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” – Gone with the Wind
You can also find the AFI Top 100 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years…100_Movie_Quotes
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>“May the force be with you” – Star Wars
I mentioned that one in this comment.
>“Here’s looking at you kid” – Casablanca
“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” – Gone with the Wind
Yeah, those are famous…I didn’t list those because I only wrote quotes from movies that I personally like.
(That’s why I didn’t include anything from “Forrest Gump”. I hated that movie! 😉 )
>You can also find the AFI Top 100
I’m sure there are lists online. I tried to include only that I personally remembered.
It’s been awhile since you’ve commented on my site. Please comment anytime!
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In Die Hard 2:
John McClane: “I don’t want to die.”
Helicopter pilot: “So why are you doing this???”
John McClane: “I don’t want to lose either.”
This is a nice post. Really.
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>In Die Hard 2:
I love the Die Hard movies!
How about from Die Hard 4.0 (I believe the U.S. title is “Live Fast Or Die Hard“):
>This is a nice post. Really.
Thank you very much.
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I’ve honestly never heard the music of Sean Lennon. Yoko Ono as a singer, well, as Lenny Wolf from Kingdom Come would say… “it is what it is”. 🙂
Gee Metal whiz… thank you for the compliment. Clown was such a friendly guy too… he just talked and I basically listened! I was not about to stop Clown in the middle of any of his thoughts… no way! I always conduct an interview that would make Kenny Rogers proud, I approach it this way: “Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away and know when to run”. 😉
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>I’ve honestly never heard the music of Sean Lennon.
You’re not missing anything! 😉
Actually I saw Sean Lennon walking around Tokyo with his girlfriend once a few years ago.
>Clown was such a friendly guy too…
With the image of Slipknot, it’s hard to imagine any of the members of that band being “friendly”! 😉
Have you seen any of my interviews?
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Yes, I have read your interviews… I want to interview Jason McMaster someday! That Dangerous Toys band was very, very, cool. They still do gigs now and again too.
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My bad… I forgot to add: Your interviews are written very well and I have enjoyed them all.
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>I want to interview Jason McMaster someday!
E-mail him. I bet he’d agree to do it.
>That Dangerous Toys band was very, very, cool
I think so too. Especially their first two albums.
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>Your interviews are written very well and I have enjoyed them all.
Thanks very much!
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I bought DOUBLE FANTASY as soon as it was released. Don’t care for Yoko Ono’s songs, but really love John Lennon’s.
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Yeah, I don’t like Yoko Ono’s “music” either…nor anything I’ve ever heard by John Lennon’s sons Sean or Julian.
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I’ve always been a fan of Julian Lennon. I saw him perform “live” at The Hartford Bushnell Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. It was back in 1986… Julian was supporting his “The Secret Value of Daydreaming” album. I still have the cassette… sold the CD years ago cause I was a broke college student then. 😦
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>I’ve always been a fan of Julian Lennon. I saw him perform…supporting his “The Secret Value of Daydreaming” album.
Really? His music doesn’t appeal to me, personally…but I do think it’s much better than Yoko Ono or Sean Lennon’s releases.
By the way, I saw your interview with the drummer of Slipknot.
Great job!
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I forget which “Death Wish” movie it is from, yet I always get a kick out of Charles Bronson’s single word quote: “Goodbye”… as he shoots down a psycho killer at the end of the movie.
Those early Planet of the Apes movies are incredible. The first movie is just like a nightmare… one that poor Charleton Heston could never wake up from!
One of my favorite movies of all-time is “Escape From New York”. I love the many quotes from that movie: “My friends call me Snake” and “Your, your the Duke of New York, your A #1” LOL it’s funny stuff. 🙂
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I have seen the “Death Wish” movies and “Escape From New York” (as well as the sequel, “Escape From L.A.”) but it was years ago…I don’t remember those quotes.
I can’t believe, though, that I neglected to include my favorite movies…the “Die Hard” series!
and
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Yup! I have seen all the movies and knew the quotes. I’ve heard John Lennon’s song, but forgot that part of the lyrics. It’s really a beautiful thought. This was a fun post.
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>forgot that part of the lyrics.
John Lennon was a genius with words. That song lyric has become an oft-quoted expression.
>This was a fun post.
Thank you.
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Ahhh…man, I like to think I know movies pretty well, but I really have some pretty serious holes to fill.
“It’s not my fault” is said a few times, mostly by Han I think. Most memorably when the hyperdrive won’t work. Lando also says it.
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>“It’s not my fault” is said a few times, mostly by Han…Lando also says it.
I was thinking it sounded like something that either the Han Solo or C3P0 character would say.
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I knew the character was Dirty Harry played by Clint Eastwood, but I didn’t really get into Westerns until about a year or two ago. So I didn’t know which of his movies it was from, bad as that is.
Haha, yes, that’s a good one. I’m also partial to “It’s not my fault!”
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>I knew the character was Dirty Harry…but I didn’t really get into Westerns until about a year or two ago.
The five movies in the “Dirty Harry” movie series aren’t “Westerns”. They’re police action movies.
Dirty Harry is a San Francisco police detective. The first movie is loosely based on the true unsolved “Zodiac Murders” case in San Francisco (the movie’s villain is called the “Scorpio Killer”).
The first one also has a famous quote:
(Actually it’s often misquoted simply as “Do you feel lucky, punk?”)
The first four “Dirty Harry” movies are great…the fifth one (“The Dead Pool”) is mediocre. Jim Carrey and the band “Gun ‘N Roses” make cameos in it.
>I’m also partial to “It’s not my fault!”
I don’t remember that one. Who’s line?
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Good ones, though I don’t particularly care for John Lennon. Somehow I missed Sudden Impact, though of course I know the line. Gotta go back and watch that.
For me just about every line for the original three Star Wars movies are quotable.
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>Good ones
Thanks.
>I don’t particularly care for John Lennon
How can you not like John Lennon? He was a master songwriter / musician!
>Somehow I missed Sudden Impact
You didn’t know it was “Dirty Harry” in the movie Sudden Impact who said “Go ahead, make my day!” ?
>For me just about every line for the original three Star Wars movies are quotable.
I agree. Star Wars impacted pop culture tremendously. I considered adding a “Star Wars” quote…but couldn’t decide on one that is often quoted in conversation (unless the conversation is about the movie).
Of course, “May The Force Be With You” is probably the most famous Star Wars quote, but I prefer:
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