Ten Movie Quotes and What They Mean to Me

1) "Like Constantinople or Rome before it the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows. It is one we've performed for centuries. Gotham... must be destroyed". -Ras al-Ghul, played by Ken Watanabe in Batman Begins.

This quote is remarkable to me because it displays the full horror of justice untempered with mercy. The mysterious vigilante Ras al-Ghul makes this heartless statement as part of a challenge to Bruce Wayne, who has just finished his rigorous training in the skills he will use later to become Batman. Al-Ghul has ordered Bruce to kill a criminal that Al-Ghul's own men have snatched and imprisoned. Bruce refuses because of his own sense of compassion. Bruce, unlike al-Ghul, has a keen sense of balance between justice and mercy, one which enables him to assume the mantle of Batman.

2) "You can lie to yourself and your minions / You can claim that you haven't a qualm / But you never can run from / Nor hide what you've done from the eyes / The very eyes of Notre Dame!" -the Archdeacon, played by David Ogden Stiers in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The Archdeacon sings these compelling lines in the midst of a confrontation between himself and the tyrannical Judge Claude Frollo. The judge has just slain an innocent Gypsy mother who had been running from him in an attempt to protect her child, the infant hunchback Quasimodo. Frollo picks up the child, gasps at its ugliness, and then decides to throw it down the nearest well, as it is not a baby but "a monster!" The Archdeacon sees him just in time and orders him to stop. Frollo defends himself by claiming that his conscience is clear, and the Archdeacon challenges his claim with the quoted lines. His powerful song points out that, in reality, Frollo is deluding himself; his unmerciful actions are not sanctioned by conscience, nor morality, and he will inevitably pay the price for his deeds. This taught me that people should not be judged based on their appearance, but rather, they should be shown mercy.

3) " What's wrong, Ani?
"I... I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead. Every single one of them... and not just the men, but the women and the children too. They're like animals and I slaughtered them like animals! I hate them! " Padme Amidala (played by Natalie Portman) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones.

After a dream in which he saw his mother dying, Anakin and Padme traveled to Anakin's home planet Tatooine in an attempt to find his mother. Eventually, they find out that Anakin's mother was kidnapped by the vicious Tusken Raiders. Anakin, leaving Padme behind, tracks them down. He finds his mother in a Tusken camp, but only just in time to watch her die in his arms. Enraged, Anakin slaughters the entire camp, as he describes in this dialogue with Padme. This is Anakin's first real turn towards the Dark Side, and it is caused by his own failure. Anakin let his anger over his mother's death overwhelm his sense of justice and transform it into a desire for vengeance.

4) " You turned her against me!"
"You have done that yourself."
"You will not take her from me!"
" Your anger and your lust for power have already done that. You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now... until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy. " Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) in Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith.

This quote shows the culmination of Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, begun by his choice made in Attack of the Clones. Anakin has fallen so far into insanity that he has just nearly killed Padme by choking her, while at the same time saying that Obi-Wan would not take Padme from him. Anakin's immoral choices not only affect him, but Padme and Obi-Wan, and of course the entire galaxy. Ironically, Anakin began his fall out of anger over his mother's death, and ends it by essentially killing his own wife.

5) "If the Witch understood the true meaning of sacrifice, she would have interpreted the deep magic differently. That when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, is killed in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack, and even death itself will go backwards."-Aslan, voiced by Liam Neeson, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

This is perhaps the central point of the movie, as it describes the reason why Aslan, the lion who rules the world of Narnia, has come back to life after being killed by the White Witch. The witch killed him in place of Edmund Pevensie, who had betrayed his brother and sisters to her and, under the Narnian law of Deep Magic, deserved to die. But, since Aslan was killed instead of Edmund, the Deep Magic was essentially circumvented. This demonstrates, again, the value of mercy, as well as self-sacrifice.

6) "Many that live deserve death... and some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many". -Gandalf, played by Ian McKellan, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Frodo is carrying the One Ring of Power to Mordor, and has realized that he is being followed by Gollum, the former holder of the Ring who is desperate to get it back. Frodo tells the wizard Gandalf that he wishes Bilbo (Frodo's uncle) had killed Gollum when he'd had the chance. Gandalf replies with this quote, which makes a prediction that will eventually come to pass. In the final movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, when Frodo is unable to destroy the Ring, Gollum will essentially do it for him.

7) "I know your head aches; I know you're tired; I know your nerves are as raw as meat in a butcher's window. But think what you're trying to accomplish. Think what you're dealing with. The majesty and grandeur of the English language, it's the greatest possession we have. The noblest thoughts that ever flowed through the hearts of men are contained in its extraordinary, imaginative, and musical mixtures of sounds. And that's what you've set yourself out to conquer Eliza. And conquer it you will." -Professor Henry Higgins, played by Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady.

The main story of My Fair Lady is Professor Higgins's efforts to teach Eliza Doolittle, an ordinary flower-girl, to speak better English instead of her usual "cockney" slang. Up until this point, the professor is rude, arrogant, and decidedly misogynist, and as a result, Eliza fails to learn anything. However, at this moment in the movie, for the first time, the professor treats Eliza respectfully, as a person, expressing confidence in her ability instead of denigrating her. As a result, shortly after, Eliza begins to speak much better English. Not only does this quote teach me about the value of the English language, it is also a lesson on respect and kindness.

8) "A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy. You may ask, why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous? Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: Tradition! ". Teyve, played by Chaim Topol in Fiddler on the Roof.

This movie is one of my all-time favorites, partly because of the catchy music and often witty dialogue, but also because of the profound issues that it brings up. This quote is essentially the main conflict of the movie, as Teyve, a Jewish milkman living in Tsarist Russia, attempts to adapt to the rapidly changing world around him. Although he accepts some changes, such as his daughters no longer asking his permission before marrying, Tevye never lets go of his deepest convictions, primarily his faith and Jewish identity. This shows the importance of keeping a careful balance between adjusting to the world around you and keeping hold of your own identity.

9) "V'oktyabreh, v'oktyabreh, rahpar tu ium miy nashe pabiediy. V'oktyabreh, v'oktyabreh, Novie meeir fahli numnashy dehidiy."
(In October, in October, we report our victories to you, our Revolution.And to the heritage left by you for us."
-lyrics of the Hymn to the Red October, written by Basil Poledouris for The Hunt for Red October".

While this quote in Russian may not convey any moral principle per se, they do reflect upon the rest of the movie. The lyrics are rather ironic under the circumstances, as the movie is about a Soviet submarine captain who is trying to flee from the oppression of the Soviet Union; in essence, he is abandoning the heritage that the lyrics of his own theme appear to celebrate. Thus, the lyrics could be read as an indictment of the problems of the Soviet system, in that it promised freedom and victory, but instead led only to oppression and, eventually, defeat by implosion.

10) ""And Saint Attila raised the Hand Grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this Thy Hand Grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies into tiny pieces... in Thy mercy.' And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large chu - [Skip a bit, Brother.]" "And the Lord spake, saying, 'First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once at the number three, being the third number be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."' "Amen." -A cleric, and Brother Maynard, played by Michael Palin and Eric Idle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

This quote is a reminder that, after discussing many serious issues and moral principles, one needs to have a little fun. Lolz, as they say on the Net.