Top 10 Movie Quote

1. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," says actor Clark Gable in the movie Gone With the Wind. This quote has meaning for me because it is all about setting an emotional boundary with someone in your life who is over-dramatic. As you know, Clark Gable's character in the movie starts off as a somewhat passive man and when he says this quote towards the end of the movie, he is saying in essence: "I've had enough of your drama and I'm not gonna take it anymore". Don't we all wish we could all break out of unhealthy relationships by saying such things to set boundaries with overly-expansive people?

2. "Say hello to my little friend," says Al Pacino's character in Scarface. This quote comes towards the end of the movie when his character has lost most of his sanity and decides to break out his gun and defend his drug-induced ego against the gangsters that are trying to take him out.

3. "I could've been a contender," says Marlon Brando's character in On the Waterfront. This quote is meaningful to so many of us because most of us can relate to the idea of giving up on our dreams or just not reaching them for some reason or other and thinking that we could've done more with our lives.

4. "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist," says Kevin Spacey's character in The Usual Suspects. That line makes the movie what it is and is also probably what won Kevin the best supporting actor oscar that year at the Oscar's. That line also resonates with me as a Christian because we do sometimes blame each other and ourselves for things that the devil is truly responsible for.

5. "Use the force, Luke," says the voice over of Alec Guiness's character in the movie Star Wars. This movie quote is important to me because it reminds us that we aren't really on our own in life and that we can call upon the universe for help in times of trouble.

6. "No wire hangers!" screams Faye Dunaway's portrayal of Hollywood actress Joan Crawford in the movie Mommie Dearest which is her adopted daughter's story of growing up while having Joan as a mom. This line really shows the insanity of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and is such a memorable line because of what it represents in the movie: wire hangers are beneath me (grandiosity) and are therefore beneath you (projection of self onto daughter).

7. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning," says Robert Duvall's character in Apocalypse Now. What I love about this quote is how the mind switches to survival mode in war and how your senses are heightened in such a situation so that certain smells become associated with "victory" no matter how insane the source of the smell and the reasoning behind the positive association.

8. "...we're not in Kansas anymore," says Judy Garland's character in The Wizard of Oz. This quote has become associated with leaving a state of naivete' and entering a whole new territory or being present for a whole new lesson in life. This quote has become part of our culture.

9. "My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everyone you know. Everyone you see. Everyone you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement," says Meg Ryan's character in Joe Versus the Volcano. I agree with this quote because it seems so true to life. Sometimes I feel awake and amazed with the world and other times I feel asleep with my actions being led by advertisements and subconscious ego greed. I first saw this quote on an advertisement for a Christian group on campus when I was in college and it intrigued me. At that point in my life, I think I was asleep for the most part.

10. "When you give up your dreams, you die," says Michael Nouri's character to Jennifer Beals' character towards the end of the movie. This quote always struck me as important even as a child. I do think that there is a part of you that dies when you give up on your dream. I'm often confused by people who say they've never had a dream. Don't we all? Did they just forget what it was? Did they have one and let it die? I'm still perplexed by this.