Eloquence is a gift that most of us, at one time or another, find lacking. In cases like that, there is nothing wrong with stealing a quote from a book, a play or a movie to make your point.
Here are some examples of how to use movie quotes to spice up your speech. I’ll bet you can find the quotes, but I also bet you can’t guess all the movies they came from!
1. College professor to class of freshmen:
“I just want to remind all of you that your analysis of Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily is due on Wednesday. So let it be written. So let it be done.”
2. Mother to teenage daughter:
“No, you are NOT going to get a tattoo on your crotch! Get it? Got it! Good!”
3. Suspect being arrested by cops:
“I couldn’t help robbing that guy, you know? I come from Earth, a planet of outlaws. It’s what I am.”
4. Boss chiding an errant employee:
“What you did is beyond all my experience. To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people. That’s all I can think of to say.”
5. Old person to young person who just asked what it’s like to be old:
“It’s the only disease that you don’t look forward to being cured of. Other than that, it’s just like being young, if you don’t mind the fact that you aren’t young anymore.”
6. Inexperienced coach to Little League team before a game:
“We’ve lost every game so far, but that was last month! Carpe diem! Seize the day, boys! Make your lives extraordinary! Today we are going to go out there and win one for The Gipper, dammit!”
#5 looks like something I would write.
Oh no! Your humor is starting to rub off on me! Here I thought you were one of a kind!
We must see to it that you remain one of a kind. I will repeat to myself over and over, “I will NOT write like Bill Y Ledden. I will not write like Bill Y Ledden. I will NOT … etc., etc.
I would say this post is a bit of ALRIGHT,ALRIGHT,ALRIGHT!
Does this mean I might win an Oscar for this? If so, they would have to create a special category just for me: Humor Writer Who Gets Laughs From Movie Stuff. 😉
You did right to become a humorist, because, surely, you can’t be serious.
I don’t quite know what to make of your comment! LOL!!
One of my favorite movie quotations is from “Airplane.” Leslie Nielsen responds, “I AM serious. . . . And don’t call me Shirley.”
D’oh! How could I miss THAT one? LOL!
Although I think my favorite quote from “Airplane” comes when the two Hari Krishnas turn down a request for money by saying, “We gave at the office.”