Quotes

Dialogue

Keating: "Seize the day. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may." Why does the writer use these lines? Charlie: Because he's in a hurry. Keating: No. Ding! Thank you for playing anyway. Because we are food for worms, lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold and die.

Dialogue

Keating: Language was developed for one endeavor, and that is… Mr. Anderson? Come on, are you a man or an amoeba? [pause] Mr. Perry? Neil: To communicate. Keating: No! To woo women!

Dialogue

Charlie Dalton: Welton Academy. Hello? Yes, he is. Just a moment. Mr. Nolan, it's for you. It's God. He says we should have girls at Welton. Keating: Phone call from God. If it had been collect, that would have been daring!

Dialogue

McAllister: You take a big risk by encouraging them to be artists, John. When they realize they're not Rembrandts, Shakespeares or Mozarts, they'll hate you for it. Keating: We're not talking artists, George, we're talking freethinkers. McAllister: Freethinkers at seventeen? Keating: Funny — I never pegged you as a cynic. McAllister: Not a cynic, a realist. "Show me the heart unfettered by foolish dreams, and I'll show you a happy man." Keating: "But only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be." McAllister: Tennyson? Keating: No, Keating.

Dialogue

Keating: Why do I stand up here? Anybody? Charlie: To feel taller! Keating: No! [Dings a bell with his foot] Thank you for playing, Mr. Dalton. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.

Dialogue

Keating: The picture of Uncle Walt up there. What does he remind you of? Don't think. Answer. Go on. Todd: A m-m-madman. Keating: What kind of madman? Don't think about it. Just answer again. Todd: A c-crazy madman. Keating: No, you can do better than that. Free up your mind. Use your imagination. Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it's total gibberish. Go on, go on. Todd: Uh, uh, a sweaty-toothed madman. Keating: Good God, boy, there's a poet in you, after all. There, close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close 'em. Now, describe what you see. Todd: Uh, I-I close my eyes. Keating: Yes? Keating: A sweaty-toothed madman? Todd: A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain. Keating: Oh, that's excellent. Now, give him action. Make him do something. Todd: H-His hands reach out and choke me. Keating: That's it. Wonderful. Wonderful. Todd: And, and all the time he's mumbling. Keating: What's he mumbling? Todd: M-Mumbling, "Truth. Truth is like, like a blanket that

Dialogue

Neil Perry: I just talked to my father. He's making me quit the play at Henley Hall. Acting's everything to me. I- But he doesn't know! He- I can see his point; we're not a rich family, like Charlie's. We- But he's planning the rest of my life for me, and I- He's never asked me what I want! John Keating: Have you ever told your father what you just told me? About your passion for acting? You ever showed him that? Neil Perry: I can't. John Keating: Why not? Neil Perry: I can't talk to him this way. John Keating: Then you're acting for him, too. You're playing the part of the dutiful son. Now, I know this sounds impossible, but you have to talk to him. You have to show him who you are, what your heart is. Neil Perry: I know what he'll say. He'll tell me that acting's a whim and I should forget it. They're counting on me; he'll just tell me to put it out of my mind for my own good. John Keating: You are not an indentured servant. It's not a whim for you. You prove it to him by your convic

Dialogue

Neil: "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die discover that I had not lived." Dalton: I'll second that. Neil: "To put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived."

Dialogue

Mr. Perry: We're trying very hard to understand why it is that you insist on defying us. Whatever the reason, we're not gonna let you ruin your life. Tomorrow I'm withdrawing you from Welton and enrolling you in Braighton Military School. You're going to Harvard, and you're gonna be a doctor. Neil: But, that's ten more years! Father, that's a lifetime! Mr. Perry: Oh, stop it! Don't be so dramatic! You make it sound like a prison term! You don't understand, Neil! You have opportunities that I never even dreamt of, and I am not going to let you waste them! Neil: I've got to tell you what I feel! Mrs. Perry: We've been so worried about you! Mr. Perry: What? What? Tell me what you feel! What is it? Is it more of this, this acting business? Because you can forget that! What? Neil: [pauses] Nothing. Mr. Perry: [pauses] Nothing? Well, then, let's go to bed.

Dialogue

Cameron: What's going on, guys? Charlie: You finked, didn't you, Cameron? Cameron: Finked? I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Charlie: You told Nolan about everything about that club is what I'm talking about! Cameron: Look, in case you hadn't heard, Dalton, there's something called an honor code at this school, alright?! If a teacher asks you a question, you tell the truth, or you're expelled. Charlie: He's a rat! He's in it up to his eyes, so he rattled to save himself! Knox: Don't touch him, Charlie. You do, and you're out. Charlie: I'm out anyway! Knox: You don't know that, not yet. Cameron: He's right there, Charlie. And if you guys are smart, you will do EXACTLY what I did and cooperate! They're not after us! We're the victims! Us and Neil. Charlie: What's that mean? Who are they after? Cameron: Why, Mr. Keating, of course! The "Captain" himself! I mean, you guys didn't really think he could avoid responsibility, did you? Charlie: Mr. Keating responsible for Neil? I