Five Great Movie Speeches

"You know the results of the latest Gallup Poll? Half the country never even heard of the word “Watergate”. Nobody gives a $#!t. You guys are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home, get a nice hot bath. Rest up - 15 minutes. Then get your asses back in gear. We're under a lot of pressure, you know, and you put us there. Nothing's riding on this except the, uh, First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys f@&^ up again, I'm going to get mad. Good night."

All President's Men (1976)
Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee
Screenplay by William Goldman



“You ain't gonna believe this, but you used to fit right here (points at hand). 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 you're 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 you 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, you ain't gonna have a life. Don't forget to visit your mother.”

Rocky Balboa (2006)
Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa
Screenplay by Sylvester Stallone



"There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then - a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try to talk some sense to him - tell him the way things are, but I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I gotta live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bull$#!t word. So, you go on and stamp your forms, sonny, and stop wasting my time, because to tell you the truth, I don't give a $#!t."

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding
Screenplay by Frank Darabont



"There are many fine careers. This country needs good farmers, good businessmen, good plumbers, good carpenters. I remember my old man. I think that they would have called him sort of a, sort of a little man, common man. Well, he didn't consider himself that way. You know what he was? He was a streetcar motorman first. Then he was a farmer, and then he had a lemon ranch. It was the poorest lemon ranch in California, I can assure you. He sold it before they found oil on it. And then he was a grocer. But he was a great man because he did his job, and every job counts, up to the hilt, regardless of what happened. Nobody will ever write a book, probably, about my mother. Well, I guess all of you would say this about your mother. But my mother was a saint. When I think of her two boys dying of tuberculosis, and seeing each of them die, and when they died. Yes, she will have no books written about her. But, she was a saint. Now, however, we look to the future. I remember something, uh, Theodore Roosevelt wrote when his first wife died in his twenties. He thought the light had gone from his life forever. But he went on and he not only became President, but as an ex-President he served his country, always in the arena, tempestuous, strong, sometimes right, sometimes wrong, but he was a man. And as I leave, that's an example I think all of us should remember. You see, we think sometimes when things happen that don't go the right way, we think that when someone dear to us dies, uh, when we lose an election, or when we suffer defeat, that all is ended. Not true. It's only a beginning, always, because the greatness comes not when things go always good for you, but the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you have been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. So, I say to you on this occasion, we leave, proud of the people who have stood by us and worked for us, and served this government and this country. We want you to continue to serve in government, if that is what you wish. Remember, always give your best. Never get discouraged. Never be petty. And always remember: Others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then, you destroy yourself. And so we leave with high hopes and good spirits and deep humility. And I say to each and every one of you, not only will we always remember you, but always you will be in our hearts, and you will be in our prayers. And only then will you find what us quakers call 'peace at the center'"

Nixon (1995)
Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon
Screenplay by Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, and Oliver Stone



“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? And well you should not, for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere. Yes, even between the land and the ship.”

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Frank Oz as Yoda
Screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan



I probably misnamed these "monologues" on previous posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.