5 Great Movie Speeches

"That's the real question, isn't it? Why? The “how” and the “who” is just scenery for the public. Oswald, Ruby, Cuba, the Mafia, keeps them guessing like some kind of parlor game. Prevents them from asking the most important question: Why? Why was Kennedy killed? Who benefitted? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?"

JFK - (1991)
Donald Sutherland as X
Screenplay by Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar



“You know, so much of the time we're just lost. We say, 'Please, God, tell us what is right; tell us what is true.' And there is no justice: the rich win, the poor are powerless. We become tired of hearing people lie. And after a time, we become dead - a little dead. We think of ourselves as victims, and we become victims. We become - we become weak. We doubt ourselves, we doubt our beliefs. We doubt our institutions. And we doubt the law. But today you are the law. You are the law. Not some book, not the lawyers, not the, a marble statue, or the trappings of the court. See those are just symbols of our desire to be just. They are - they are, in fact, a prayer - a fervent and a frightened prayer. In my religion, they say, "Act as if ye had faith, and faith will be given to you." If - if we are to have faith in justice, we need only to believe in ourselves. And act with justice. See, I believe there is justice in our hearts.”

The Verdict - (1982)
Paul Newman as Frank Galvin
Screenplay by David Mamet



“We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering - these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life! Of the questions of these recurring; Of the endless trains of the faithless; Of cities filled with the foolish; What good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

Dead Poets Society - (1989)
Robin Williams as John Keating
Screenplay by Tom Schulman



“Hello? Hello. I'm lookin' for my wife. Wait. OK...OK...OK. If this is where it has to happen, then this is where it has to happen. I'm not letting you get rid of me. How about that? This used to be my specialty. You know, I was good in a living room. They'd send me in there, and I'd do it alone. And now I just . . . But tonight, our little project - our company had a very big night - a very, very big night. But it wasn't complete. It wasn't nearly close to being in the same vicinity as complete because I couldn't share it with you. I couldn't hear your voice or laugh about it with you. I missed my - I missed my wife. We live in a cynical world, a cynical world, and we work in a business of tough competitors. I love you. You - complete me.”

Jerry Maguire - (1996)
Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire
Screenplay by Cameron Crowe



"Oh, you got a murderous rage in you, and I like it. It's life, boiling up inside of you. It's good. The Priest and me, we lived by the same principles. It was only faith divided us. He gave me this (points at face), you know. That was the finest beating I ever took. My face was pulp, my guts was pierced, and my ribs was all mashed up. And when he came to finish me, I couldn't look him in the eye. He spared me because he wanted me to live in shame. This was a great man. A great man. So I cut out the eye that looked away. Sent it to him wrapped in blue paper. I would have cut 'em both out if I could have fought him blind. Then I rose back up again with a full heart and buried him in his own blood."

Gangs of New York - (2002)
Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill “The Butcher” Cutting
Screenplay by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan