# Best single lines of dialogue from artistic works **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111 "2023-02-20T22:37:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/21 "2023-02-21T16:04:48Z")
Who can forget this classic line from _Full Metal Jacket_ (does it belong HERE or the thread about **worst** lines?): “I bet you’re the kind of guy that would f\*\*\* a person in the a\*\* and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around.” Edit; There are some other great lines from the film but they contain racial epithets so I was NOT sure they would be appropriate to post here. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/22 "2023-02-21T16:08:02Z")
“This is the perfect time to panic!” _Toy Story_ ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/23 "2023-02-21T16:14:06Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Not forgetting > “Well, nobody’s perfect” > (_Some Like It Hot_) I’d rank that second on “funniest lines” list. First? I’d give it to: **“Where’re all the white women at?”** Blazing Saddles. A great line, just one of those great comedic moments played out perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/24 "2023-02-21T16:53:27Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > ‘You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.’ > –To Have and Have Not You know how to dial, don’t you, Rigby? You just put your finger in the hole, and make little circles." -Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/25 "2023-02-21T17:22:55Z")
“The cheaper the crook the gaudier the patter.” Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade to Sidney Greenstreet as Mr. Gutman re: Elisha Cook, Jr. (can’t remember _his_ character’s name). ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/26 "2023-02-21T17:30:00Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > “This is the perfect time to panic!” _Toy Story_ “That’s not flying, that’s-- falling with style!” ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/27 "2023-02-21T17:32:03Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > re: Elisha Cook, Jr. (can’t remember _his_ character’s name). Probably because it was Wilmer Cook. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/28 "2023-02-21T17:35:13Z")
Ha! That’s right. And I think I did notice it. Old brain. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/29 "2023-02-21T17:46:46Z")
I’ve thought myself, “Cook – no that’s the actor’s name.” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/30 "2023-02-21T18:07:16Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@outlierrn](#): > > > > ‘You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.’ > > –To Have and Have Not > > You know how to dial, don’t you, Rigby? You just put your finger in the hole, and make little circles." > -Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid All dames are alike – they reach down your throat so they can grab your heart, pull it out, throw it on the floor, stomp on it with their high heels, spit on it, shove it in the oven and cook the shit out of it, then slice it into little pieces, slap it on a hunk of toast, serve it to you, and they expect you to say “thanks honey, it’s delicious!” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/31 "2023-02-21T18:36:24Z")
“Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more. All the wealthy, unhappy people you’re ever met take sleeping pills; Mobile Infantrymen don’t need them. Give a cap trooper a bunk and time to sack out in it and he’s as happy as a worm in an apple - asleep.” ― Robert A. Heinlein, _Starship Troopers_ ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/32 "2023-02-21T21:21:43Z")
But she was naked,…and all articulate. –Mal Reynolds You guys are so unhip it’s a wonder your bums don’t fall off. –Zaphod Beeblebrox We’re in the pipe, 5 by 5. –Cpl Ferro ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/33 "2023-02-21T21:36:06Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > ‘You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.’ > –To Have and Have Not Sam Diamond: You know how to whistle, don’t you, baby? Tess Skeffington: Certainly. What do you mean? I don’t understand… Sam Diamond: All right, never mind. Forget it. You ruined it. –Murder by Death. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/34 "2023-02-21T21:50:50Z")
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli. -_The Godfather_. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/35 "2023-02-21T21:52:04Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > You’ve got me going down a Shakespeare rabbit hole. Or, Indeed, a Shakespeare In Love one. Will is addressed by his cab driver (in a row boat taxi): > I had that Christopher Marlowe in my boat once… j ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/36 "2023-02-21T21:57:04Z")
As it happens, I’m a bit of a playwright myself… ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/37 "2023-02-21T22:01:18Z")
This one from the _Get Smart_ reboot cracked us up when our kid was 8 – and we still laugh about it today: Smart: Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Chief: I don’t know. Were you thinking, “Holy shit, holy shit, a swordfish almost went through my head”? If so, then yes. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/38 "2023-02-21T22:03:23Z")
Queen Elizabeth: > Have a care with my name - you will wear it out! j ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/39 "2023-02-21T22:17:02Z")
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/40 "2023-02-21T22:21:25Z")
_Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him._ Graham Greene - Brighton Rock _Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice._ Gabriel García Márquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111.md?page=3)