# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/101 "2023-03-13T12:00:23Z")
“I don’t WANT to cure CANCER. I WANT to turn people into DINOSAURS.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/102 "2023-03-13T20:29:37Z")
I had a PRETTY MIND! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/103 "2023-03-13T21:38:05Z")
“You don’t fuck with the Jesus!” (The Big Lebowski, if anybody wonders) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/104 "2023-03-13T22:00:20Z")
“Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a _system of government_.” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/105 "2023-03-13T22:42:48Z")
# “It is easy to forget that in the main we die only seven times more slowly than our dogs.” ― Jim Harrison, [The Road Home](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/193341) Or anything by Hunter S. Thompson ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/106 "2023-03-13T22:49:24Z")
Is K-K-K-Kevin going to k-k-k-kill me? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/107 "2023-03-13T22:59:19Z")
A line that kills me, in context: “A walk for peace A long-necked waddle for peace.” ---
**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:** [March 14, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/108 "2023-03-14T00:09:18Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > Is K-K-K-Kevin going to k-k-k-kill me? Fish Called Wanda??? Isn’t it “Ken”? ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/109 "2023-03-14T17:44:22Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Fish Called Wanda??? > > Isn’t it “Ken”? Yes to the first question, and you’re probably right about the second point. It has been years since I saw it. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/110 "2023-03-14T18:14:30Z")
“Hang on, lads - I’ve got an idea” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/111 "2023-03-14T21:19:05Z")
I assume that’s from the end of the original _The Italian Job_. A great movie, but I really don’t like the ending. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/112 "2023-04-03T13:18:59Z")
I recently watched Brian Dennehy in _Death of a Salesman_, and this line just clobbered me: > I’m not a dime a dozen! I am Willy Loman! There it is in 10 words – the irony of living the entirety of your existence as one utterly unique person, and yet having the rest of civilization consider you an interchangeable, disposable cog. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/113 "2023-04-03T17:41:59Z")
And that is exactly the problem with working for a huge corporation. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/114 "2023-04-03T17:56:00Z")
Not really – it’s the problem with living in civilization. Very few people in any society do anything to distinguish themselves to anyone but their family and closest friends. Look around any time you’re in a crowd, and everyone you see is a dime a dozen. (Sure, they all look different, but for as much as you know about them they can be replaced by a thousand interchangeable people.) Yet each person is 100% unique and special to themselves. That’s the irony. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/115 "2023-04-03T18:05:29Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > “Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a _system of government_.” Which just made my mind hyperlink to a different movie: "That’s Capricorn, is it? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/116 "2023-04-03T18:07:25Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Yet each person is 100% unique and special to themselves. We even teach them they are unique and special to themselves: “You’re the best you anyone can be!” ---
**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:** [April 3, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/117 "2023-04-03T18:11:30Z")
Right? And it’s true! Kids _should_ be taught to value themselves in all their uniqueness. But then they get out into the real world and eventually realize the real world doesn’t give a shit about them. Both “you are unique” and “you’re a dime a dozen” are equally true, even though they’re diametrically opposed. It’s the ultimate irony. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/118 "2023-04-03T20:14:49Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Look around any time you’re in a crowd, and everyone you see is a dime a dozen. I’m lookin’ for the guy who’s supplyin’ the dimes. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/119 "2023-04-04T02:46:49Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “You don’t fuck with the Jesus!” We’ve got a senior pastor; old, grey and distinguished. He slips a Lebowski line into every sermon. He said he’d love to have **Don’t Fuck with The Jesus** on the “Today’s Sermon” display out in front of the church… but we’ve never had one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-single-lines-of-dialogue-from-artistic-works/980111/120 "2023-04-04T13:11:14Z")
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