Classic Movie Quotes and Lines -
All from movies dated pre-1970's

Classic movie quotes can have lots of definitions but in this site these are movie quotes taken from movies released pre-1970’s. Why? Well, simply because these excellent movies deserve their own category where they can be properly paid homage.

A fine quality of movie lines from classic movies has been gathered here to wet your movie appetite and to remind you of the brilliance of these movies. Have no fear as this list will be updated regularly with more classic movie quotes so if you like what you see keep coming back!

If want to add your favorite classic movie quotes, please do not hesitate to send it by clicking here. Also, if you click on the small images below you will be taken to the DVD/Blu-ray of the movie, brought to you by Amazon.

Let’s commence this nostalgic trip down the classic movie quotes lane…

Total Classic Quotes: 45

Classic Movie Quotes Part 1 | 2 | 3

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

HAL: I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

12 Angry Men (1957)

Juror #8: It's always difficult to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth. I don't really know what the truth is. I don't suppose anybody will ever really know. Nine of us now seem to feel that the defendant is innocent, but we're just gambling on probabilities, we may be wrong. We may be trying to let a guilty man go free, I don't know. Nobody really can. But we have a reasonable doubt, and that's something that's very valuable in our system. No jury can declare a man guilty unless it's SURE. We nine can't understand how you three are still so sure. Maybe you can tell us.

All About Eve (1950)

Margo Channing: Funny business, a woman's career. The things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman. That's one career all females have in common, whether we like it or not, being a woman. Sooner or later, we've got to work at it, no matter how many other careers we've had or wanted. And in the last analysis, nothings any good unless you can look up just before dinner or turn around in bed, and there he is. Without that, you're not a woman. You're something with a French provincial office or a book full of clippings, but you're not a woman. Slow curtain, the end.

The Apartment (1960)

C.C. Baxter: The mirror...it's broken.
Fran Kubelik: Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel.

The Big Sleep (1946)

Vivian: So you're a private detective. I didn't know they existed, except in books, or else they were greasy little men snooping around hotel corridors. My, you're a mess, aren't you?
Philip Marlowe: I'm not very tall either. Next time I'll come on stilts wear a white tie and carry a tennis racket.
Vivian: I doubt if even that will help.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Paul Varjak: Holly, I'm in love with you.
Holly Golightly: So what?
Paul Varjak: So what? So plenty! I love you. You belong to me.
Holly Golightly: No. People don't belong to people.
Paul Varjak: Of course they do.
Holly Golightly: I'm not going to let anyone put me in a cage.
Paul Varjak: I don't want to put you in a cage. I want to love you.
Holly Golightly: It's the same thing.
Paul Varjak: No it's not. Holly...
Holly Golightly: I'm not Holly. I'm not Lula Mae, either. I don't know who I am! I'm like cat here, a couple of no-name slobs. We belong to nobody and nobody belongs to us. We don't even belong to each other.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Colonel Nicholson: One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people that use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built and who built it. Not a gang of slaves, but soldiers, British soldiers, Clipton, even in captivity.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Quotes

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Butch Cassidy: Kid, there's something I ought to tell you. I never shot anybody before.
Sundance Kid: One hell of a time to tell me!

[to Sundance]
Butch Cassidy: Kid, the next time I say, "Let's go someplace like Bolivia," let's GO someplace like Bolivia.

Casablanca (1942)

Ilsa: I can't fight it anymore. I ran away from you once. I can't do it again. Oh, I don't know what's right any longer. You have to think for both of us. For all of us.
Rick: All right, I will. Here's looking at you, kid.
Ilsa: [smiles] I wish I didn't love you so much.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Charles Foster Kane: I don't think there's one word that can describe a mans life.

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

President Merkin Muffley: I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler.
General "Buck" Turgidson: Perhaps it might be better, Mr. President, if you were more concerned with the American People than with your image in the history books.

General "Buck" Turgidson: Hmm...Strangelove? What kind of a name is that? That ain't no Kraut name is it, Stainesey?
Mr. Staines: He changed it when he became a citizen. Used to be Merkwurdigeliebe.
[the German word for "Strangelove"]
General "Buck" Turgidson: Well, a Kraut by any other name, uh Stainesey?

Double Indemnity (1944)

Walter Neff: Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and a woman...and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?

For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Monco: Tell me, isn't sheriff supposed to be courageous, loyal and, above all, honest?
Sherrif of White Rocks: Yeah, that he is.
[Monco takes badge off of the sheriff's vest and gives it to some town folks]
Monco: Think you people need a new sheriff.

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Classic Movie Quotes Part 1 | 2 | 3

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Blondie: You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend; those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.

The Graduate (1967)

Benjamin: For God's sake, Mrs. Robinson! Here we are. You got me into your house. You give me a drink. You...put on music. Now you start opening up your personal life to me and tell me your husband won't be home for hours.
Mrs. Robinson: So?
Benjamin: Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me.
Mrs. Robinson: [laughs] Huh?
Benjamin: Aren't you?

The Great Dictator (1940)

A Jewish Barber: I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The Great Escape (1963)

Hilts: Wait a minute. You aren't seriously suggesting that if I get through the wire, and case everything out there, and don't get picked up, to turn myself in and get thrown back in the cooler for a couple of months so you can get the information you need?
Bartlett: Yes.

The Hustler (1961)

Fast Eddie: I'm the best you ever seen, Fats. I'm the best there is. And even if you beat me, I'm still the best.
Bert Gordon: Stay with this kid; he's a loser!

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

[praying]
George Bailey: Dear Father in heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me...show me the way...show me the way.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Sherif Ali: What is your name?
T.E. Lawrence: My name is for my friends. None of my friends is a murderer!

See more Lawrence of Arabia Quotes

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Joel Cairo: You always have a very smooth explanation...
Sam Spade: What do you want me to do, learn to stutter?

My Man Godfrey (1936)

Alexander Bullock: All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people.

Godfrey: I want to justify your faith in me by being a very good butler and in time, perhaps, filling the void created by the death of your late lamented Pomeranian.
Irene Bullock: Oh, I've forgotten all about him, he had fleas, anyway. Besides, you're different, you use big words and you're much cuter.

North by Northwest (1959)

[Thornhill is wearing sunglasses to hide his identity]
Ticket Seller: Something wrong with your eyes?
Roger Thornhill: Yes, they're sensitive to questions.

Notorious (1946)

Alicia: Well, did you hear that? I'm practically on the wagon, that's quite a change.
Devlin: It's a phase.
Alicia: You don't think a woman can change?
Devlin: Sure, change is fun, for awhile.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

[staring at Harmonica from her window]
Jill: Cheyenne. What's he waiting for out there? What's he doing?
Cheyenne: He's whittling on a piece of wood. I got a feeling that when he stops whittling, something's gonna happen.