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Home / Best Quotes / Nomadland Best Movie Quotes

Nomadland Best Movie Quotes

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Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Charlene Swankie, Bob Wells, Peter Spears

OUR RATING: ★★★½

Story:

Drama written and directed by Chloé Zhao. The story centers on Fern (Frances McDormand), who following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad.

 

Copyright Notice: It’s easy to see when our quotes have been copied and pasted, as you’re also copying our format, mistakes, and movie scene descriptions. If you decide to copy our movie quotes please be kind and either link back, or refer back to our site. Please check out our copyright policies here. Thanks!

 

Our Favorite Quotes:

'Home, is it just a word? Or is it something that you carry within you?' - Angela (Nomadland) Click To Tweet 'What's remembered lives.' - Fern (Nomadland) Click To Tweet 'I don't ever say a final goodbye. I always just say, “I’ll see you down the road.” And I do.' - Bob (Nomadland) Click To Tweet

 

Best Quotes


 

Angela: [to Fern] Another Smith lyric I have is, “When you’re laughing, and dancing, and finally living, you hear my voice in your head and think of me kindly.” And then also the one that means the most to me is, “Home, is it just a word? Or is it something that you carry within you?”


 

Linda: What did you name your van?
Fern: Vanguard.
Linda: Oh, that is very strong.
Fern: She is.


 

Fern: You still the smartest kid in school?
Makenzie: Yeah, kind of.
Fern: Mm‐hmm. You remember anything that we worked on when I tutored you?
Makenzie: Yes. “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. And all of our yesterdays have lighted fools. The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.”
Fern: That’s really good.


 

Makenzie: My mom says that you’re homeless. Is that true?
Fern: No, I’m not homeless. I’m just houseless. Not the same thing, right?
Makenzie: No.
Fern: Don’t worry about me. I’m okay.


 

Linda: Before I moved into the Squeeze Inn, I was out looking for work, and putting in applications 2008, and it was just tough. And I got to a really, really low point. And I thought about suicide, and I decided I was going to go buy a bottle of booze, turn on the propane stove, and I was going to drink that booze until I passed out. And if I woke up, I was going to light a cigarette, and I was going to blow us all up. And I looked at my two sweet little trusting dogs, my Cocker Spaniel, and my little Toy Poodle, and I just couldn’t do that to them. And I thought, well, I can’t do that to me, either.


 

Linda: So, I was getting close to sixty-two, and I went online to look at my social security benefit. It said five hundred and fifty dollars. Fern, I had worked my whole life. I’d worked since I was twelve years-old, raised two daughters. I couldn’t believe it. So I’m online, and I find Bob Wells Cheap RV Living. I could live in an RV, travel, and not have to work for the rest of my life.


 

Fern: Bob Wells looks just like Santa Claus.
Linda: Doesn’t he? Everybody says that.


 

Fern: What’s RTR stand for?
Linda: Rubber Tramp Rendezvous. It is in Quartzsite, Arizona, out in the middle of the desert, on BLM land. You should come. I’m going to make you a map.
Fern: No, I don’t think I’m going to go.
Linda: Oh, I hope you come. I’m going to make you a map anyway.


 

Bob: [as Fern is watching his YouTube video] So that’s what the RTR is. It is a support system for people who need help now.


 

Fern: My husband worked at the USG mine in Empire, and I worked in human resources there for a few years. That was my last full‐time job. I did a lot of part‐time jobs. I cashiered at the Empire Store. I was a substitute teacher at the school for five years.
Job Counselor: Didn’t the Empire Mine shut down, and then all of the resident workers had to relocate?
Fern: Yeah, about a year ago.


 

Job Counselor: So when do you need to get back to work?
Fern: Now.
Job Counselor: It is a tough time right now. You may want to consider registering for early retirement.
Fern: I don’t think I can get by on the benefits. And I need work. I like work.
Job Counselor: I’m not sure exactly what you would be eligible for.


 

Rachel: I don’t want to overstep my bounds here. There is a church down by 7‐Eleven. It’s a Baptist church, and they do have open beds.
Fern: I’m going to be good.
Rachel: Okay. Okay. We’re here if you need anything.


 

Bob: [as Fern goes to the RTR in Arizona] And the odd thing is that we not only accept the tyranny of the dollar, the tyranny of the marketplace, we embrace it. We gladly throw the yoke of the tyranny of the dollar on and live by it our whole lives. I think of an analogy as a workhorse. The workhorse that is willing to work itself to death, and then be put out to pasture. And that’s what happens to so many of us.


 

Bob: If society was throwing us away, and sending us, the workhorse, out to the pasture, we workhorses had to gather together and take care of each other. And that’s what this is all about. The way I see it is that the Titanic is sinking, and economic times are changing. And so my goal is to get the lifeboats out and get as many people into the lifeboats as I can.


 

Bryce: I’m a Vietnam vet. And I got PTSD. I really can’t handle loud noises, big crowds, fireworks. I got a pickup truck and a camper. I can live out here, and be at peace.


 

Merle: I worked for corporate America, you know, for twenty years. And my friend, Bill, worked for the same company, and he had liver failure. A week before he was due to retire, HR called him in hospice, and said, “Now, let’s talk about your retirement.” And he died ten days later, having never been able to take that sailboat that he bought out of his driveway. And he missed out on everything. And he told me before he died, “Just don’t waste any time, Merle. Don’t waste any time.” So I retired as soon as I could. I didn’t want my sailboat to be in the driveway when I died. So, yeah. And it’s not. My sailboat’s out here in the desert.


 

Bob: [to Fern] I can’t imagine what you’re going through, the loss of your husband, and the loss of your whole town, and friends, and village, and that kind of loss is never easy. And I wish I had an easy answer for you. But I think you’ve come to the right place to find an answer. I think that, I think connecting to nature, and to a real true community, and tribe, will make all the difference for you. I hope so.


 

Bob: One of the questions that I get all the time is, “Bob, I have to live in the city. I’d like to be out here, but I can’t. How can I avoid the famous knock on the door?” So I’ve developed what I call the Ten Commandments of Stealth Parking.


 

Woman: I love this lifestyle. It is a lifestyle of freedom, and beauty, and connection to the Earth. Yet there is a trade‐off. You got to learn how to take care of your own s**t.


 

Dave: There’s a black hole in every van. Specially mine. One time I had seven of these can openers.
Fern: Doesn’t happen to me.


 

Fern: I blew my tire.
Swankie: Well, go change it.
Fern: I don’t have a spare.
Swankie: You don’t have a spare? You’re out in the boondocks, and you don’t have a spare?


 

Swankie: [to Fern] You can die out here. You’re out in the wilderness, far away from anybody. You can die out here. Don’t you understand that? You have to take it seriously. You have to have a way to get help. You have to be able to change your own tire.


 

Fern: Alright, let me just say that this is a lot more complicated than I thought.
Swankie: Oh, it’s very, very complicated.
Fern: Uh‐huh.
Swankie: And it’s taking me a long time to patch all the peeling paint on this van. So are you quitting on me?
Fern: Okay. No, no, I’m not quitting.


 

Swankie: When we get done with all this, I’m going to give you all my paint. I don’t want to take any more of it with me. You can have it all because, you know, your van looks kind of ratty.
Fern: No, it doesn’t. She does not. She just needs a wash.


 

Swankie: Doctors told me that, well, I had cancer removed from my lung a while back, and small cell carcinoma. And they told me it’s spread to my brain. And they’ve only given me seven or eight months to live.
Fern: I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
Swankie: I’m going to take my trip. I’m going to go back to Alaska again, because of some good memories. And just do what I have to do.


 

Swankie: I have this book called Final Exitby Dr. Kevorkian. Some people call him Dr. Death. And it’s like various ways that you can end your life if you need to. And it’s kind of like a recipe. I have it, if I have to fall back on it for some ideas, but I’m not going to spend any more time indoors in a hospital. No, thanks. I’m going to be seventy-five this year, and I think I’ve lived a pretty good life.


 

Swankie: I felt like I’d done enough. My life was complete. If I died right then, that moment, it’d be perfectly fine.


 

Swankie: I don’t know. Maybe when I die, my friends will gather around the fire, and toss a rock into the fire in memory of me.

See more Nomadland Quotes


 

Fern: Can I tell you something, Swankie?
Swankie: What?
Fern: Been thinking a lot about my husband Bo. When it got really bad at the end, they had him in the hospital on morphine drip, and I would sit there at night, in the hospital. And I’d want to put my thumb down on that morphine drip just a little bit longer, so I could let him go. Maybe I should have tried harder so he could have gone sooner without all that pain.
Swankie: Well, maybe he wouldn’t have wanted that. Maybe he was trying to stay with you as long as he could. I’m sure you took good care of him, Fern.
Fern: I did.


 

Linda: Where do you go and find scenery like this?
Fern: Right here is where you go.
Linda: Yeah.
Fern: The Badlands.
Linda: The Badlands.
Fern: We be the b**ches of the Badlands.


 

Fern: Welcome to Badlands Spa. Can I please have a volunteer from the audience?
Linda: Pick me.
Fern: Okay.
[puts a face mask on Linda’s face]
Fern: Oh, doesn’t that feel wonderful?


 

Linda: This is my land in Arizona. I’m going to build an earthship that’s a totally self‐contained house, built out of tires, and bottles, and cans. So it has no waste. It in no way harms the land, this house. Self-sufficient. It looks like a living piece of art that you’ve made with your own two hands. It’s something that I can leave to my grandchildren. This house would be there for generations. Outlive us all.


 

Linda: When you get old, you get personality.


 

Dave: I was at the gas station, and I think it’s better if you don’t drive through the park when it’s dark for your cigarettes. So I got you these.
Fern: What are they?
Dave: Licorice sticks.
Fern: I can’t smoke licorice sticks, Dave.
Dave: I know, but you can chew on these. And, you know, they help curb the urge.
Fern: I’m not going to quit smoking, Dave.
Dave: Yeah, I know. But you should try these. They’re good for the digestion too.
Fern: Fine. Thanks.


 

Dave: What’s going on?
Fern: Ants. I’ve got ants.
Dave: Oh, ants. They’re okay.
Fern: No, they’re not. They’re in my food, Dave!


 

Carol: You are one of those lucky people that is from the United States.
Fern: Of the US of A. Yes, I am.
Carol: And you can travel anywhere.
Fern: Yes, ma’am. I know.
Carol: And they sometimes call you “nomads”, or people who don’t have a home.


 

Carol: I see that you have this ring. Are you married?
Fern: I am, but my husband died.
Carol: And so…
Fern: I’m not going to take that off.
Carol: That ring is a circle. And it never ends. And that means that your love never ends. And you may not be able to take it off if you tried.
Fern: I don’t think I could.
Carol: No.


 

George: That’s the star, Vega. But it’s twenty-four light years away. So what that means is the light that you’re looking at left Vega in 1987.


 

George: Jupiter is the largest planet in our entire solar system. Stars blow up, and they shoot plasma and atoms out into space. Sometimes land on Earth. Nourish the soil. They become part of you. So hold out your right hand and look at a star. Because there are atoms from stars that blew up eons ago that landed on this planet, and now they’re in your hand.


 

James: This place, man. I don’t know why anybody would want to live here.
Fern: Well, I can think of worse places.


 

James: You want to know a good way to get to know a place?
Fern: What?
James: AA meetings.
Fern: Really?
James: I mean, for me. Back when I was with the band, and I was traveling around, I used to go to AA meetings everywhere. It was a great way to get to know people and to get to know a place.


 

Dave: [referring to his son] He’s on his way home now. Asked me to come with him.
Fern: You should go.
Dave: He didn’t like it very much, that I wasn’t around when he was young. I tried to be around when he was older, but he was into his thing, and I was into mine, and I guess, I just forgot how to be a dad. Anyway, I wasn’t very good at it.
Fern: Don’t think about it too much, Dave. Just go. Be a grandfather.
Dave: You want to come with me?
Fern: Maybe I can visit sometime.
Dave: Great.


 

[after her van breaks down and she can’t afford the repairs]
Fern: I live in there. It’s my home.


 

Fern: I introduced you to George, but I knew George before. So I took her out, and I said, “Listen, George is a really good friend of mine. I don’t want you to mess this up. If you’re not serious about him, don’t mess with him.”
Dolly: And I didn’t mess it up.
Fern: And you said, “What are you talking about?” And so, how many years have you been together?
Dolly: Thirty plus.
Jim: Worked out pretty good.
Dolly: It worked out pretty good. I was able to take care of it on my own, actually, after that introduction.
Fern: You’re welcome.


 

Fern: It’s strange that you encourage people to invest their whole life savings, go into debt, just to buy a house they can’t afford.
George: Fern, that’s a rather limited look at what we do.
Fern: Is it limited, George?
George: I mean, we’re not all in a position to just chuck everything and hit the road.
Fern: Oh, you think that’s what I’ve done, George? I chucked everything to hit the road? Is that what I did?
George: Alright. I’m sorry.


 

Dolly: You know, I think that what the nomads are doing is not that different than what the pioneers did. I think Fern’s part of an American tradition. I think it’s great.


 

Dolly: Why don’t you move in with us?
Fern: I can’t live here. I can’t live in this room. I can’t sleep in this bed. Thank you, but I can’t.
Dolly: I know, we’re not as interesting as the people you meet out there.
Fern: That’s not what I’m talking about.
Dolly: No, that’s what it is. It’s always what’s out there that’s more interesting.


 

Dolly: You left home as soon as you could. You married Bo after just knowing him a few months. And then you moved to the middle of nowhere with him. And then, even after Bo passed away, you still stayed in Empire. I just didn’t get it. I mean, you could have left.
Fern: Yeah. See, that’s why I can’t come here.


 

Dolly: I never said this to you before, and maybe I should have. You know, when you were growing up, you were eccentric to other people. You maybe seemed weird. But it was just because you were braver, and more honest than everybody else. And you could see me when I was hiding from everybody. And sometimes you could see me before I saw myself. I needed that in my life. And you’re my sister. I would have loved having you around all these years. You left a big hole by leaving.
Fern: That one’s on me.


 

James: [as Fern visits Dave] How’s your drive?
Fern: It was great. Little hairy on the end. That’s a scary road.
Mike: In your van? I’ve heard about your van.
Fern: Yeah, yeah.
Mike: I’d like to see it.
Fern: I’ll introduce you at some point.


 

Fern: You had a flat tire on your van, Dave.
Dave: Oh, okay. I hadn’t noticed.
Fern: Because you’re staying?
Dave: Yeah.
Fern: Good.


 

Dave: Yeah, I never expected to. Never thought I’d spend another night under a roof, but.
Fern: Well, this is a really nice place, Dave.
Dave: Yeah, you can stay.
Fern: Oh, good, thanks. I need to do laundry.
Dave: You know, I meant stay longer, Fern. They do have a guest house. I’m serious.


 

Dave: [to Fern] I like you. You know, you’re a good person. You get along with people for the most part. You know, I like being around you. I like being around you.


 

Emily: [referring to Fern’s home in Empire] What was your house like there?
Fern: Nothing special. Just a company tract house. Actually, it was special. We were right on the edge of town. And our backyard looks out at this huge open space. It was just desert, desert, desert, all the way to the mountains. There was nothing in our way.
Emily: You know, I’m really glad you’re here. Dave really likes you.
Fern: Yeah?
Emily: Yeah. He talks about you a lot.


 

Fern: Bo never knew his parents, and we never had kids. If I didn’t stay, if I left, it would be like he never existed. I couldn’t pack up and move on. He loved Empire. He loved his work so much. He loved being there. Everybody loved him. So I stayed. Same town, same house. It’s like my dad used to say, “What’s remembered lives.” I maybe spent too much of my life just remembering, Bob.


 

Bob: I rarely ever talk about my son. But today would be his thirty-third birthday. And five years ago, he took his life. And I can still barely say that in a sentence. And for a long time, every day was, the question was, “How can I be alive on this Earth, when he’s not?” And I didn’t have an answer. And those were some hard, hard days. But I realized that I could honor him by helping people, and serving people. It gives me a reason to go through the day. Some days that’s all I’ve got. And out here, there’s a lot of people our age. And inevitably, there’s grief and loss. And a lot of them don’t get over it either. And that’s okay. That’s okay.


 

Bob: One of the things I love most about this life is that there’s no final goodbye. You know, I’ve met hundreds of people out here, and I don’t ever say a final goodbye. I always just say, “I’ll see you down the road.” And I do. And whether it’s a month, or a year, or sometimes years, I see them again. And I can look down the road, and I can be certain in my heart that I’ll see my son again. You’ll see Bo again. And you can remember your lives together then.


 

Man: [as Fern goes back to visit Empire] Are you sure you don’t need any of this stuff?
Fern: No, don’t need any of it. I’m good. I’m not going to miss one thing.
Man: Well, we’ll see you later.

 


 

What do you think of Nomadland quotes? Let us know what you think in the comments below as we’d love to know.

 

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Comments

  1. Gerry says

    March 1, 2021 at 4:21 am

    Insightful comments that tell us a lot about our fellow humans and our society.

  2. Nyein Thiri Ko says

    January 12, 2021 at 5:43 am

    Home is it just a word?
    Or is it something you carry within you?

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