Father Edward J. Flanagan: I know that a mother can take a whip to the toughest boy in the world, and he forgets it because he knows that she loves him.

- Spencer Tracy (as Father Flanagan) in Boys Town (1938)

Father Edward J. Flanagan: There is no such thing as a bad boy.

- Spencer Tracy (as Father Flanagan) in Boys Town (1938)

Tony Ponessa: If you're a Catholic or a Protestant, you can go right on being one.
Whitey Marsh: Well, I'm nothin'.
Tony Ponessa: Then, you can go right on being nothin', and nobody cares.

- Gene Reynolds (as Tony Ponessa) in Boys Town (1938)

Dan Farrow: [panicky, about to die in the electric chair] How much time have I got, Father?
Father Edward J. Flanagan: Eternity begins in forty-five minutes, Dan.
Dan Farrow: What happens then?
Father Edward J. Flanagan: Oh, a bad minute or two.
Dan Farrow: And after that?
Father Edward J. Flanagan: Well, Dan, that's a question that scientists and philosophers have been asking for a million years.

- Spencer Tracy (as Father Flanagan) in Boys Town (1938)