Quotes about Desperation

Heathcliff: If you ever looked at me once with what I know is in you, I'd be your slave. Cathy, if your heart were only stronger than your dull fear of God and the world, I'd live contented, silently in your shadow. But No. You must destroy us both with that weakness you call virtue.

- Laurence Olivier (as Heathcliff) in Wuthering Heights (1939)

Heathcliff: I cannot live without my life! I cannot die without my soul!

- Laurence Olivier (as Heathcliff) in Wuthering Heights (1939)

Ann: [Ann is pleading with John not to commit suicide] Please don't give up. We'll start all over again. Just you and I. It isn't too late. The John Doe movement isn't dead yet. You see, John, it isn't dead or they wouldn't be here. It's alive in them. They kept it alive by being afraid. That's why they came up here. Oh, darling!... We can start clean now. Just you and I. It'll grow John, and it'll grow big because it'll be honest this time. Oh, John, if it's worth dying for, it's worth living for. Oh please, John... You wanna be honest, don't ya? Well, you don't have to die to keep the John Doe ideal alive. Someone already died for that once. The first John Doe. And he's kept that ideal alive for nearly 2,000 years. It was He who kept it alive in them. And He'll go on keeping it alive for ever and always - for every John Doe movement these men kill, a new one will be born. That's why those bells are ringing, John. They're calling to us, not to give up but to keep on fighting, to keep on pitching. Oh, don't you see darling? This is no time to give up. You and I, John, we... Oh, no, no, John. If you die, I want to die too. Oh, oh, I love you.

- Barbara Stanwyck (as Ann Mitchell) in Meet John Doe (1941)

Adam Cook: [Jerry, Henri Baurel and Adam are at the café, talking. Adam desperately tries to prevent the other two men from revealing to each other they love the same woman by distracting them] Did I ever tell you about the time I gave a command performance for Hitler?

- Oscar Levant (as Adam Cook) in An American in Paris (1951)

1st Jailer: [looking in records] Miriam, wife... Tirzah, daughter.
Drusus: Yes, that's them. Are they alive?
1st Jailer: [examining the records, he is pessimistic] East section... lower level. Cell two. The jailer in that wing will know.
[Drusus is led down various passages into the lower dungeons]
Drusus: How long since you've seen them?
2nd Jailer: Never - and I've been here three years. But they're alive, all right.
2nd Jailer: [after demonstrating a slot in the bottom of the cell door] The food disappears.

- Terence Longdon (as Drusus) in Ben-Hur (1959)

[Warden brings papers to Holmes' house for his signature, knowing that only his wife would be there]
Karen Holmes: Are these really important?
Sergeant Milton Warden: Yes, but not important they get signed today. Tomorrow's okay.
[She rips them up]
Sergeant Milton Warden: I have copies at the office, so it won't be much work to fix 'em up.
Karen Holmes: That's what I like about you, Sergeant: you have confidence. It's also what I dislike about you.
Sergeant Milton Warden: It's not confidence, ma'am; it's honesty. I just hate to see a beautiful woman going all to waste.
Karen Holmes: Waste, did you say? There's a subject I might tell you something about. I know several kinds of waste, Sergeant. You're probably not even remotely aware of some of them. Would you like to hear? For instance, what about the house without a child? There's one sort for you. Then there's another... You're doing fine, Sergeant. My husband's off somewhere, and it's raining outside, and we're both drinking now. You've probably only got one thing wrong. The lady herself. The lady's not what she seems. She's a... washout, if you know what I mean... and I'm sure you know what I mean!
Sergeant Milton Warden: You going to cry?
Karen Holmes: Not if I can help it. What are you doing?
Sergeant Milton Warden: I'm leaving. Isn't that what you want?
Karen Holmes: I don't know, Sergeant. I don't know.
[He kisses her]

- Deborah Kerr (as Karen Holmes) in From Here to Eternity (1953)

Prince Feisal: And I must do it because the Turks have European guns. But I fear to do it. Upon my soul I do. The English have a great hunger for desolate places. I fear they hunger for Arabia.

- Alec Guinness (as Prince Feisal) in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Don Birnam: Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I can't take quiet desperation!

- Ray Milland (as Don Birnam) in The Lost Weekend (1945)

[Nat moves to wipe away the circle of whisky from Don Birnam's glass]
Don Birnam: Don't wipe it away, Nat. Let me have my little vicious circle. You know, the circle is the perfect geometric figure. No end, no beginning.

- Ray Milland (as Don Birnam) in The Lost Weekend (1945)

Aunt Catherine: So I'm an old garbage bag put in the street, huh?... These are the worst years, I tell you. It's going to happen to you. I'm afraid to look in a mirror. I'm afraid I'm gonna see an old lady with white hair, just like the old ladies in the park with little bundles and black shawls waiting for the coffin. I'm fifty-six years old. And what am I gonna do with myself? I've got strength in my hands. I want to clean. I want to cook. I want to make dinner for my children. Am I an old dog to lay near the fire till my eyes close? These are terrible years, Theresa, terrible years... It's gonna happen to you. It's gonna happen to you! What are you gonna do if Marty gets married? Huh? What are you gonna cook? Where's all the children playing in all the rooms? Where's the noise? It's a curse to be a widow, a curse! What are you gonna do if Marty gets married? What are you gonna do?

- Augusta Ciolli (as Aunt Catherine) in Marty (1955)