People love to quote famous lines from their favorite movies. They love it even more when they can quote a line from a popular movie that pertains to a particular situation going on in their life. Such as Clint Eastwood saying, “Go ahead. Make my day,” in ‘Dirty Harry.’
I have a long list of all-time favorite movie quotes, and I cannot say for sure which ones are my top 10 picks because I, like most people, will use a movie quote when a particular situation in my life arises. I do have to say that my all-time favorite movie is ‘Gone With the Wind,’ by Margaret Mitchell, so here are my top 10 movie quotes from it:
1. “Where shall I go? What shall I do?”
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara Butler. When Scarlett asks Rhett these questions, it is at a time when she has lost everything. Her daughter Bonnie has died, her friend Melanie has just died (whom she had not realized was her true friend until it was too late), and her husband, Rhett, is now walking out on her. How many of us have felt so defeated and alone that we are unsure of what we should do next?
2. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. This is his response to Scarlett’s plea for help on what she should do. Rhett has finally had it with Scarlett. He, too, feels the loss of their child and friend and does not believe that Scarlett loves him even when she adamantly professes it to him. This line has been quoted millions of times since the movie premiered in 1939. Sometimes when a person has given-it-their-all and still nothing is working out right, it is time to walk away and not give a damn.
3. “Fiddle-dee-dee!”
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara. Scarlett says this several times throughout the movie. She says it when she is exasperated with the situation or with what someone is telling her, as when Mammy is arguing with Scarlett about eating her breakfast before going to the Wilkes’s Bar-B-Q. I use this quote for the same reason: when someone tries to tell me something I don’t want to hear or believe.
4. “Scarlett! Kiss me! Kiss me once.”
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. It is not so much the quote alone but the scene that goes with it that makes this one of my favorite movie quotes. Fleeing from Atlanta with Scarlett, Melanie, her new baby, and Prissy, Rhett stops the buggy to give the horse a rest. Rhett pulls Scarlett from the buggy, takes her in his arms, and declares his undying love for her. He tells Scarlett to give him a kiss, but Scarlett is too upset with Rhett’s leaving her to oblige him and ends up slapping him.
5. “I don’t know nothin’ ’bout birthin’ babies.”
Butterfly McQueen as Prissy. Scarlett has just told Prissy she will have to deliver Melanie’s baby, thinking that Prissy knows what she is doing because Prissy said she did earlier in the movie. Faced with the realization that the lie is now a fact, Prissy confesses she knows nothing about delivering babies and faces Scarlett’s wrath. Some people see this as a good reason not to tell lies, and it is, but I see it as more of what a person can do when they are faced with an impossible situation. When Prissy confessed that she knew nothing, Scarlett took charge of the situation and did what she thought she could not do. She delivered Melanie’s baby.
6. “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.”
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara. After a harrowing exodus and being abandoned by Rhett, Scarlett returns home from Atlanta to find her mother dead, Tara in ruins, and nothing to eat. She finds a root in the garden and hungrily tries to eat it, but because her stomach has had no food for so long, she regurgitates, falling to her knees. She picks herself up and makes the pledge to never be hungry again. Anyone who has ever been at their lowest and never wants to go back can relate to this movie quote.
7. “Great balls of fire! (Hiccup) It’s Rhett!”
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara Kennedy. Scarlett has just buried her second husband, Frank Kennedy, and is drinking as she peers out the window and is amazed to see Rhett approaching. She quickly tries to cover her alcoholic breath with cologne and goes downstairs to greet him. I was surprised to find Scarlett drinking because I first thought she was sad about Frank’s death, but we later find out that she is drinking because she thinks she will go to Hell for being so mean to him and others. I think we all, from time to time, wallow in self-pity.
8. “It will come to you, this love of the land.”
Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O’Hara. When Scarlett tells her father she does not care about Tara, Mr. O’Hara tells her that this feeling will change inside her, which it does throughout the story. I have had times when I did not appreciate things in my life, but in time, I came to realize just how important they really are to me.
9. “Oh Ashley, Ashley, I love you.”
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara. Young Scarlett has been waiting for an opportunity to tell Ashley how she really feels and how she is not able to contain herself any longer, but she tells him of her unending love for him. She says it with such a look of innocence and love on her face that the viewer cannot help but believe she really does love him. I have always believed that if you really love someone, no matter what kind of love, you should tell them.
10. “After all, tomorrow is another day.”
Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara Butler. Scarlett is distraught over Rhett leaving her. She hears the past voices of her father, Rhett, and Ashley telling her that Tara is her strength and that Tara is where she needs to be. She decides she will go home to Tara as she is never one to quit and give up. Scarlett knows that with each day, things change, and a person views things differently. She knows that things will be different tomorrow. I have often felt this same way. Things sometimes can look really gloomy until the next day dawns, and yesterday’s troubles are just that, yesterday’s troubles.
