50 Iconic Quotes From Movies for Mad Nostalgia

Revel in the rush of nostalgia you will get from our iconic movie quotes! 

In the twenty-first century, it is sometimes hard to imagine that movies have existed since the nineteenth century. 

Movies connect people from different generations and impact many aspects of our lives. 

Check out these astonishing facts about filmmaking below: 

• The panorama shot came out in 1987.
• Early movies only had a single scene and were about one minute long. 
• The first motion picture, The Rounday Garden Scene, emerged in the 1880s.

Why do people love to quote movies?

It might seem strange, but repeating dialogue from movies and pop culture moments helps us connect with one another. 

When we quote movies, it extends our enjoyment of the content. 

I can remember walking out of Jurassic Park for the first time as a child and constantly repeating Samuel L. Jackson’s line, “Hold on to your butts,” for the entire ride home every time we drove over a bump in the road. 

Not only was the line hilarious to me as a nine-year-old, but it was an appropriate response to all of the bumps in the road. 

Movie quotes become symbols of cultural knowledge, and people enjoy demonstrating how informed they are. 

Over time, the distinctions between so-called high art, like literature, painting, and classical music, have blended with the world of low art, such as television and film. 

Over time, we have embraced the blurring of these lines and incorporated more and more media content into our social lives. 

Quotes also serve as generational markers for people. 

We tend to quote the content we absorbed as children, so we date ourselves when we refer to a movie quote. 

These connections create camaraderie between people and serve as icebreakers when making new acquaintances. 

In its own way, quoting classic movies is a language people use to communicate their attitudes, perceptions, and personality traits. 

Sometimes, a perfectly timed movie quote can say more about you than conversation. 

How can quoting movies help us?

Quoting movies to other people creates common ground. 

It is easier to talk about sensitive subjects with others once we connect with them. 

War is a very polarizing subject; one person’s war hero can be another person’s terrorist. 

Movies allow people to find a middle ground to express nuanced ideas. 

Discussing the impact of war by discussing your favorite scenes from Forrest Gump is much easier than debating the political motivations for why the Vietnam War occurred. 

To explore more iconic movie quotes, check out our awesome selections below. 

Short iconic quotes from movies that defined generations

Everyone will know these iconic short movie quotes. 

1. “I’ll be back.” — The Terminator, 1984

2. “It’s alive! It’s alive!” — Frankenstein, 1931

3. “I’m the king of the world!” — Titanic, 1997

4. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” — Casablanca,1942

5. “May the Force be with you.” — Star Wars, 1977

6. “Houston, we have a problem.” — Apollo 13, 1995

7. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” — Jaws, 1975

8. “E.T. phone home.” — E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982

9. “There’s no place like home.” — The Wizard of Oz, 1939

10. “My precious.” — The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, 2002

Life lesson movie quotes about life that we can all learn from 

Below is a selection of classic one-liners with big lessons to teach us. 

11. “Just keep swimming.” — Finding Nemo, 2003

12. “Well, nobody’s perfect.” — Some Like it Hot, 1959

13. “You can’t handle the truth!” — A Few Good Men, 1992

14. “If you build it, he will come.” — Field of Dreams, 1989

15. “There’s no crying in baseball!” — A League of Their Own, 1992

16. “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” — The Godfather Part II, 1974

17. “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!” — Braveheart, 1995

18. “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!” — Auntie Mame, 1958

19. “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” — Dead Poets Society, 1989

20. “My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” — Forrest Gump, 1994

Iconic quotes from movies that stole our hearts

Here are some cute movie quotes that will make you smile. 

21. “Snap out of it!” — Moonstruck, 1987

22. “To infinity and beyond!” — Toy Story, 1995

23. “Inconceivable!” — The Princess Bride, 1987

24. “You had me at ‘hello.’” — Jerry Maguire, 1996

25. “You’re killin’ me, Smalls.” — The Sandlot, 1993

26. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” — Dirty Dancing, 1987

27. “I’ll have what she’s having.” — When Harry Met Sally, 1989

28. “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” — Sunset Boulevard, 1950

29. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” — The Wizard of Oz, 1939

30. “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” — All About Eve, 1950

Movie quotes that hit hard and won audiences over

Here are some classic movie quotes that never get old

32. “A martini. Shaken, not stirred.” — Goldfinger, 1964

33. “Hasta la vista, baby.” — Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991

34. “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” — The Help, 2011

35. “The stuff that dreams are made of.” — The Maltese Falcon, 1941

36. “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” — Cool Hand Luke, 1967

37. “I am your father.” — Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980

38. “Elementary, my dear Watson.” — The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939

39. “Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” — Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937

40. “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” — The Pride of the Yankees, 1942

Classic movie quotes that survived the test of time

Below we close it out with some more memorable iconic quotes from movies. 

41. “As if!” — Clueless, 1995

42. “Rosebud.” — Citizen Kane, 1941

43. “Bond. James Bond.” — Dr. No, 1962

44. “Here’s Johnny!” — The Shining, 1980

45. “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.” — Babe, 1995

46. “You talking to me?” — Taxi Driver, 1976

47. “It was beauty killed the beast.” — King Kong, 1933

48. “Stella! Hey, Stella!” — A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951

49. “I’m walking here! I’m walking here!” — Midnight Cowboy, 1969

50. “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” — Back to the Future, 1985

We love movie quotes for many reasons

Movies have changed a lot over time. 

Many of us are familiar with film strip technology that breaks a film down frame by frame. 

Nowadays, most theaters use digital projectors, so we no longer need giant movie reels. 

Movies change, and so have we. 

Movies help create connections with others, but they often express who and what we are. 

Movie quotes are powerful because they encapsulate experiences or particular sentiments in a few words. 

We may not be Arnold Schwarzenneger, but who has not turned around in the doorway and said, “I’ll be back” to their family on their way to run an errand? 

Quoting movies allows us to make life fun, do impersonations, and try out accents we think are cool. 

When we share our favorite quotes with others, we lighten the mood or inject humor into the conversation. 

What are your favorite iconic quotes from movies?

Please, be sure to let us know in the comment section below.