The Human Comedy (film)

"If my brother is killed in this war, I'll spit at the world. I'll hate it forever. I won't be good. I'll be bad. I'll be the worst there is. I'll be the worst that ever lived."

"I am Matthew Macauley. I have been dead for two years. So much of me is still living that I know now the end is only the beginning. As I look down on my homeland of Ithaca, California, with its cactus, vineyards and orchards, I see that so much of me is still living there - in the places I've been, in the fields and streets and church and most of all in my home, where my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions still live in the daily life of my loved ones."

"[last line] Ya see Marcus, the ending is only the beginning."

"[to his fellow soldier Tobey, while they're on KP duty] Oh, we're poor. Always have been. My father was a great man. Not a success. Didn't make any more money than what we needed, ever... He worked in the vineyards, in the packing houses and wineries. If you saw him in the street you'd think he was nobody. But he was a great man. The only thing he cared about was his family. Ma and his kids. He saved up and made a down payment on a harp. Ha! Yeah, nobody plays a harp anymore, but that's what ma wanted, so he got her one. Took him five years to pay for it. We used to think every house had a harp just because we had one. And I thought everybody was great like him, until I got out and met some of them. Oh, they're all right, but they're not great."

"You must remember always to give, of everything you have. You must give foolishly even. You must be extravagant. You must give to all who come into your life. Then nothing and no one shall have power to cheat you of anything, for if you give to a thief, he cannot steal from you, and he himself is then no longer a thief. And the more you give, the more you will have to give."

"[to Homer Macauley and Hubert Ackley, whom she detained after class] You'll both learn that every man in the world is better than somebody else. And not as good as somebody else. In a democratic state every man is equal to every other man up to the point of exertion. And then every man is free to exert himself to do good or not. To grow nobly, or foolishly. I'm eager for my boys and girls to exert themselves to do good and grow nobly. I want you to understand that each of you will begin to be real men and truly human when in spite of your differences with one another you still respect one another. That's what it means to be civilized."

"Mrs. Steed: Diana only seems a fool - she isn't really."

"Willie Grogan: If you behold me lost in the embrace of alcohol, greet me as you pass but make no reference to my condition. I'm rather a sensitive man and I prefer not to be the object of public solicitude."

"Mickey Rooney - Homer Macauley"

"Frank Morgan - Willie Grogan"

"James Craig - Tom Spangler"

"Marsha Hunt - Diana Steed"

"Fay Bainter - Mrs. Macauley"

"Ray Collins - Mr. Macauley"

"Van Johnson - Marcus Macauley"

"Donna Reed - Bess Macauley"

"Jackie Jenkins - Ulysses Macauley"

"Dorothy Morris - Mary Arena"

"John Craven - Tobey George"

"Ann Ayars - Mrs. Sandoval"

"Mary Nash - Miss Hicks"

"Henry O'Neill - Charles Steed"