"Albert T. Fitzgerald: I recall when our lives were unusual and electric. When we burned with something close to fire. But now we sway to a different rhythm. Lives lived without meaning or even directed hope. The passage of time measured only by loss. Loss of a job, loss of a minivan...a son."

"The worst part is knowing that there is goodness in people. Mostly it stays deep down and buried. Maybe we don't have god because we're scared of the bad stuff. Maybe we're really scared of the good stuff. Because if there is no god, then that means it's inside of us and we can be good all the time if we wanted. So when we do bad things maybe it's because we want to, or because we have to. Or maybe we just need the bad stuff to remind us what the good stuff is in the first place."

"It covers my eyes. It's all I can see. Say there's some kids playing baseball. All I see is the one kid they won't let play because he tells corny jokes and no one thinks they're funny. Or I see a boy and a girl in love and kissing, you know. I just see that they're gonna be one of those sad old couples one day who just cheats on each other and can't even look each other in the eye. And I feel it. I feel all of their sadness. I feel it probably worse than that sad old couple or that corny kid will ever feel it."

"And that's when I figured out that tears couldn't make somebody who was dead, alive again. There's another thing to learn about tears: they can't make somebody who doesn't love you anymore love you again. It's the same with prayers. I wonder how much of their lives people waste crying and praying to God. If you ask me, the devil makes more sense than God does. I can at least see why people would want him around. It's good to have somebody to blame for the bad stuff they do. Maybe God's there because people get scared of all the bad stuff they do. They figure that God and the Devil are always playing this game of tug-of-war with them. And they never know which side they're gonna wind up on. I guess that tug-of-war idea explains how sometimes, even when people try to do something good, it still turns out bad."

"I think there are two ways you can see the world. You either see the sadness that's behind everything or you choose to keep it all out. Your heart can't break if you don't let the world touch it."

"You want a why. Well, maybe there isn't one. Maybe...maybe this is just something that happened."

"I know what they want from me. They want a reason. Something to tie up with a little bow and bury in the backyard. Bury it down so deep it's like it never happened. They want me to say how I'm so sorry, and it was my mom's fault. Or maybe it was my dad's fault. Or it happened because of TV or movies or some junk like that. Or maybe I blame some girl."

"This one is something a friend of mine said to me. "You have to believe that life is more than the sum of its parts, kiddo." I remember it right now to the "kiddo" part. But when I think about what she said, the same thing always comes into my head. What if you can't put the pieces together in the first place?"

"When I say I don't remember that day, I'm not lying. Wish I did, but I just don't. Sometimes the most important stuff goes away. Goes away so bad, it's like it was never there to begin with. It's funny the stuff that sticks in your head. I could tell you forward and backward about one day when I was five, and my dad bought me a stupid ice cream cone. I could tell you the flavor of the ice cream. It was pink bubblegum. Even stuff about the girl who scooped it out. Her hair was fire red. All that stuff is there like it was happening right now, but I don't remember that day."

"Nicolas Cazalé - Réda"

"A voyage beyond corporal life"

"Atik Mohamed – Le pélerin Ahmad"

"Kamel Belghazi – Khalid"

"Ghin Ognianova – The old woman"

"Jacky Nercessian - Mustapha"

"Mohamed Majd - The Father"

"Regina Taylor – Mrs. Carter"

"Ivonne Coll – Mrs. Santos"

"Michael P. Moran - Mr. Ed O'Malley"

"Jose R. Severino - John Jones"

"Alex Romaguera - Kid Ray"

"Karina Arroyave – Maria"

"Karen Malina White – Kaneesha Carter"

"Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins – Thomas Sams"

"Sloane Shelton – Mrs. Hamilton"

"Tony Todd – William Wright, Dean of Security"

"Sandra Reaves-Phillips – Mrs. Powers"

"Michael Beach – Mr. Larry Darnell"

"Robin Bartlett - Mrs. Elliott"

"Lynne Thigpen – Leonna Barrett"

"Ethan Phillips – as Mr. Rosenberg"

"Robert Guillaume – as Dr. Frank Napier"

"Alan North – as Mayor Don Bottman"

"Beverly Todd – Mrs. Joan Levias"

"Morgan Freeman – as Joe Clark"

"Eastside High never had a principal this tough - or one who cared this much about its students."

"At Eastside High, they called him "Crazy Joe" for padlocking the doors, and for changing all the rules. But Principal Joe Clark was crazy about one thing only - the students who loved him."

"This is an institution of learning, ladies and gentlemen. If you can't control it, how can you teach? Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm!"

"Eastside High was a training ground for jail. Then Joe Clark took over. Now the kids are getting something they never had. A future."

"A true story about a real hero."

"Boys in Bathroom: [singing] Fair Eastside, By thy sign, we'll stand, and always, praise thy name. (Praise Thy Name, Praise Thy Naaaaaame) To heaven, yea Lend our hearts, and hands, to help increase thy fame. Ooh Lord, thee honor, yea Of all Eastside High, cross forth our loyalty Loyalty, loyalty."

"The truth is that for all your talking, all your 'Crazy Joe' routine, what have you ever done? Nothing. You're nothing but an insignificant man. It's like you were never born. Your life hasn't made one bit of difference, and neither has mine! Wanna take that to the grave?"

"[to Joe] All your shit comes down on me. It's like you're a big bird with radar. And I'm tired of getting hit!"

"Code 10! Code 10! This is Joe Clark! Get those chains off the doors, the enemy's here!"

"[at lunch, in the cafeteria, Clark has singled out Sams] I want all of you to look at this slovenly, sloppy boy here as an example of how not to dress. Now if you look like this when you look in your mirrors in the morning, find something else to put on. Self-respect permeates every aspect of your life. If you don't have it for yourself, you're not gonna get it from anywhere."

"[after bringing down a drug dealer] Get this disgrace to his race out of here!"

"[explaining why he expelled students from his school] They say one bad apple spoils a bunch. Well what about three hundred? Rotten to the core!"

"[to Kid Ray, who is leaving school to work for a crime syndicate] You'll be dead in a year, son. Hear what I'm saying? You'll be dead in a year!"

"Hey, son...! [removing Sams' baseball cap] Put something in your head, not on it!"

"[to the Eastside students who have gathered outside City Hall to demonstrate on his behalf] Wow... Somebody tell me why I can't get this kind of turnout for study hall!"