"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish…what good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here—that life exists, and identity, that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse." That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

"Alexandra Powers — Chris Noel"

"Allelon Ruggiero — Steven Meeks"

"Dylan Kussman — Richard Cameron"

"Kurtwood Smith — Mr. Perry"

"Norman Lloyd — Headmaster Dean Nolan"

"Gale Hansen — Charlie Dalton"

"Josh Charles — Knox Overstreet"

"Ethan Hawke — Todd Anderson"

"Robert Sean Leonard — Neil Perry"

"Robin Williams — John Keating"

"He was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary."

"[at Neil's ceremony] The death of Neil Perry is a tragedy. He was a fine student. One of Welton's best. And he will be missed. We've contacted each of your parents to explain the situation. Naturally, they're all quite concerned. At the request of Neil's family, I intend to conduct a thorough inquiry into this matter. Your complete cooperation is expected."

"[Last words of film] Thank you, boys. Thank you."

"Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Don't be resigned to that. Break out! Break out! Now is the time!"

"They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary."

"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world."

"My hair's blowin' in the wind."

"I have three Dobermans, and if I didn't kick them in the balls on a regular basis, I'd never get anything done."

"OK, so, sometimes I lie. I mean I'm weird, man, about random stuff too. I don't even know why I do it. It's like... it's like a tic. I mean sometimes I hear myself say something and think, "Wow, that wasn't even remotely true"."

"My mom always says that, when she can see I'm, like, working something out in my head. She's like, "You're in it right now" and I'm looking at you telling this story, and you're definitely in it."

"Wow! I cannot believe you're not really retarded!"

"If you can't laugh at yourself, life is going to seem a whole lot longer than you'd like."

"What's the word that's burning in your heart?"

"This is your one opportunity to do something that no one has ever done before, and that no one will copy throughout human existence. And if nothing else, you will be remembered as the one guy who ever did this. This one thing."

"What do you do? You laugh. I'm not saying I don't cry, but in between, I laugh. And I realize how silly it is to take anything too seriously. Plus, I look forward to a good cry. It feels pretty good."

"You gotta hear this one song. It'll change your life, I swear."

"You know that point in your life when you realize that the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore…all of a sudden even though you have some place to put your shit, that idea of home is gone…or maybe it's like this rite of passage…you will never have that feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, for your kids, for the family you start. It’s like a cycle or something. Maybe that’s all family really is: a group of people that miss the same imaginary place."

"We're not playing "Spin the Bottle." How old are we? More importantly, how old are they?"

"You changed my life. You changed my life, and I've known you four days. This is the beginning of something really big, but right now, I gotta go."

"My mom just died. God, it's weird to say it out loud. But, my mom just died."

"It's amazing how much of my life has been determined by a quarter inch piece of plastic."

"[To Sam] I don't want to waste another moment of my life without you in it."

"You know, this necklace makes me think of this totally random memory of my mother. I was a little kid, and I was crying for whatever reason, and she was cradling me, rocking me back and forth, and I can just remember the silver balls floating around. And there was, like, snot running down my nose, right? And she gave me her sleeve - and told me to blow my nose into it. And I can remember, even as a little kid, thinking to myself: Wow. This is love...this is love."

"This is my life, Dad. This is it. I've spent 26 years waiting for something else to start. So, no, I don't think it's too much to take on, because it's everything there is. I see now it's all there is. You and I are gonna be okay. You know that, right? We may not be as happy as you always dreamed we would be, but for the first time let's just allow ourselves to be whatever it is we are, and that will be better, okay? I think that will be better."

"Denis O'Hare - Albert"

"Ron Liebman - Dr. Cohen"

"Jim Parsons - Tim"

"Jean Smart - Carol"

"Michael Weston - Kenny"

"Ian Holm - Gideon Largeman"