"I'm interested in film and theatre, but I go so seldom. I have enormous admiration for artists. I think art has an enormous importance in life. Especially for people who are in difficulties of some kind."

"I don't know what to say, Doctor. First her face looks soft, almost childish. Then you see her eyes... She's got such a severe look, I think."

"Is that what love is? Using people? And maybe that's what hate is - not being able to use people."

"Mercedes McCambridge — Mrs. Grace Holly"

"Sheila Robbins — Dr. Hockstader's Secretary"

"Maria Britneva — Lucy"

"Joan Young — Sister Felicity"

"Patricia Marmont — Nurse Benson"

"Mavis Villiers — Miss Foxhill"

"Albert Dekker — Dr. Lawrence J. Hockstader"

"Montgomery Clift — Dr. Cukrowicz"

"Elizabeth Taylor — Catherine Holly"

"Katharine Hepburn — Mrs. Venable"

"Nature is not made in the image of man's compassion."

"My son, Sebastian and I constructed our days. Each day we would carve each day like a piece of sculpture, leaving behind us a trail of days like a gallery of sculpture until suddenly, last summer."

"Sebastian said, 'Truth is the bottom of a bottomless well.'"

"Most people's lives, what are they but trails of debris - each day more debris, more debris... long, long trails of debris, with nothing to clean it all up but death."

"Strictly speaking, his life was his occupation. Yes, yes, Sebastian was a poet. That's what I meant when I said his life was his work because the work of a poet is the life of a poet, and vice versa, the life of a poet is the work of a poet. I mean, you can't separate them. I mean, a poet's life is his work, and his work is his life in a special sense."

"I've buried a husband and a son. I'm a widow and a... Funny, there's no word. Lose your parents, you're an orphan. Lose your only son and you are... Nothing."

"[being sedated] Who was it that said we were all a bunch of kindergarteners trying to spell God's name with the wrong alphabet blocks?"

"Gary Raymond — George Holly"

"Truth is the one thing I've never resisted."

"Mary McDonnell - Althea Brockett"

"[to Althea Brockett, about Lionel Dillard] Jeez, what an asshole."

"[to Sofia Crisp] I don't know what's real and what's not. That's never been my strong suit."

"I understand what it's like to want to leave a problem behind."

"In these fantasies, Henry Follet is played by a handsome guy — with biceps. Can you imagine that — where your self esteem has to be? Man, I'd just like to move the guy to the point where he gets to appear in his own fantasies."

"[to Skip Skipperton] I am not now, nor have I ever been, a psychologist."

"[to Skip Skipperton] I noticed something. For some reason, probably because I was too stoned to talk, everywhere I went people would talk to me. Tell me everything. Their problems, their inner most thoughts. Sometimes they needed advice, but most of the people just wanted someone to listen."

"In a free society you are what you say you are. If you screwed up on life, sometimes you can get another shot."

"[about her symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.]] It's almost too exhausting to tell you about my exhaustion. I didn't really want to come. I'm not hopeful right now."

"God, it seems like years. I'm embarrassed by it. Before this happened — when I'd hear people talk about this kind of thing — I thought it was bullshit."

"You're shockingly honest. That's what makes you great. I've never had a man treat me this way. With you I feel really listened to."

"Thanks to this therapy I now know what I am looking for. I need to find a man like you. Not one who's treating me of course. And I'm going to do it dammit, you've given me the confidence."

"I have taken all my feelings of gratitude and relief and transferred them onto you. I have taken all those warm, grateful emotions, and confused them with feelings for you, so that now I am under the delusion that — I am in love with you."

"Do you understand how I might be a little resentful that this so-called love I'm feeling is totally bogus and just a pathetic case of transference?"

"Nessa: This shrink school you went to, did you hear about it in an infomercial?"

"Lilly: I watched 20/20, it was shocking! Did you know the government is wasteful?"

"Martin Brocket: Have you come across a bigger shithead than my stepfather?"

"Althea Brockett: Why do I feel so elated? Am I in denial? You know what this feels like? I know my time's up, but I've got to get this out while I've got a hold of it! ... When I was in high school the thing I wanted most when I was stuck in class, the thing that I was desperately in pursuit of, was a hall pass. That's all I ever wanted. I loved moving freely around the school while everybody else was trapped in there. That's how I feel right now. Like I have some giant all day hall pass."

"Skip Skipperton: [to Lilly] I may be young, but Doc can tell you — I'm very immature."

"Dr. Ernest Delbanco: No one can escape the fear of death. It is, as William James put it, "the worm at the core," and try as we may to forget or ignore our own mortality, the skull will grin in at the banquet."

"Some towns have all the fun."

"You don't have to be crazy to fall in love...but it helps."

"Loren Dean - Dr. Mumford"

"Hope Davis - Sofie Crisp"

"Jason Lee - Skip Skipperton"

"Alfre Woodard - Lily"

"Pruitt Taylor Vince - Henry Follett"

"Zooey Deschanel - Nessa Watkins"