"Maybe the attack against the Ant Hill was impossible. Perhaps it was an error of judgment on our part. On the other hand, if your men had been a little more daring, you might have taken it. Who knows? Why should we have to bear more criticism and failure than we have to?...These executions will be a perfect tonic for the entire division. There are few things more fundamentally encouraging and stimulating than seeing someone else die...You see, Colonel, troops are like children. Just as a child wants his father to be firm, troops crave discipline. And one way to maintain discipline is to shoot a man now and then."

"[to Broulard] You're making me the goat. The only completely innocent man in this whole affair. I have only one last thing to say to you, George. The man you stabbed in the back is a soldier."

"Get off this fancy talk with me, do you understand? General Broulard seemed to think you were funny. I don't. I want you to drop this affair...Colonel Dax, when this mess is cleaned up, I'll break you...I'll ruin you. And it'll be just what you deserve, showing such little loyalty to your commanding officer."

"[about Rousseau] In cases like this, shells falling short, I-I always try to avoid an inquiry. It gets around among the men and makes a bad impression. Now, shelving will be the best discipline for him in my opinion."

"If those little sweethearts won't face German bullets, they'll face French ones!"

"Miserable cowards, they're not advancing...they're still in the trenches!"

"Naturally, men are going have to be killed, possibly a lot of them. They'll absorb bullets and shrapnel, and by doing so make it possible for others to get through...say five percent killed by our own barrage - that's a very generous allowance. Ten percent more again in no man's land, and twenty percent more again into the wire. That leaves sixty-five percent, and the worst part of the job over. Let's say another twenty-five percent in actually taking the Ant Hill - we're still left with a force more than adequate to hold it."

"Looking over your rifle, I see? Well, that's the way. It's a soldier's best friend. You be good to it and it will always be good to you."

"Nothing is beyond those men once their fighting spirit is aroused...We might just do it!"

"It's out of the question, George. Absolutely out of the question. My division was cut to pieces. What's left of it is in no position to even hold the Ant Hill, let alone take it. I'm sorry, but that's the truth."

"[to Broulard] What would your, er, newspapers and your politicians do with that?...you are in a difficult position. Too much has happened. Someone's got to be hurt. The only question is who. General Mireau's assault on the Ant Hill failed. His order to fire on his own troops was refused. But his attempt to murder three innocent men to protect his own reputation will be prevented by the General's staff."

"There are times when I am ashamed to be a member of the human race and this is one such occasion...I protest against being prevented from introducing evidence that I consider vital to the defense, the prosecution presented no witnesses, there has never been a written indictment of charges made against the defendants, and lastly, I protest against the fact that no stenographic record of this trial has been kept. The attack yesterday morning was no stain on the honor of France, but this court-martial is such a stain...Gentlemen of the court, to find these men guilty will be a crime to haunt each of you to the day you die. I can't believe that the noblest impulse in man, his compassion for another, can be completely dead here. Therefore, I humbly beg you show mercy to these men."

"Stick to the stories you've told me, and don't let the prosecutor shake you out of them. Now remember, you'll be soldiers in the presence of superior officers, so act like what you are - soldiers! - and brave ones at that...When you answer questions, look the judges in the eye, don't whine, plead, or make speeches. That's my job. Simple statements, short, but make them so they can be heard all over the room and try not to repeat yourselves. I'll do that for you when I sum up."

"If any soldiers in the world can take it, we'll take the Ant Hill."

"Claude Heater - Jesus Christ"

"Laurence Payne - Joseph"

"André Morell - Sextus"

"George Relph - Tiberius Caesar"

"Terence Longdon - Drusus"

"Frank Thring - Pontius Pilate"

"Finlay Currie - Balthazar/Narrator in pre-credits sequence"

"Sam Jaffe - Simonides"

"Cathy O'Donnell - Tirzah"

"Martha Scott - Miriam"

"Hugh Griffith - Sheik Ilderim"

"Stephen Boyd - Messala"

"Haya Harareet - Esther"

"Jack Hawkins - Quintus Arrius"

"Charlton Heston - Judah Ben-Hur"

"Bigger than Ben-Hur!!"

"The Entertainment Experience of a Lifetime!"

"The World's Most Honored Motion Picture"

"A Tale of the Christ"

"Esther: I've seen too much what hate can do. My father is burned up with it. But I've heard of a young rabbi who says that forgiveness is greater and love more powerful than hatred. I believe it."

"Sextus: There's also a wild man in the desert named John the Baptist and a young carpenter's son who goes around doing magic tricks, miracles they call them...This man is different. He teaches that God is near, in every man. It's actually quite profound, some of it."

"Simonides: Do not pity me, Master Judah. In fact, I'm twice the man I was. There's Mallet, my other half. We met in the dungeons at the citadel. We were released on the same day, Mallet without a tongue and I without life in my legs. Since then, I have been his tongue and he has been my legs. Together, we make a considerable man."

"[to Judah] The Star of David, will shine out for your people and my people together and blind the eyes of Rome."

"One wife? One God, that I can understand - but one wife! That is not civilized. It is not generous."

"[to Judah] In his eagerness to save you, your God has also saved the Roman fleet."

"[to Judah] You have the spirit to fight back but the good sense to control it. Your eyes are full of hate, Forty-One. That's good. Hate keeps a man alive. It gives him strength."

"[to Judah] I wanted your help. Now you have given it to me. By making this example of you, I discourage treason. By condemning, without hesitation, an old friend, I shall be feared."

"It's an insane world, but in it there's one sanity, the loyalty of old friends. Judah, we must believe in one another."

"Be wise, Judah. It's a Roman world. If you want to live in it, you must become part of it...I tell you, Judah, it's no accident that one small village on the Tiber was chosen to rule the world...It wasn't just our legions...No, it was fate that chose us to civilize the world - and we have. Our roads and our ships connect every corner of the earth, Roman law, architecture, literature are the glory of the human race."

"Find them, Messala. Restore them to me and I'll forget what I vowed with every stroke of that oar you chained me to."

"[to Messala] May God grant me vengeance. I pray that you live till I return."

"Rome is an affront to God. Rome is strangling my people and my country and the whole earth, but not forever. I tell you, the day Rome falls, there will be a shout of freedom such as the world has never heard before."

"You may conquer the land, you may slaughter the people. That is not the end. We will rise again."

"One thing I know for sure - a person can't sneeze in this town without somebody offerin' him a handkerchief...it's an awful small town for any kinda carryin' on...And some people got a lotta guns."

"Jessie Lee Fulton - Miss Mosey"