"Point number one, Andrew Beckett was - is a brilliant lawyer, great lawyer. Point number two, Andrew Beckett, afflicted with a debilitating disease, made the understandable, the personal, the legal choice to keep the fact of his illness to himself. Point number three, his employers discovered his illness, and ladies and gentlemen, the illness I am referring to is AIDS. Point number four, they panicked. And in their panic, they did what most of us would like to do with AIDS, which is just get it, and everybody who has it, as far away from the rest of us as possible.Now, the behavior of Andrew Beckett's employers may seem reasonable to you. It does to me. After all, AIDS is a deadly, incurable disease. But no matter how you come to judge Charles Wheeler and his partners in ethical, moral, and in human terms, the fact of the matter is, when they fired Andrew Beckett because he had AIDS, they broke the law."

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Forget everything you've seen on television and in the movies. There's not gonna be any last minute surprise witnesses. Nobody's gonna break down on the stand with a tearful confession. You're gonna be presented with a simple fact: Andrew Beckett was fired. You'll hear two explanations for why he was fired: ours and theirs. It is up to you to sift through layer upon layer of truth until you determine for yourselves which version sounds the most true. There are certain points that I must prove to you."

"Some of these people make me sick, Philco. But a law's been broken. You remember the law, don't you?"

"Now, explain it to me like I'm a two-year-old."

"We're standing here in Philadelphia, the, uh, city of brotherly love, the birthplace of freedom, where the, uh, founding fathers authored the Declaration of Independence, and I don't recall that glorious document saying anything about all straight men are created equal. I believe it says all men are created equal."

"Tom Lupo - Jerome"

"Robert Apisa - Lopacki"

"Anjelica Huston - Dr. Betsy Reisz"

"James Lancaster - Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle"

"Richard Jordan - Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead"

"Kevin Conway - Pvt. Buster Kilrain"

"C. Thomas Howell - Lt. Thomas Chamberlain"

"Stephen Lang - Maj. Gen. George Pickett"

"Sam Elliot - Brig. Gen. John Buford"

"Jeff Daniels - Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain"

"Martin Sheen - Gen. Robert E. Lee"

"Tom Berenger - Lt. Gen. James Longstreet"

"Cpt. TJ Goree: [to Gen. Longstreet] No good trying to get yourself killed, General. The Lord'll come for you in his own good time."

"Young Marylander: [the only line spoken by a female in the entire film] I thought the war was in Virginia."

"2nd Maine soldier: [shoots a Confederate soldier] I got me one. I got me a Reb."

"2nd Maine Soldier: No man will call me a coward."

"Col. Strong Vincent: You are the extreme left of the Union Army. Understood? The line runs all the way from here back to Cemetery Hill. But it ends here. You cannot withdraw under any condition. If you go this line will be flanked. If you go, the enemy will sweep up over the hillside and take this entire army from the rear. You must defend this place to the last."

"Maj. Gen. John Reynolds: [last words] Forward, for God's sake, forward!"

"Maj. Gen. Isaac Trimble: [to Lee, after the first day] Sir, I said to General Ewell these words. I said to him: "Sir, give me one division and I will take that hill." He said nothing. He just stood there and stared at me. I said, "General Ewell, give me one brigade and I will take that hill." I was becoming disturbed, sir. And General Ewell put his arms behind him and blinked. So I said, "General, give me one regiment and I will take that hill." And he said nothing! He just stood there! I threw down my sword. Down on the ground in front of him. We could have done it, sir. A blind man should have seen it. Now they're working up there. You can hear the axes of the federal troops. And so in the morning many a good boy will die...taking that hill. Sir, I must request another assignment."

"Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock: There are times when a corps commander's life does not count."

"Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle: You call yourselves Americans, but you're really just transplanted Englishmen."

"Cpl. Glazier Estabrook: Colonel, sir. You know who this 2nd Maine man is? Dan Burns from Orono. I know his daddy, the preacher. Best darn cusser I've ever heard. Knows more fine swear words than any man in Maine."

"Maj. Gen. Harry Heth: It started out as a minor scrap with a few militia, the next thing I know, I'm tangled with half the Union Army!"

"Narrator: In June 1863, after more than two years of bloody conflict, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee commanding, slips across the Potomac to begin the invasion of the North. It is an army of 70,000 men. They move slowly behind the Blue Ridge using the mountains to screen their movements. Their objective is to draw the Union army out into the open where it can be destroyed. Late in June, the Union Army of the Potomac, 80,000 men, turns north from Virginia to begin the great pursuit up the narrow roads across Maryland and into Pennsylvania. General Lee knows that a letter has been prepared by the Southern government; a letter which offers peace. It is to be placed on the desk of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, the day after Lee has destroyed the Army of the Potomac somewhere north of Washington."

"[observing the initial attack of the Confederates against his men] Got one brigade in position and that's all. We've got the best damn ground around and they're hitting me with one brigade. Lovely. Lovely! [turns around, looking for a sign of Gen. Reynolds, sees none] Damn it."

"[to Col. Devin, one of his brigade commanders] You know what's gonna happen here in the morning? The whole damn rebel army's gonna be here. They'll move through this town, occupy these hills on the other side. When our people get here, Lee'll have the high ground, and there'll be the devil to pay. The high ground! Meade will come in slowly, cautiously, new to command. They'll be on his back from Washington, wires hot with messages: "Attack! Attack!" So he will set up a ring around these hills, and when Lee's army is all nicely entrenched behind fat rocks on the high ground, Meade'll finally attack, if he can coordinate the army. Straight up the hillside, out in the open, in that gorgeous field of fire. We will charge valiantly, and be butchered valiantly! Afterwards, men in tall hats and gold watch-fobs will thump their chests and say what a brave charge it was. [sighs] Devin, I've led a soldier's life. I've never seen anything as brutally clear as this. It's as if I can actually see the blue troops in one long, bloody moment, going up the long slope to the stony top, as if it were already done, and already a memory. Odd, set, stony quality to it, as if tomorrow's already happened and there's nothing you can do about it. Way you sometimes feel before an ill-considered attack, knowing it'll fail, but you cannot stop it! You must even take part, and help it fail!"

"[responding to an order to form a defensive position after his division has been slaughtered] General Lee, I have no division."

"[as smoke obscures the charge] What's happenin'? I can't see what's happenin' to my boys. WHAT'S HAPPENIN' TO MY BOYS?!"

"[as Armistead leads the charge to the stone wall] That's the style, Lo! [raises his hat in the air] THAT'S THE STYLE!!"

"Up, men! Up! And to your posts! And let no man forget today that you are from old Virginia!"

"For the glory of Virginia, form your brigade."

"You know I consider it unbecomin' to a soldier, all this booklearnin'."

"Hello, my bully boys! Virginia has arrived!"

"[last words] Will you tell General Hancock that General Armistead sends his regrets? Will you tell him how very sorry I am?"

"The day is ours, men! Turn the cannons on them! Turn the cannons! [jumps off the stone wall and places his hand on a cannon] Man this cannon! Man this cannon!"