"That was the night that I died, and someone else was saved. Someone who was afraid of water, but learned to swim. Someone who knew there would be one moment, where he wouldn't be watching. Someone who knew that the darkness of the broken lights would show the way."

"[on phone with the police, with gun aimed at Martin] Come quickly. I've just killed an intruder."

"There's the telephone. You could call the police. I know your every thought, Laura. You're wondering if they can protect you. Who knows? They may issue an order instructing me to stay away from my own wife. Nothing can keep me away. I love you, Laura. I can't live without you. And I won't let you live without me."

"Mos Def - Dante"

"William H. Macy - Vice Principal (later Principal) Gene Wolters"

"Olympia Dukakis - Principal Helen Jacobs"

"Alicia Witt - Gertrude Lang"

"Jay Thomas - Bill Meister"

"Richard Dreyfuss - Glenn Holland"

"Terrence Howard - Louis Russ"

"Glenne Headly - Iris Holland"

"It's not about the direction you take. It's about the direction you give."

"Of all the lives he changed, the one that changed the most was his own."

"We are your symphony Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. We are the music of your life."

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

"Damon Whitaker - Bobby Tidd"

"A teacher has two jobs; fill young minds with knowledge, yes, but more important, give those minds a compass so that that knowledge doesn't go to waste."

"Iris Holland: Why is everyone else's child more important than yours?"

"[to Rowena Morgan - after she tells him she'd love to be a singer in New York] ... you have a great talent and if you have the passion, if you have the hunger, then you oughta go to New York and do what you want to do, no matter what anyone tells you."

"Bill Meister(crying over the grave of Louis Russ, a former student killed in Vietnam): We know too many of these kids!"

"You work for 30 years because you think that what you do makes a difference, you think it matters to people, but then you wake up one morning and find out, well no, you've made a little error there, you're expendable. I should be laughing."

"Playing music is supposed to be fun. It's about heart, it's about feelings, moving people, and something beautiful, and it's not about notes on a page. I can teach you notes on a page, I can't teach you that other stuff."

"Melora Walters - Jimmy's Girl"

"The day they cut the football budget in this state, that will be the end of Western Civilization as we know it!"

"Gertrude Lang: [as an adult] Mr. Holland had a profound influence on my life and on a lot of lives I know. But I have a feeling that he considers a great part of his own life misspent. Rumor had it he was always working on this symphony of his. And this was going to make him famous, rich, probably both. But Mr. Holland isn't rich and he isn't famous, at least not outside of our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure. But he would be wrong, because I think that he's achieved a success far beyond riches and fame. Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. We are the music of your life."

"It's almost funny. I got dragged into this gig kicking and screaming, and now it's the only thing I want to do."

"Gwyneth Paltrow - Clementine"

"John C. Reilly - John Finnegan"

"Samuel L. Jackson - Jimmy"

"If you stay in the game long enough, you'll see everything, win everything, and lose everything."

"Philip Baker Hall - Sydney Brown"

"Philip Seymour Hoffman - Craps player"

"Robert Ridgely - Keno Manager"

"Jean Louisa Kelly - Rowena Morgan"

"A symphony of life."

"Paul Adelstein - Sailor - Young Paul"

"Henry Jones - Mr. Simms"

"Annette Bening - Myra Langtry"

"Pat Hingle - Bobo Justus"

"Gailard Sartain - Joe"

"Well, who's a boy gonna talk to if not his mother?"

"I gave you your life twice. I'm asking you to give me mine once."

"John Cusack - Roy Dillon"