lawful rebellion quotes from movies

[HVYMTL]

Not a movie but still a good one :

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.

Author: Abraham Lincoln

[HVYMTL]

'SWING VOTE' (2008)


“All the world’s great civilizations have followed the same path. From bondage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy back to bondage. If we are to be the exception to history, then we must break the cycle, for those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
—Molly Johnson (Madeline Carroll)

[HVYMTL]

'THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT' (1995)

Universal Pictures

“America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ‘cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, ‘You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can’t just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest.’ Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the ‘land of the free.’”
—President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas)

[HVYMTL]

'THE BEST MAN' (1964)

United Artists

“I got news for you about both politics and life. May I say, the two are exactly the same. There are no ends, only means.”
—President Art Hockstader (Lee Tracy)

[HVYMTL]

CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR' (2007)

Universal Pictures

Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts):
“Why is Congress saying one thing and doing nothing?”
Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks):
“Well, tradition mostly.”

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'NASHVILLE' (1975)

Paramount Pictures

“Who do you think is running Congress? Farmers? Engineers? Teachers? Businessmen? No, my friends. Congress is run by lawyers. A lawyer is trained for two things and two things only. To clarify — that’s one. And to confuse – that’s the other. He does whichever is to his client’s advantage. Did you ever ask a lawyer the time of day? He told you how to make a watch, didn’t he? Ever ask a lawyer how to get to Mr. Jones’ house in the country? You got lost, didn’t you? Congress is composed of five hundred and thirty-five individuals. Two hundred and eighty-eight are lawyers. And you wonder what’s wrong in Congress. No wonder we often know how to make a watch, but we don’t know the time of day.”
—Thomas Hal Phillips (Hal Phillip Walker)

[HVYMTL]

'STATE OF THE UNION' (1948)

MGM

Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury):
“But there is one question on his mind you better have the answer to.”
Jim Conover (Adolphe Menjou):
“What’s that?”
Kay Thorndyke: “He’s beginning to wonder if there is any difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.”
Jim Conover: “Now that’s a fine question for a presidential candidate to ask. There’s all the difference in the world. They’re in and we’re out!”

[HVYMTL]

'ELECTION' (1999)

Paramount Pictures

“Who cares about this stupid election? We all know it doesn’t matter who gets elected president of Carver. Do you really think it’s going to change anything around here; make one single person smarter or happier or nicer? The only person it does matter to is the one who gets elected. The same pathetic charade happens every year, and everyone makes the same pathetic promises just so they can put it on their transcripts to get into college. So vote for me, because I don’t even want to go to college, and I don’t care, and as president I won’t do anything. The only promise I will make is that if elected I will immediately dismantle the student government, so that none of us will ever have to sit through one of these stupid assemblies again!”
—Tammy Meltzer (Jessica Campbell)

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Monty Brewster: What are you gonna vote?
Crowd: [in unison] None of the above!

Brewsters Millions (Richard Prior)

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‘SYRIANA’ (2005)

Warner Bros.

Danny Dalton (Tim Blake Nelson): “Corruption? Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations. That’s Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win.”