Billy Jack (1971)
Tom Laughlin: Billy Jack
Photos
Quotes
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[Billy Jack is surrounded by Posner's thugs]
Mr. Posner : You really think those Green Beret Karate tricks are gonna help you against all these boys?
Billy Jack : Well, it doesn't look to me like I really have any choice now, does it?
Mr. Posner : [laughing] That's right, you don't.
Billy Jack : You know what I think I'm gonna do then? Just for the hell of it?
Mr. Posner : Tell me.
Billy Jack : I'm gonna take this right foot, and I'm gonna whop you on that side of your face...
[points to Posner's right cheek]
Billy Jack : ...and you wanna know something? There's not a damn thing you're gonna be able to do about it.
Mr. Posner : Really?
Billy Jack : Really.
[kicks Posner's right cheek, sending him to the ground]
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Billy Jack : Now, which is it gonna be: drive your car in the lake or get a dislocated elbow?
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Billy Jack : Bernard, I want you to know... that I try. When Jean and the kids at the school tell me that I'm supposed to control my violent temper, and be passive and nonviolent like they are, I try. I really try. Though when I see this girl... of such a beautiful spirit... so degraded... and this boy... that I love... sprawled out by this big ape here... and this little girl, who is so special to us we call her "God's little gift of sunshine"... and I think of the number of years that she's going to have to carry in her memory... the savagery of this idiotic moment of yours... I just go BERSERK!
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Billy Jack : You're illegally on Indian land.
Mr. Posner : I'm sorry about that. I guess we just got caught up in the chase and crossed over without knowing it.
Billy Jack : You're a liar.
Mr. Posner : We got the law here, Billy Jack.
Billy Jack : When policemen break the law, then there isn't any law - just a fight for survival.
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Billy Jack : It's funny, isn't it? Only the white man wants everything put in writing. And only then so he can use it against you in court. You know, among the Indians a promise is good enough.
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[the deputy is holding one of the school's girls at gunpoint as Billy Jack approaches]
Deputy : Now you drop that gun or I'll shoot her!
Deputy : [long pause] I'm not gonna ask you again.
Billy Jack : You won't have to.
Deputy : What?
Billy Jack : I said shoot her.
Deputy : [cocks revolver] You'd kill her? just like that?
Billy Jack : [shakes his head] You'll kill her.
[points his rifle]
Billy Jack : And then I'll kill you. Just like that.
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Mr. Posner : You're makin' a mistake.
Billy Jack : I've made 'em before.
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Billy Jack : Martin, do you know what mental toughness is? Well, mental toughness is the ability to accept the fact that you're human and that you're going to make mistakes - lots of 'em - all your life. And some of them are gonna hurt people that you love very badly. But you have the guts to accept the fact that you ain't perfect. And you don't let your mistakes crush you and keep you from doing the very best that you can.
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Jean : We'll go someplace else, someplace were it doesn't have to be like this.
Billy Jack : Oh, really? Tell me, where is that place? Where is it? In what remote corner of this country-no-entire goddamn planet is there a place were men really care about one another and really love each other? Now, you tell me were such a place is, and I promise you that I'll never hurt another human being as long as I live.
[shouts]
Billy Jack : Just one place!
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Jean : You just can't keep making your own laws. There's got to be one set of laws fair for everyone, including you.
Billy Jack : That's fine. When that set of laws is applied to everyone, then I'll turn the other cheek too.
Jean : There's got to be a better way to change those people.
Billy Jack : CHANGE those people? You worked with King, didn't you?
Jean : Yes!
Billy Jack : Where is he?
Jean : Dead.
Billy Jack : And where's Bob and Jack Kennedy?
Jean : Dead.
Billy Jack : Not "dead", their brains blown out! Because YOUR people wouldn't even put the same controls on their guns as they do on their dogs, their bicycles, their cats, and their automobiles.
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Billy Jack : [giggling] I can't believe it. I really can't believe this guy. Can you believe it?
Jean : Not really, no.
Billy Jack : You know what he reminds me of?
Jean : What?
Billy Jack : A little monkey. Posner's little monkey, runnin' around tryin' to get in all the bananas. Get your blouse and get outa' here.
Girl : Will you look?
Billy Jack : [scoffs] Probably. Get your blouse.
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Billy Jack : It's funny, isn't it? Only the white man wants everything put in writing, and only then so he can use it against you in court. You know, among the Indians a promise is good enough. As far as I can tell, Washington entered into 3,500 treaties with the Indians to date, and they've broken about 3,499 of 'em.
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Jean : I know I've never said it to you, but I think you know. I love you.
Billy Jack : I think you know, too.
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Jean : What about Barbara?
Billy Jack : It's up to her to decide.
Jean : Barbara, will you go out with me?
Barbara : No.
Barbara : May I ask why?
Barbara : From the day I was born until this moment, and every second in between, life has been one big shit brick. I just can't take it anymore. From the way things are going, well as Indians say, "Today's as good as any to die."
Jean : You've taught her well.
Billy Jack : An Indian isn't afraid to die. Don't ever expect the white man to understand that.
Jean : I understand it. That's good for an Indian.
Billy Jack : Like the old man said: Being an Indian is not a matter of blood, it's a way of life.
Jean : I understand that, too. But she's a 15-year-old child who worships the ground you walk on. And now she's gonna die needlessly because you haven't got the guts to control your temper. It's so easy for you to die dramatically. It's a hell of a lot tougher for those of us who have to keep on trying.
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Billy Jack : Being an Indian is not a matter of blood... it's a way of life.
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Billy Jack : Everything they want from here on out... they're gonna have to take.
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Billy Jack : Anything they want from here on out, they're gonna have to take.
