The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Tim Robbins: Andy Dufresne

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Quotes 

• Andy Dufresne : [to Red]  I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

• Andy Dufresne : [in letter to Red]  Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

• Andy Dufresne : [referring to Andy using an alias to launder money for the warden]  If they ever try to trace any of those accounts, they're gonna end up chasing a figment of my imagination.

  Red : Well, I'll be damned. Did I say you were good? Shit, you're a Rembrandt!

  Andy Dufresne : Yeah. The funny thing is - on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.

• Andy Dufresne : That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you... Haven't you ever felt that way about music?

  Red : I played a mean harmonica as a younger man. Lost interest in it though. Didn't make much sense in here.

  Andy Dufresne : Here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget.

  Red : Forget?

  Andy Dufresne : Forget that... there are places in this world that aren't made out of stone. That there's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours.

  Red : What're you talking about?

  Andy Dufresne : Hope.

• Andy Dufresne : What about you? What are you in here for?

  Red : Murder, same as you.

  Andy Dufresne : Innocent?

  Red : [shakes his head]  Only guilty man in Shawshank.

• Heywood : The Count of Monte Crisco...

  Floyd : That's "Cristo" you dumb shit.

  Heywood : ...by Alexandree Dumb-ass. Dumb-ass.

  Andy Dufresne : Dumb-ass? "Dumas". You know what it's about? You'll like it, it's about a prison break.

  Red : We oughta file that under "Educational" too, oughten we?

• Andy Dufresne : [about his wife]  She was beautiful. God I loved her. I just didn't know how to show it, that's all. I killed her, Red. I didn't pull the trigger, but I drove her away. And that's why she died, because of me. The way I am.

• Andy Dufresne : [in a letter to Red]  Dear Red. If you're reading this, you've gotten out. And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further. You remember the name of the town, don't you?

  Red : Zihuatanejo.

  Andy Dufresne : I could use a good man to help me get my project on wheels. I'll keep an eye out for you and the chessboard ready. Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this letter finds you, and finds you well. Your friend. Andy.

• Andy Dufresne : I have no enemies here.

  Red : Yeah? Wait a while. Word gets around. The Sisters have taken quite a likin' to you. Especially Bogs.

  Andy Dufresne : I don't suppose it would help if I told them that I'm not homosexual.

  Red : Neither are they. You have to be human first. They don't qualify.

• Andy Dufresne : Red. If you ever get out of here, do me a favor.

  Red : Sure, Andy. Anything.

  Andy Dufresne : There's a big hayfield up near Buxton. You know where Buxton is?

  Red : Well, there's... there's a lot of hayfields up there.

  Andy Dufresne : One in particular. It's got a long rock wall with a big oak tree at the north end. It's like something out of a Robert Frost poem. It's where I asked my wife to marry me. We went there for a picnic and made love under that oak and I asked and she said yes. Promise me, Red. If you ever get out... find that spot. At the base of that wall, you'll find a rock that has no earthly business in a Maine hayfield. Piece of black, volcanic glass. There's something buried under it I want you to have.

  Red : What, Andy? What's buried under there?

  Andy Dufresne : [turns to walk away]  You'll have to pry it up... to see.

• District Attorney : And that also is very convenient, isn't it, Mr. Dufresne?

  Andy Dufresne : Since I am innocent of this crime, sir, I find it decidedly inconvenient that the gun was never found.

• Andy Dufresne : You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific?

  Red : No.

  Andy Dufresne : They say it has no memory. That's where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory.

• Bogs Diamond : Now, I'm gonna open my fly and you're gonna swallow what I give ya to swallow. And after you swallow mine you're gonna swallow Rooster's cause ya done broke his nose and I think he oughta have something to show for it.

  Andy Dufresne : Anything you put in my mouth you're gonna lose.

  Bogs Diamond : Naw, you don't understand. You do that and I'll put all eight inches of steel in your ear.

  Andy Dufresne : All right. But you should know that sudden serious brain injury causes the victim to bite down hard. In fact, I hear the bite reflex is so strong they have to pry the victims jaws open with a crowbar.

  Bogs Diamond : [unnerved]  Where do you get this shit?

  Andy Dufresne : I read it. You know how to read, you ignorant fuck?

• Warden Samuel Norton : [after Andy tells him Tommy could prove Andy's innocence]  I have to say that's the most amazing story I've ever heard. What amazes me most is that you were taken in by it.

  Andy Dufresne : [Confused]  Sir?

  Warden Samuel Norton : Well, it's obvious this fellow Williams is impressed with you. He hears your tale of woe and quite naturally, wants to cheer you up. He's young, not terribly bright. It's not surprising he wouldn't know what a state he put you in.

  Andy Dufresne : Sir, he's telling the truth.

  Warden Samuel Norton : Well, let's say for the moment this Blatch does exist. You think he'd just fall to his knees and cry "Yes, I did it, I confess! Oh, and by the way, add a life term to my sentence."

  Andy Dufresne : You know that wouldn't matter. With Tommy's testimony I can get a new trial.

  Warden Samuel Norton : That's assuming Blatch is still there. Chances are excellent he'd be released by now.

  Andy Dufresne : Well they'd have his last known address, names of relatives. It's a chance, isn't it?

  [Norton shakes his head] 

  Andy Dufresne : How can you be so obtuse?

  Warden Samuel Norton : [his anger rising]  What? What did you call me?

  Andy Dufresne : Obtuse. Is it deliberate?

  Warden Samuel Norton : Son, you're forgetting yourself.

  Andy Dufresne : The country club will have his old time cards. Records, W-2s with his name on them!

  Warden Samuel Norton : If you wanna indulge in this fantasy, that's your business. Don't make it mine. This meeting is over.

  Andy Dufresne : Sir, if I ever get out, I'd never mention what goes on in here. I'd be just as indictable as you for laundering that money.

  Warden Samuel Norton : [slams his fists on the table]  Don't you *ever* mention money to me again, you sorry son of a bitch! Not in this office, not anywhere!

  [slaps the intercom] 

  Warden Samuel Norton : Get in here! Now!

  Andy Dufresne : I'm just trying to put your mind at ease!

  [Hadley comes in] 

  Warden Samuel Norton : [to Hadley]  Solitary, a month!

  Andy Dufresne : [as they drag him away]  What's the matter with you? This is my life, don't you understand? IT'S MY LIFE! IT'S MY LIFE! NO!

• [Warden Norton finds the Bible in his safe after Andy escapes and finds the message Andy left for him] 

  Andy Dufresne : Dear Warden, You were right. Salvation lay within.

  [Norton flips through a couple of pages to find the outline of the rock hammer that was hidden in the Book of Exodus within the Bible, and then drops it on the floor in shock] 

• Andy Dufresne : Bad luck, I guess. It floats around. It's got to land on somebody. It was my turn, that's all. I was in the path of the tornado. I just didn't expect the storm would last as long as it has.

• Captain Hadley : Dufresne!

  [to Dekins] 

  Captain Hadley : That's him. That's the one.

  Guard Dekins : I'm Dekins. I was thinking about setting up some kind of trust fund for my kids' educations.

  Andy Dufresne : Oh, I see. Well, why don't we have a seat and talk it over. Brooks, do you have a piece of paper and a pencil? Thanks. So, Mr. Dekins...

  Brooks : [at lunchtime to the other prisoners]  And then Andy says, "Mr. Dekins, do you want your sons to go to Harvard... or Yale?"

  Floyd : He didn't say that!

  Brooks : God is my witness! Dekins just looked at him a second and then he laughed himself silly and afterwards he actually shook Andy's hand.

  Heywood : My ass.

  Brooks : Shook his hand! I near soiled myself, I mean all Andy needed was a suit and a tie and a little jiggly hula gal on his desk and he woulda been *Mister* Dufresne, if you please.

  Red : Making a few friends, huh Andy?

  Andy Dufresne : I wouldn't say friends. I'm a convicted murderer who provides sound financial planning - it's a wonderful pet to have.

• [after Tommy told the story of how he got arrested] 

  Andy Dufresne : Perhaps it's time you tried a new profession.

  Tommy Williams : Huh?

  Andy Dufresne : What I mean is, you don't seem to be a very good thief, maybe you should try something else.

  Tommy Williams : Yeah, well, what the hell you know about it, Capone? What are you in for?

  Andy Dufresne : Me? My lawyer fucked me. Everybody's innocent in here. Don't you know that?

• Andy Dufresne : Mr. Hadley, do you trust your wife?

  Captain Hadley : Oh that's funny. You're gonna look funnier sucking my dick with no teeth.

  Andy Dufresne : What I mean is, do you think she'd go behind your back, try to hamstring you?

  Captain Hadley : That's it. Step aside Mert, this fucker's having himself an accident.

  [grabs Dufresne and pushes him near the edge of the roof] 

  Heywood : He's gonna push him off the roof!

  Andy Dufresne : Because if you do trust her, there's no reason you can't keep that $35,000!

  Captain Hadley : What did you say?

  Andy Dufresne : $35,000.

  Captain Hadley : $35,000?

  Andy Dufresne : All of it.

  Captain Hadley : All of it?

  Andy Dufresne : Every penny.

  Captain Hadley : You better start making sense.

  Andy Dufresne : If you want to keep all of that money, give it to your wife. The IRS allows a one-time-only gift to your spouse for up to $60,000.

  Captain Hadley : Bullshit! Tax free?

  Andy Dufresne : Tax free. IRS can't touch one cent.

  Captain Hadley : You're that smart banker who killed his wife, aren't you? Why should I believe a smart banker like you? So I can end up in here with you?

  Andy Dufresne : It's perfectly legal, go ask the IRS, they'll say the same thing. Actually I feel stupid telling you this, I'm sure you would've investigated the matter yourself.

  Captain Hadley : Yeah, fucking A'! I don't need a smart wife-killing banker to tell me where the bear shit in the buckwheat!

  Andy Dufresne : Of course not. But you do need someone to set up the tax-free gift for you, and that'll cost you. A lawyer for example.

  Captain Hadley : Bunch of ball-washing bastards!

  Andy Dufresne : Right. I suppose I could set it up for you. That would save you some money. If you get the forms I'll prepare them for you, nearly free of charge. I'd only ask three beers apiece for each of my co-workers.

  Guard Mert : Ha! "Co-workers", get him, that's rich ain't it?

  Andy Dufresne : I think a man working outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds. That's only my opinion, sir.

  Captain Hadley : [looks over at the rest of Andy's co-workers]  What are you Jimmies staring at? Back to work!

• [Andy has asked Red to procure Rita Hayworth] 

  Andy Dufresne : Can you get her?

  Red : Take a few weeks.

  Andy Dufresne : Weeks?

  Red : Well yeah, Andy. I don't have her stuffed down the front of my pants right now, I'm sorry to say, but I'll get her. Relax!

• [after Brooks held a knife to Heywood's throat] 

  Andy Dufresne : I just don't understand what happened in there.

  Heywood : Old man's crazy as a rat in a tin shithouse, is what.

  Red : Oh Heywood, that's enough out of you!

  Ernie : I heard he had you shittin' in your pants!

  Heywood : Fuck you!

  Red : Would you knock it off? Brooks ain't no bug. He's just... just institutionalized.

  Heywood : Institutionalized, my ass.

  Red : The man's been in here fifty years, Heywood. Fifty years! This is all he knows. In here, he's an important man. He's an educated man. Outside, he's nothin'! Just a used up con with arthritis in both hands.

• Andy Dufresne : I understand you're a man who knows how to get things.

  Red : I'm known to locate certain things from time to time.

• Red : Ever bother you?

  Andy Dufresne : I don't run the scams Red, I just process the profits. Fine line, maybe, but I also built that library and used it to help a dozen guys get their high school diploma. Why do you think the warden lets me do all that?

  Red : To keep you happy and doing the laundry. Money instead of sheets.

• Tommy Williams : I was thinkin' about gettin' my GED.

  Andy Dufresne : I don't waste time with losers, Tommy.

  Tommy Williams : [angrily]  I *ain't* no goddamn loser!

  Andy Dufresne : You mean that?

  Tommy Williams : Yeah!

  Andy Dufresne : [seriously]  You *really* mean that?

  Tommy Williams : Yes sir, I do.

  Andy Dufresne : Good. Because if we do this, we go all the way, nothing half-assed.

  Tommy Williams : Thing is, uh... I don't read so good.

  Tommy Williams : "Well."

  [pause, Tommy looks confused] 

  Tommy Williams : You don't read so *well.*... We'll get to that.

• Warden Samuel Norton : [Referring to the Bible]  Pleased to see you reading this, any favorite passages?

  Andy Dufresne : Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh.

  Warden Samuel Norton : Mark 13:35, I've always liked that one. But I prefer, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

  Andy Dufresne : John chapter eight verse twelve.

• Heywood : [Andy has returned after solitary for the record playing stunt]  Couldn't play somethin' good, huh? Hank Williams?

  Andy Dufresne : [smiling]  They broke the door down before I could take requests.

• [Warden Norton visits Andy in solitary] 

  Warden Samuel Norton : I'm sure by now you've heard. Terrible thing. Man that young, less than a year to go, trying to escape... Broke Captain Hadley's heart to shoot him, truly it did. We just have to put it behind us... move on.

  Andy Dufresne : I'm done. Everything stops. Get someone else to run your scams.

  Warden Samuel Norton : [icy]  Nothing stops. Nothing... or you will do the hardest time there is. No more protection from the guards. I'll pull you out of that one-bunk Hilton and cast you down with the Sodomites. You'll think you've been fucked by a train! And the library? Gone... sealed off, brick-by-brick. We'll have us a little book barbecue in the yard. They'll see the flames for miles. We'll dance around it like wild Injuns! You understand me? Catching my drift?... Or am I being obtuse?

  [beat] 

  Warden Samuel Norton : [to Hadley]  Give him another month to think about it.

• Red : [narrating]  The following April Andy did tax returns for half the guards at Shawshank. Year after that he did them all including the warden's. Year after that they rescheduled the start of the intra-mural season to coincide with tax season. The guards on the opposing teams all remembered to bring their W2s.

  Andy Dufresne : So Moresby prison issued you your gun, but you actually had to pay for it.

  Moresby Batter : Damn right. The holster too.

  Andy Dufresne : You see, that's tax deductible, you can write that off.

• Andy Dufresne : Not me. I didn't shoot my wife, and I didn't shoot her lover. Whatever mistakes I made, I've paid for them and then some. That hotel, that boat... I don't think that's too much to ask.

  Red : I don't think you oughta be doin' this to yourself, Andy. This is just shitty pipe dreams. I mean Mexico is way the hell down there and you're in here, and that's the way it is.

  Andy Dufresne : Yeah, right, that's the way it is. It's down there and I'm in here. I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

  [stands up and walks away a few steps] 

  Red : [stands up, concerned]  Andy!

  Andy Dufresne : Red, if you ever get out of here, do me a favor.

  Red : Sure, Andy. Anything.

  Andy Dufresne : There's a big hayfield up near Buxton. You know where Buxton is?

  Red : Well, there's, there's a lot of hayfields up there.

  Andy Dufresne : One in particular. It's got a long rock wall, with a big oak tree at the north end, it's like something out of a Robert Frost poem. It's where I asked my wife to marry me. We went there for a picnic and made love under that oak, and I asked and she said yes.

  [he steps close, voice dropping] 

  Andy Dufresne : Promise me, Red, if you ever get out, find that spot. At the base of that wall you'll find a rock that has no earthly business in a Maine hayfield. A piece of black, volcanic glass. There's something buried under it I want you to have.

  Red : What, Andy? What's buried under there?

  Andy Dufresne : [walking away]  You'll have to pry it up, to see.

• [Andy after Warden Norton refuses to appeal his case] 

  Andy Dufresne : It's my life. Don't you understand? IT'S MY LIFE!

• Andy Dufresne : I wonder if you might get me a rock hammer

  Red : What is it? And why?

  Andy Dufresne : A rock hammer is about six or seven inches long looks like a miniature Pickaxe

  Red : Pickaxe?

  Andy Dufresne : For rocks.

  Red : For rocks?

  Andy Dufresne : I'm from a rock hound at least I was in my old life I'd like to be again on a limited basis

  Red : Or maybe you'd like to sink your into somebody's skull

  Andy Dufresne : No I have no enemies here

  Red : No? Wait a while word gets around full queers take by force that's all they want or understand if I were you I'd grow eyes in the back of my head

  Andy Dufresne : Thanks for the advice

  Red : That's free, you understand my concern?

  Andy Dufresne : If there's any trouble I won't use the rock hammer

  Red : I guess you'd want to escape? Tunnel under the wall

  [Andy starts laughing] 

  Red : did I miss something? What's so funny?

  Andy Dufresne : You'll understand when you see the rock hammer

  Red : What's an item like this usually go for?

  Andy Dufresne : Seven dollars in any rock and gem shop

  Red : My normal marker is twenty percent but this is a specialty item risk goes up price goes up let's make it an even ten bucks

  Andy Dufresne : Ten it is

  Red : Waste of money if you ask me

  Andy Dufresne : Why's that?

  Red : Folks around this joint love surprise inspections if they find you're going to lose it, if they do catch you with it you don't know me, you mention my name we never do business again not for a shoe lace or a stick of gum you got that?

  Andy Dufresne : I understand thank you Mr.?

  Red : "Red", my name's Red

• [Playing checkers] 

  Red : King me.

  Andy Dufresne : Chess. Now there's a game of kings.

  Red : What?

  Andy Dufresne : Civilized. Strategic...

  Red : ...and a total fuckin' mystery. I hate it.

• Andy Dufresne : [referring to Fat Ass]  What was his name?

  Heywood : What did you say?

  Andy Dufresne : I was just wondering if anybody knew his name.

  Heywood : Fuck do you care, new fish? Doesn't fuckin' matter what his name was. He's dead.

• [Tommy is taking the high school equivalency test] 

  Andy Dufresne : [clicking a stopwatch]  Time. Well?

  Tommy Williams : Well, it's for shit! I didn't get a fucking thing right, might as well've been in Chinese!

  Andy Dufresne : Let's just see how the score comes out.

  Tommy Williams : Yeah? Well I'll tell you how the damn score comes out!

  [crumples the test paper and flings it into the trash can] 

  Tommy Williams : TWO POINTS! Right there! Goddamn cats crawlin' up trees, five times five is twenty-five... FUCK THIS PLACE! FUCK IT!

• Bank Manager : I must say, I'm sorry to be losing your business. I hope you'll enjoy living abroad.

  Andy Dufresne : Thank you. I'm sure I will.

  Bank Teller : Here's your cashier's check, sir. Will there be anything else?

  Andy Dufresne : Please. Would you add this to your outgoing mail?

  Bank Teller : I'd be happy to.

  Andy Dufresne : Good day, sir.

  Bank Manager : Good day.

  Red : Mr. Stevens visited nearly a dozen banks in the Portland area that morning. All told, he blew town with more than $370,000 of Warden Norton's money. Severance pay for nineteen years.

• Red : Thirty years. Jesus, when you say it like that...

  Andy Dufresne : ...You wonder where it went.

• Andy Dufresne : [referring to the state government denying his repeated requests to provide funding to build a library]  They can't ignore me forever.

  Warden Samuel Norton : Sure can. But you write your letters if it makes you happy, I'll even mail them for, how's thay?

• Red : He's got his fingers in a lot of pies, from what I hear.

  Andy Dufresne : What you hear isn't half of it. He's got scams you haven't even dreamed of. Kickbacks on his kickbacks. There's a river of dirty money running through this place.

  Red : Yeah, but the problem with having all that money is sooner or later, you're gonna have to explain where it came from.

  Andy Dufresne : Well, that's where I come in. I channel it, filter it, funnel it. Stocks, securities, tax-free municipals. I send that money out into the real world and when it comes back...

  Red : Clean as a virgin's honeypot, huh?

  Andy Dufresne : Cleaner. By the time Norton retires, I'll have made him a millionaire.

• Andy Dufresne : [to Red]  I understand you're a man who knows how to get things.

• Andy Dufresne : [repeated line to the warden while being dragged away by prison guards, referring to the warden denying his freedom, intentionally doubting his innocence, therefore preventing him from being released]  It's my life.

• Andy Dufresne : ...or come to think of it, I suppose I could set it up for you. That would save you some money. I'll write down the forms you need, you can pick them up, and I'll prepare them for your signature... nearly free of charge... I'd only ask three beers apiece for my co-workers, if that seems fair. I think a man working outdoors feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds. That's only my opinion.

• Andy Dufresne : My wife used to say I'm a hard man to know. Like a closed book. Complained about it all the time. She was beautiful. God I loved her. I just didn't know how to show it, that's all... I killed her, Red. I didn't pull the trigger, but I drove her away. And that's why she died, because of me, the way I am.

  Red : That don't make you a murderer. Bad husband, maybe. Feel bad about it if you want to, but you *didn't* pull the trigger.

  Andy Dufresne : No, I didn't. Somebody else did. And I wound up in here. Bad luck, I guess. It floats around. Has to land on somebody. I was in the path of the tornado. I just never expected the storm to last as long as it has.

• [first lines] 

  District Attorney : Mr. Dufresne, describe the confrontation you had with your wife the night that she was murdered.

  Andy Dufresne : It was very bitter. She said she was glad I knew, that she hated all the sneaking around. And she said that she wanted a divorce in Reno.

• Andy Dufresne : [reading letter]  "... We trust this will fill your needs. Please stop sending us letters."

  Captain Hadley : I want all this cleaned up before the warden gets back.

  Andy Dufresne : Yessir.

  Guard Wiley : [after Hadley has left]  Good for you, Andy.

  Andy Dufresne : Wow. It only took six years. From now on, I'll write two letters a week instead of one.

  Guard Wiley : I believe you're crazy enough...

• Warden Samuel Norton : Do you enjoy working in the laundry?

  Andy Dufresne : No sir, not especially.

  Warden Samuel Norton : Perhaps we can find something more fitting your talents.

• Andy Dufresne : [repeated lines to each other]  I understand you're a man who knows how to get things.

  Red : [repeated lines to each other]  I'm known to locate certain things from time to time.