Quotes

The Pursuit of Happyness

Christopher Gardner: [narrating, at a payphone, raining, after learning Linda is taking Christopher away from him] It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?

Christopher Gardner: [after playing basket ball] Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. Not even me. All right?
Christopher: All right.
Christopher Gardner: You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.

Christopher: [while walking past a bus and to sell a bone density scanner] Hey dad, you wanna hear something funny? There was a man who was drowning, and a boat came, and the man on the boat said "Do you need help?" and the man said "God will save me". Then another boat came and he tried to help him, but he said "God will save me", then he drowned and went to Heaven. Then the man told God, "God, why didn't you save me?" and God said "I sent you two boats, you dummy!"

Martin Frohm: [during the interview room, with Twistle, Frakesh, and Frohm present] What would you say if man walked in here with no shirt, and I hired him? What would you say?
Christopher Gardner: He must have had on some really nice pants.

[last narration lines, while walking in the crowd and crying]
Christopher Gardner: [voice-over] This part of my life... this part right here? This is called "happyness."

Christopher Gardner: [voice-over] This part of my life... this part right here? This part is called "being stupid."

Christopher Gardner: [walking to Walter Ribbon's home] Probably means there's a good chance. Possibly means we might or we might not.
Christopher: Okay.
Christopher Gardner: So, what does probably mean?
Christopher: It means we have a good chance.
Christopher Gardner: And what does possibly mean?
Christopher: I know what it means! It means we're *not* going to the game.

[last lines]
Christopher Gardner: How many planets are there?
Christopher: Um... 7?
Christopher Gardner: Seven? Nine! OK, who's the king of the jungle?
Christopher: The gorilla?
Christopher Gardner: Gorilla? Nope. Lion.
Christopher: Yeah, lion, lion. You wanna hear something funny?
Christopher Gardner: OK.
Christopher: Knock knock.
Christopher Gardner: Who's there?
Christopher: [starts be to become out of view] Shelby.
Christopher Gardner: Shelby who?
Christopher: Shelby comin' round the mountain when she comes, Shelby comin' round the mountain when she comes!
Christopher Gardner: Hey, that's good.
Christopher: Knock knock.
Christopher Gardner: Who's there?
Christopher: Nobody.
Christopher Gardner: Nobody who?
[Christopher doesn't respond]
Christopher Gardner: Nobody who?
[Christopher still doesn't respond]
Christopher Gardner: A-ha-ha, that's a good one, I like that!

Christopher Gardner: [narrating] I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. I made up my mind that when I had children, my children were going to know who their father was.

Christopher Gardner: [while bringing Christopher to daycare, about the spelling mistakes in the graffiti of a building] It's not H-A-P-P-Y-N-E-S-S Happiness is spelled with an "I" instead of a "Y"
Christopher: Oh, okay. Is "Fuck" spelled right?
Christopher Gardner: Um, yes. "Fuck" is spelled right but you shouldn't use that word.
Christopher: Why? What's it mean?
Christopher Gardner: [going inside the daycare] It's, um, an adult word used to express anger and, uh, other things. But it's an adult word. It's spelled right, but don't use it.

Christopher: [to his father, sleeping next to other homeless people] You're a good papa.

Reverend Williams: The important thing about that freedom train, is it's got to climb mountains. We ALL have to climb mountains, you know. Mountains that go way up high, and mountains that go deep and low. Yes, we know what those mountains are here at Glide. We sing about them.

Christopher Gardner: [voice over, chasing after the hippie girl carrying his bone density scanner] This part of my life is called running.

[after he hits Chris in the middle of the street while other onlookers help Christopher Sr. find his shoe]
Driver Who Hits Chris: Hey, asshole! Are you all right, asshole?

[about Chris' bone-density scanner]
Homeless Guy #1: It's a time machine... I know it's a time machine...
Christopher Gardner: [voice-over, while sitting on a bus] This machine in my lap? It is not a time machine.

Shoe-Spotting Intern: [upon entering the classroom for the interns] Hey, you're missing a shoe.
Christopher Gardner: Oh, hey, thanks!

Christopher Gardner: [during the interview for the internship position] I've been sitting out here for the last half-hour trying to come up with a story that would explain my being here dressed like this. And I wanted to come up with a story that would demonstrate qualities that I'm sure you all admire here like earnestness, diligence, team-playing. And I couldn't think of anything. So the truth is, I was arrested for failure to pay parking tickets.
Jay Twistle: Parking tickets?
[employers laugh]
Christopher Gardner: I ran all the way here from the police station.
Martin Frohm: What were you doing before you were arrested?
Christopher Gardner: I was, uh, painting my apartment.

Christopher Gardner: [standing outside the interview room] There's no salary?
Jay Twistle: No.
Christopher Gardner: I was not aware of that. My circumstances have changed some.

Christopher Gardner: [the first day of the internship program] This part of my life is called "internship."

Christopher Gardner: The next day, after work, we just went to the beach. Far away from anything, everything. Just Christopher and me. Far away from busses and noise and a constant disappointment in my 10-gallon head... in myself. Because when I was young and I'd get an A on a history test or whatever... I'd get this good feeling about all the things I could be. And then I never became any of them.

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