Before Sunrise Quotations

Before Sunrise is a 1995 drama/romance film about two strangers who spend a night walking in Vienna, and fall in love with each other.

Directed by Richard Linklater. Written by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan.

Jesse

• Alright, alright, think of it like this: jump ahead ten, twenty years, okay? And you're married. Only your marriage doesn't have that same energy that it used to have, you know? You start to blame your husband. You start to think of all those guys you met in your life and what might have happened if you'd picked up with one of them, right? Well I'm one of those guys, that's me! So think of this as time travel. From then to now to find out what you're missing out on. See, what this really could be is a gigantic favor to both you and your future husband to find out that you're not missing out on anything; I'm just as big a loser as he is, totally unmotivated, totally boring, and you made the right choice and you're really happy.

• You know what's the worst thing about somebody breaking up with you? Is when you remember how little you thought about the people you broke up with and you realize that is how little they're thinking of you. You know, you'd like to think you're both in all this pain but they're just like 'Hey, I'm glad you're gone'.

• OK, well this was my thought: 50,000 years ago, there are not even a million people on the planet. 10,000 years ago, there's, like, two million people on the planet. Now there's between five and six billion people on the planet, right? Now, if we all have our own, like, individual, unique soul, right, where do they all come from? You know, are modern souls only a fraction of the original souls? 'Cause if they are, that represents a 5,000 to 1 split of each soul in the last 50,000 years, which is, like, a blip in the Earth's time. You know, so at best we're like these tiny fractions of people, you know, walking…I mean, is that why we're so scattered? You know, is that why we're all so specialized?

• I know happy couples... but I think they lie to each other!

• Everybody's parents fucked them up. Rich kids parents gave them too much. Poor kids, not enough. You know, too much attention, not enough attention. They either left them or they stuck around and taught them the wrong things.

• I don't know, I think that if I could just accept the fact that my life is supposed to be difficult. You know, that's what to be expected, then I might not get so pissed-off about it and I'll just be glad when something nice happens.

Celine

• If there's any kind of magic in this world, it must be in the attempt of understanding someone, sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed, but…who cares, really? The answer must be in the attempt.

• Isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?

• I like to feel his eyes on me when I look away.

• I used to think that if none of your family or friends knew you were dead, it was like not really being dead. People can invent the best and the worst for you.

• No, then it sounds like a male fantasy. Meet a French girl on the train, fuck her, and never see her again.

• Each time I wear black, or like, lose my temper, or say anything about anything, you know, they always go, "Oh it's so French. It's so cute." Ugh! I hate that!

• You know, I have this awful paranoid thought that feminism was mostly invented by men so that they could like, fool around a little more.

• We're all happy and free as long as I can fuck as much as I want.

• I had worked for this old man and once he told me that he had spent his whole life thinking about his career and his work. And he was fifty-two and it suddenly struck him that he had never really given anything of himself. His life was for no one and nothing. He was almost crying saying that.

• But then the morning comes, and we turn back into pumpkins, right?

• Well, who says relationships have to last forever?

Others

• Street Poet: Daydream, delusion, limousine, eyelash / Oh baby with your pretty face / Drop a tear in my wineglass / Look at those big eyes / See what you mean to me / Sweet-cakes and milkshakes / I'm a delusion angel / I'm a fantasy parade / I want you to know what I think / Don't want you to guess anymore / You have no idea where I came from / We have no idea where we're going / Lodged in life / Like branches in a river/ Flowing downstream / Caught in the current / I'll carry you / You'll carry me / That's how it could be / Don't you know me? / Don't you know me by now?

• Guy on Bridge: I am the cow!

Dialogue

Celine: You know what I want?

Jesse: What?

Celine: To be kissed.

Jesse: Well I can do that.

Jesse: I heard about this old guy who, uh, was watching some young people dance, and he said, "How beautiful, they're trying to shake off their genitals and become angels."

Celine: I like that.

Jesse: There's these breeds of monkeys, right, and all they do is have sex, all the time, you know? And they turn out to be the least violent, the most peaceful, the most happy, you know? So maybe fooling around isn't so bad.

Celine: Are you talking about monkeys?

Jesse: Yes I'm talking about monkeys.

Celine: Ah, I thought so...

Jesse: Do you believe in reincarnation?

Celine: Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting.

Jesse: Yeah, right. Well, most people, you know, a lot of people talk about past lives and things like that, you know? And even if they don't believe it in some specific way, you know, people have some kind of notion of an eternal soul, right?

Celine: Yeah.

Jesse: OK, well this was my thought: 50,000 years ago, there are not even a million people on the planet. 10,000 years ago, there's, like, two million people on the planet. Now there's between five and six billion people on the planet, right? Now, if we all have our own, like, individual, unique soul, right, where do they all come from? You know, are modern souls only a fraction of the original souls? 'Cause if they are, that represents a 5,000 to 1 split of each soul in the last 50,000 years, which is, like, a blip in the Earth's time. You know, so at best we're like these tiny fractions of people, you know, walking...I mean, is that why we're so scattered? You know, is that why we're all so specialized?

Celine: I don't know. Wait a minute, I'm not sure...I don't...

Jesse: Yeah, hang on, hang on. It's a, it's a totally scattered thought. It...which is kind of why it makes sense.

Taglines

• When love can come as a complete surprise.

• Can the greatest romance of your life last only one night?

Cast

• Ethan Hawke - Jesse
• Julie Delpy - Celine
• Dominik Castell - Street Poet

See Also

Before Sunset

External links

• Before Sunrise quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Before Sunrise at Rotten Tomatoes

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