The Straight Story: SELECTED QUOTES
- “I’ve seen about all that life has to dish out. I know how to separate the wheat from the chaff—and let the small stuff fall away.” Another guy asks what the worst part of growing old is. Alvin says, “The worst part is rememberin’ when you was young.” (scene 21)
- “You’ve come a long way, haven’t you?” (old man in scene 24)
- “I fought in WW II. Why should I be a-scared of an Iowa cornfield?” (scene 24)
- Danny offers to drive him, but Alvin says, “I wanna finish this one my own way.” Danny persists, but Alvin cuts him off. “You’re a kind man talkin’ to a stubborn man. I still want to finish this the way I started it.” (scene 25)
- “There’s no one knows your life better than a brother that’s near your age. He knows who you are and what you are better than anyone on earth. . . . My brother and I said some unforgivable things the last time we met, but I’m trying to put that behind me. And this trip is a hard swallow of my pride. I just hope it’s not too late. . . . A brother’s a brother.” (scene 27)
- “Story as old as the Bible—Cain and Abel. Anger, vanity. You mix that together with liquor, and you’ve got two brothers that haven’t spoken in ten years. . . . I wanna make peace, sit and look up at the stars, like we used to do so long ago.” (scene 31)
- “Did you ride that thing all the way out here to see me?”(scene 33)
Film resource written by Robert Yahnke
Copyright, Robert E. Yahnke, © 2009
Professor, Univ. of Minnesota
Request permission from the author to reprint this resource--for educational use only