I am a walking movie quote. I am fluent in that language, which is why I get a ton of stupid looks damn near every day of my life.
It is a disease really…
All it takes is one word that reminds me of a movie quote and my mouth just reacts. That makes this topic very fitting. For as long as I can remember, I have always loved movies. When I was younger (5-10ish), horror flicks were my favorite. I absolutely love the Scream franchise. Still one of my favorites.
In high school, I gravitated toward comedies. Judd Apatow was my favorite producer/director when I was in the bulk of my teenage years. He a great run with 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, Step Brothers and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. That is a pretty damn good list. He could have done those and called the quits. I can quote all of those for days.
Now I watch just about anything. As I said, half of the crap that comes out of my mouth is movie quotes so this topic is awesome (thanks Trevor).
I could have taken this movie quote column so many ways. If I wanted to take a less serious approach, you can bet your ass “now go home and get your fucking shine box” (Goodfellas) would be on here. Hell, even the classic “There’s no crying. There’s no crying in baseball!” (A League of their Own) would be on here. You can’t talk about great movie lines without talking about Will in Good Will Hunting when he asks that preppy prick if he likes apples and he says yes. “Well I got her number. How do you like dem apples?”
Those are all great, but I decided to take a more serious approach and take a lot of quotes that have true meaning behind them because that will give me something more to talk about. I just felt it was necessary to pay homage to quotes like “Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?”
Here we go…
5. “Oh yes. The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.” -Rafiki, The Lion King
This great quote was told to Simba right after being cracked over the head with that crazy ass monkey’s stick. He went to hit him again and Simba ducks out the way. It was to teach him a lesson that he shouldn’t run from the past. The simplicity of this quote is just another example as to why Disney is the shit. We all have crap we go through in our lives. We all make mistakes that either hurt ourselves or others. Like Rafiki said, run or learn. Option B will always be the better choice. If I decided to run from every issue I have had in my relationship with my wife, we would have never lasted. We worked through our issues. It wasn’t always happy. It wasn’t always pretty. Eventually, we learned from our mistakes and it is because neither of us ran. We took everything head on. Face your problems and learn from them.
4. “You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you’ll win, no matter what the outcome.” -Patch Adams, Patch Adams
I absolutely love this quote for so many reasons. If you have never seen Patch Adams, please watch it…NOW! In all honesty, this top 5 could be all Robin Williams quotes if I really wanted. This quote was said to a board of doctors when he was seeking approval to practice. He was saying to treat the children, the elderly and anyone who is sick with dignity. Make them laugh. Make them remember the good parts of life. Make them feel good despite an awful situation. No matter what happens, you will win if you do that. I love the significance because I am sure we have all had issues where we didn’t feel like we were treated properly in a doctor’s office. When I tore my PCL, I self diagnosed myself and when I went to get it confirmed by the doctor and what the next step was, he told me everything I read on Web MD. He was not the person who specialized in knees. First and foremost, why would the receptionist not send me to the knee specialist? Thanks, you dunce. Then on top of that I had to pay 60 for absolutely NOTHING. Every follow up I have had since then has been entirely too quick. I am in and out in one minute or less. Most times I am left wondering what the hell just happened. Can’t imagine how I would feel if I had something life threatening. This quote goes beyond modern medicine. It applies to how we treat others in every day life. As someone who works in the fitness industry, I interact with people who feel broken both physically mentally regularly. So it is important to me to make them feel at home. I don’t want them to ever feel like I haven’t adequately attempted to help them get their mojo back.
3. “You ought to spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people.” –Principal Vernon, The Breakfast Club
Freaking love this quote and movie! This is one movie I can probably recite from beginning to end. I am not kidding when I say that. I was probably 5 or 6 when I first saw this classic and it had me from “Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School.” This is another movie you have to watch if you have never seen it. It is a cult classic and probably the best of the Brat Pack movies directed by John Hughes. John Bender, one of the most iconic movie characters ever, was sitting in a file closet when Principal Vernon (who’s a dick) told him this iconic line. I love this, not just for high school students but anyone who is trying to find themselves. When people, especially kids, feel lost or remain unsure of who they are, they tend to act out. It may be trying to be the class clown. It may be trying the “cool” things like drinking or drugs. It may be trying to be a hard ass. You know, the rebel without a cause attitude. Honestly, people won’t love you for it. Sure, you may have a few friends. But the people who gravitate towards you, there is a high probability that they aren’t your real friends. Be yourself, always! Never compromise who you are because of what people may think. Fuck them! You’ll love yourself more and your peers will love you for it. Believe me on that. I was always the guy trying to act cool in middle school and high school. Sure, I had my fair share of friends. Some of them even stuck around. But I was usually miserable because I lost more people than I gained. The turnover in friends was a constant flux. Sometimes there still is, but it doesn’t bother me like it used to. It is because I am not out here trying to impress people. I am just being me. I am pretty damn good at that. I am sure you are pretty good at being yourself too…if you give yourself a chance. I always say I wish I knew then what I know now.
2. “Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that! I’m always gonna love you, no matter what. No matter what happens. You’re my son and you’re my blood. You’re the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, you ain’t gonna have a life.” Rocky Balboa, Rocky Balboa
This quote got me through six months of hell with my first job. If you wish to read the full story on that, click here (Journalism: A Life I am Happy I Left Behind). There is not a more perfect quote that accurately described the real world. It also makes you want to run through a wall. I took quite a few punches during my first job and it left me scarred to a certain degree, but I survived. I used to have nightmares about my job. I felt like I wasn’t worth a penny when I was working there and it was because I let my bitch of a boss tell me I wasn’t good. Unfortunately, I started to believe it. Sometimes that is how it goes. It led to me landing a job I can’t envision my life without. I literally have this same bad dream every few months about not knowing what I am doing with my life and all of a sudden I find my job with Anytime Fitness. It always ends with me working there. Because I lowered my shoulder and drove through that rough patch, I won with my job now. I passed on another journalism gig and went with my gut. I made a good decision that day. That led me to a career where I can change someone’s life, which is pretty fucking cool. It led me to the blog you’re reading. I love doing this. I don’t make money off of it. If I never do, so what? I love writing. I lost my love for it after my old job. But here I am, back at it. I was willing to take the punches. I didn’t point the fingers at the reasons I wasn’t successful. I just figured out a way to get through it and become successful.
1. “It’s ok to lose to opponent. It’s never okay to lose to fear.” Mr. Miyagi, The Karate Kid
This kind of piggybacks off my last quote. Sometimes we have to dive into the unknown. Sometimes we have to take risks. It is ok to lose. You can learn more from losing than you can from winning. But for the love of God, don’t be afraid. Whatever curveball life throws your way, attack it. Sit on it and drive it the opposite way. If you swing and miss. Screw it. You will miss 100% of the shots you never take, right? Would you rather go through life wondering what would happen if I did this or go through life knowing you did your best regardless of the outcome? I’ll take the latter. Put your best foot forward and try to make shit happen. That is what I am doing with this blog. If there ever comes a day where I can make some money from it, great. If not, fuck it. I will still have fun doing it. I was scared to leave the field I studied for five years. Sometimes you have to take risk. I overcame that fear and said to hell with it. Best decision I have made.
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