Eli Quotes in The Book of Eli (2010)

[last lines]

Eli: Dear Lord, thank you for giving me the strength and the conviction to complete the task you entrusted to me. Thank you for guiding me straight and true through the many obstacles in my path. And for keeping me resolute when all around seemed lost. Thank you for your protection and your many signs along the way. Thank you for any good that I may have done, I'm so sorry about the bad. Thank you for the friend I made. Please watch over her as you watched over me. Thank you for finally allowing me to rest. I'm so very tired, but I go now to my rest at peace. Knowing that I have done right with my time on this earth. I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith.

Eli: Cursed be the ground for our sake. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for us. For out of the ground we were taken, for the dust we are... and to the dust we shall return

Solara: You know, you say you've been walking for thirty years, right?

Eli: Right?

Solara: Have you ever thought that maybe you were lost?

Eli: Nope.

Solara: Well, how do you know that you're walking in the right direction?

Eli: I walk by faith, not by sight.

Solara: [sighs] What does that mean?

Eli: It means that you know something even if you don't know something.

Solara: That doesn't make any sense.

Eli: It doesn't have to make sense. It's faith, it's faith. It's the flower of light in the field of darkness that's giving me the strength to carry on. You understand?

Solara: Is that from your book?

Eli: No, it's, uh, Johnny Cash, Live at Folsom Prison.

Eli: People had more than they needed. We had no idea what was precious and what wasn't. We threw away things people kill each other for now.

Solara: I didn't think you'd ever give up the book, I thought it was too important to you

Eli: It was, I was carrying and reading it everyday, got so caught up in protecting it, I forgot to live by what I'd learnt from it

Solara: And what's that?

Eli: To do more for others than you do for yourself

Eli: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters.He restores my soul he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me

Solara: That's beautiful, did you write that?

Eli: Yes, I did.

[chuckles]

Eli: No, no. No. No, that was around a long time before you and I got here, that's for sure.

Solara: I want to come with you.

Eli: No, you don't.

Solara: I hate it here.

Eli: Then change it.

Eli: Write everything exactly as I say it. The first book of Moses, called Genesis. Chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Eli: Verse 2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Eli: Verse 3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Hijack Leader: What ya got there in that pack?

Eli: What pack?

Hijacker: He got a gun.

Hijack Leader: Shit, it ain't loaded. Oh, they never are. Ain't that right, old man? Open the pack and tip it out on the road nice and slow.

Eli: Can't do that.

Hijack Leader: Take off the fucking pack. And put it on the ground. Or DIE!

Young Woman Hijacker: Ooooh.

Hijack Leader: [pokes Eli hard] Are you listening to me?

Eli: I am now.

Hijack Leader: Good.

Eli: You listening to me?

Hijack Leader: Yeah.

Eli: Good. Put that hand on me again, you won't get it back.

Hijack Leader: [laughing] Do you believe this fucking guy? All right, you want to do it the hard way.

[the leader grabs at Eli, who pulls a machete and cuts off his hand at the wrist]

Hijack Leader: How'd you do that? He just cut my hand off! What are you standing around for? Kiss him!

Hijacker: What'd he say?

Eli: He's in shock. I think he meant, "Kill him."

Eli: Thank you lord for a warm bed to sleep on, thank you for the food we are about to eat, thank you for a roof over our heads on cold nights such as this, thank you for companionship in hard times like these, Amen.

Eli: [whispering to Solara, after seeing the graves George and Martha made] We gotta go now.

Solara: They killed all these people.

Eli: Not just killed them, they ate them.

Solara: Her hands, her hands were shaking.

Eli: Too much human meat. Let's go.

Lombardi: There's a whole series of beautiful Mozart and Wagner records, in still very pristine condition. But, never a Bible. Until now. May I ask what condition it's in?

Eli: It's beat up. But it will do the job.

Solara: Do you really read the same book everyday?

Eli: Without fail.

Eli: In all these years I've been carrying it and reading it every day, I got so caught up in keeping it safe that I forgot to live by what I learned from it.

Solara: What was it like before?

Eli: People had more than they needed, people didn't know what was precious and what wasn't, people threw away things they kill each other for now.

Eli: They say the war tore a hole in the sky, you've probably heard the stories.

Solara: Yeah.

Eli: The war tore a hole in the sky, the sun came down, burnt everything, everyone, I wandered, I didn't really know what I should do or where I was going. I was just moving from place to place, trying to stay alive. And then one day I heard this voice. I don't know how to explain it, it's like it was coming from inside me. But I could hear it clear as day. Clear as I can hear you talking to me now. It told me to carry the book west, it told me that a path would be laid out before me, that I'd be led to a place where the book would be safe. It told me I'd be protected, against anyone or anything that tried to stand in my way. If only I would have faith. That was thirty years ago and I've been walking ever since.

Solara: And you did all this because a voice told you to?

Eli: I know what I hear, I know what I heard, I know I'm not crazy, I didn't imagine it

Martz: That was my cat.

Eli: Fine specimen.

Martz: I saw you knock him off the bar.

Eli: No. I kind of shooed him. I didn't really knock him...

Martz: You raised your hand at him.

Eli: Won't happen again, I promise you.

Bartender: Hey, Martz, how about another drink?

Martz: That cat's been coming here for two years. Its got more right to be here than you.

Eli: I don't want any trouble.

Martz: Well that's too bad. Cuz you got...

Eli: [Eli slams Martz's head on the bar railing] "I know who you are. Murderer of innocent travelers on the road. You're gonna be held to account for the things you've done, do you know that? Do you?

Eli: Stay on the path. It's not your concern. Stay on the path. It's not your concern.

Solara: [in the middle of a gunfight with Carnegie's men] You know that voice you heard, did it say anything about this?

Eli: We'll get out. Both of us.

George: What about us?

Eli: Didn't say anything about you.

Eli: Did you get blinded by the war or the sun after?

Claudia: I was like this since birth, I was lucky, I was already used to living like this

Eli: I like the perfume

Claudia: Its just shampoo but thank you

Carnegie: I need that book, I want that book, I want you to stay but if you make me have to choose I'll kill you and take that book

Eli: Why, why do you want it?

Carnegie: I grew up with that book, I know its power.

Carnegie: And who are you?

Eli: Nobody.

Carnegie: Oh, I doubt that. The men you killed in my bar, now they were nobody.

[first lines]

Young Woman Hijacker: Please, don't hurt me. Here, take anything you want. You want some food? Take it.

Eli: I'm not gonna hurt you.

Young Woman Hijacker: Yeah? That's what the last guy said. Could... could you help me? The wheel came off. I can't fix it. Maybe if I... if I could... but I can't.

Eli: You know the only good thing about no soap... is that you can smell hijackers a mile off!

Lombardi: [to his assistant] Could you get us some writing paper, please.

Eli: A lot of it. A whole lot of it.

Solara: [knocking on the door to Eli's room] Can I come in?

Eli: Give me a minute.

[Eli covers his book with his blanket]

Eli: Someone already came with food and water. I got everything I need.

Solara: [entering the room wearing a pink negligee] Are you sure about that? It's really bright in here. I'm Solara.

Eli: Right. You filled my canteen downstairs.

Solara: Yeah. You're the walker, right?

Eli: Right.

[Solara puts her hand on Eli's waist and starts to come on to him, but he grabs her hand]

Solara: If - if you're worried about paying, it's on the house.

Eli: Look. Paying for what?

Solara: Why don't you take a seat?

[Eli walks to the door and opens it, gesturing for Solara to leave]

Solara: No.

[Solara walks to the door and closes it]

Solara: No, I can't go. I can't. If I do, he'll hurt my mom.

Eli: Who?

Solara: Carnegie.

Eli: He's your father?

Solara: No, no, but we belong to him just the same. Look, I'll sleep on the floor. Tomorrow you can tell him you had a good time. I promise you, I will be no trouble. Please.

Carnegie: [Carnegie inspects the book] Ask and you shall receive. God is good, is he not?

Eli: All the time.

Carnegie: Not all the time.

[shoots Eli]

Solara: [after Solara takes Eli to where they get their water from, he locks her in] You are such a liar!

Eli: I'm not a liar.

Solara: You said I could come with you if I took you to the water.

Eli: I didn't say that, you said that, the road's no place for someone like you, trust me, you're safter there than you think.

Solara: Hey.

Eli: Yeah?

Solara: Fuck you!

Young Woman Hijacker: Where are you going?

Eli: West

Young Woman Hijacker: Can I come with you?

Eli: No

Engineer: You can wait over there, across the street at the Orpheum.

Eli: No, I'll wait here.

Engineer: Bar is about ready to open.

Eli: I'll wait here.

Engineer: You don't trust me, do you?

Eli: Uh... I'll wait here.

Eli: Why don't we let the Bear at 'em, Junior?

Junior: Nah, Bear's done his work for the night, these two... they ran away from the bear.

[Soldier and Kid struggle]

Eli: What do you mean?

Junior: A few days...

[grabs Soldier's bonds]

Junior: and those bags'll sweat the water right outta their bodies! They'll die of thirst... then we'll cut 'em down, take them outta the bags... and drag them deep into the woods. They'll look like they ran away from the bear... got lost, and couldn't find no water. We'll leave a mark on them. It's BETTER than they deserve!

[first lines]

Andy Barnes: What are the drums saying, Eli? Good news or bad?

Eli: Not good news, Boss. Not bad. Say safari come.

Eli: [after watching slow motion footage of a herd of giraffe] Bana say Bwana bring little black box on lion hunt, make simba hurry up slower. Much easier to kill.

Robert Maitland: Don't you understand what I said?

Eli: Eli understand, but Bwana Barnes sa...

Robert Maitland: I know what he said. Suppose it does burn up half of Africa? A small loss if you ask me.

Eli: Yes, Bwana.

Mrs. Kidman: Eli, do those girls go to your school?

Eli: Actually, no, Mrs. Kidman, they're porn stars.

Eli: Dude!

Matthew: I know.

Klitz: Dude!

Matthew: I know.

Eli: Dude, don't mess this up.

Matthew: Mess what up?

Eli: Matt, she's a porn star! Okay? Take her to a motel room and bang her like a beast!

Matthew: Eli, I like this girl.

Eli: And you can still like her with your penis inside her. Matthew, I tell you that you're going to regret this. What would JFK do? You know he'd tap that ass.

Matthew: Eli, I'm never going to see her again.

Eli: Oh, you know what? Fine!

Matthew: Fine!

Eli: Fine!

[pause during scene change]

Eli: Goddammit Matt! I swear to God if you don't fuck her, I'll kill myself! Matt! Please! Please, Matt! Fuck her for me! For me!

Eli: Okay, you know what the three of us are? We're a tripod.

Klitz: A tripod?

Eli: Yes, a tripod. Which means that if you knock out one of our legs, WE-ALL-FALL!

Eli: Learn to like it.

Mrs. Kidman: Do these girls go to your high school?

Eli: No, Mrs Kidman. They're porn stars.

[repeated line]

Eli: Minions, let's move.

[snaps]

Matthew: What happened?

Eli: Things got bad.

Klitz: BOLT! BOLT!

Klitz: [running away] Dude, wait up!

Eli: [running in front of Klitz] Fuck you, dude!

Eli: God, I just wanna bang hot chicks!

Eli: I could make a better sex-ed film with my mom!

Matthew: Oh my god, she's so hot.

Eli: What channel, dude?

Matthew: Do you have the fever?

Klitz: No. Why? Do you?

Matthew: I don't know. Maybe.

[turns to Eli]

Matthew: 'Bout you?

Eli: I just gotta fuck something.

[at Q&A with Eli at a college school]

Film School Student: Why'd you skip film school? Don't you think you're a little young?

Eli: SHUT THE FUCK UP! Next question.

Eli: [after realizing that Matt has accidentally taken E] Oh, my God, this is gonna be *amazing*!

Karate Guy in Porn Film: Oooh, excellent, grasshopper. And now, for the final task of your training.

Danielle: You're gonna need a harder piece of wood that that, cowboy.

Matthew: That's not her.

Eli: Yeah, it is.

Matthew: Oh, no.

Eli: Minions!

Eli: [banging his left fist on Adam's door] I can't focus on my porn with all this real sex going on around me!

Eli: I'm not saying Alvin and I did mushrooms together, but I'm not prepared to say we didn't.

Eli: You know what the best part about my gay dads is?

Adam: What?

Eli: They're never gonna eat out my ex-girlfriends.

Wallace: You and your dad are tunnel buddies, huh?

Eli: Ten years from now you're gonna be having sex with your wife. And it's gonna be in the missionary position. And one of you is going to be asleep.

Eli: Who do you think you are, the old guy from "Up"?

Eli: I'd have sex with a pioneer, for sure.

Eli: Hey!

Patrice: Did we? Yes, we did. We went to college together. You have two gay dads.

Eli: Yeah, I'm the man with the two gay dads.

Patrice: They helped me move my boxes sophomore year.

Eli: They're the best. I love them. I'm super straight, though.

Patrice: Okay.

Eli: I'm not in love with you any more.

Margot: I didn't know you ever were.

Eli: Let's not make this any more difficult than it already is.

Margot: OK.

Eli: OK, what?

Margot: OK, I'm not in love with you either.

Eli: Yes, I know, you're in love with Richie. Which is sick and gross.

Eli: I wish you'd've done this for me when I was a kid.

Richie: But you didn't have a drug problem then.

Eli: Yeah, but it still would've meant a lot to me.

Eli: [to Richie] I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum, you know?

Royal: [quietly] Me too. Me too.

Eli: It doesn't mean what it used to though, does it?

Eli: [reading part of his newest novel at a press conference] The crickets and the rust-beetles scuttled among the nettles of the sage thicket. "Vámonos, amigos," he whispered, and threw the busted leather flintcraw over the loose weave of the saddlecock. And they rode on in the friscalating dusklight.

Eli: Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is... maybe he didn't.

Eli: Did I hit the dog?

Chas: Yeah.

Eli: Is he dead?

Chas: Yeah.

Eli: I need help.

Margot: Do you send my mother your clippings and your grades from college?

Eli: Please stop belittling me. You never gave me the time of day til I started getting good reviews.

Margot: Your reviews aren't that good.

Eli: But the sales are.

Richie: Did you tell Margot about that letter I wrote to you?

Eli: Why? Did she mention it? Yes, I did. Why would have she repeated that, I wonder?

Richie: Well, I would ask you the same question.

Eli: Rightly so.

Eli: Why would a reviewer make the point of saying someone's *not* a genius? Do you especially think I'm *not* a genius? You didn't even have to think about it, did you?

Eli: What'd you say?

Richie: Hmm?

Eli: What?

Richie: I didn't say anything.

Eli: When? Right now?

[a pause]

Eli: I'm sorry, don't listen to me. I'm on mescaline. I've been spaced out all day.

Richie: Did you say you're on mescaline?

Eli: I did, indeed. Very much so.

Eli: [hearing the news that Royal is dying] I am very sorry, Margot.

Margot: It's okay. We're not actually related anyway.

Eli: True.

Eli: I'm worried about you, Richie.

Richie: Why?

Eli: Well, actually, Margot is, for some reason. But I did find it odd when you said you were in love with her. She's married you know.

Richie: Yeah.

Eli: And she's your sister.

Richie: Adopted.

Peter Bradley: [interviewing Eli Cash on television] Now, your previous novel...

Eli: Yes, Wildcat.

Peter Bradley: Not a success. Why?

Eli: Well... Wildcat was written in a kind of obsolete vernacular...

[long pause as he starts to become spaced out]

Eli: [whispering] Wildcat... wild... cat... pow... wildcat...

[he gets up]

Eli: I'm gonna go. I'm taking this off and I'm going. Stepping out.

Royal: [watching the television] What the hell kind of way to act is that?

Richie: He's on drugs.

Eli: How's Richie?

Margot: I don't know. I can't tell.

Eli: Yeah, me neither. He wrote me a letter. He says he's in love with you.

Margot: What are you talking about?

Eli: That's what he said. I don't know how we're supposed to take it.

Richie: Are we still friends?

Eli: What?

Richie: Are we?

Eli: Of course. How can you even ask me that?

Richie: Doesn't matter.

Eli: Doesn't matter? It does matter.

Richie: I heard about you and Margot.

Eli: [long pause] I'm sorry.

Eli: [immediately after landing in the front room after crashing his car into the house] Where's my shoe?

[on cue, Dudley retrieves his shoe]

Eli: [when he grabs his paintball gun] It says here that the shooter must maintain a 100-yard distance from target.

Dr. P: [shoots Eli in the chest] Anyone else wanna read their gun?

Alec: Eli, you're a genius.

Eli: I always thought so, but thanks for the validation.

Eli: Who needs a hug? Do you know what I say? Better out than in.

Zooey: You can't just order a taxi and leave school whenever you want!

Eli: Well how do you expect me to get around? Have you been on a London bus recently? A taxi is really the quickest and most efficient way.

Zooey: Hey, so I was thinking maybe we should go shopping and get you some new clothes so you don't have to dress up every day.

Eli: I don't dress up because I have to. A man should look his best at all times.

Zooey: Quite right. Just in case you want to dress more casually.

Eli: I appreciate the gesture.

Sprinkles: Is this your mom?

Eli: Not by choice.

Sprinkles: What'd you say was your name, again?

Eli: Uh... Mozart.

Sprinkles: Mozart. Like the piano man. You're a funny man. Ain't he funny, Black?

Black: He is funny.

Eli: [on his sister] She's an angel who spits.

Eli: It's painfully hard to forget you.

Sprinkles: Do you speak Spanish?

Eli: Si. Yes.

Sprinkles: You're a smart little fucka.

Eli: Yeah... I'm smart!

Eli: Fuck. So, alright, what do we do now?

Penny: You know, Eli, the guy in there he tells me, and I know this is gonna sound crazy...

Eli: Yeah?

Penny: ...that if I get high, then produce dirty urine, I'm admitted. Hey, this is crazy, right?

Eli: Yes, this is pretty crazy. Alright. So let's do it then. C'mon! Let's get you some crack or something. C'mon!

Penny: Eli, I can't have you being a part of this. No.

Eli: Mom, I'm already a part of this. I'm being part of this for my whole life. Ok, so you know what? I'll pay for it, it will be my treat. C'mon. C'mon.

Penny: And I don't do crack. You would be a fool if you would do crack.

Eli: You're fucking up my day!

Eli: Fuck the past!

Eli: I don't need jelly for my belly.

Eli: That's a bunch of bullshit!

Eli: Jesus Christ, I am so fucking sick of this shit!

Eli: I want fucking normal things!

Eli: I'm an asshole. I forgot, sorry.

Eli: I look like the Unabomber.

Eli: Two beers.

Ball park attendant: Lite beer?

Eli: Do I look like a pussy?

Eli: You need to be scared, Mr. Metger. Them dolls didn't want him there. They don't want you there. Now you'd best get out before you wind up just like him. Or worse.

Eli: What are you gonna do?

John: [He Ignores him and continues to duct tape Eli's hands]

Eli: What are you gonna do?

[More frustrated]

John: [Continuing to ignore him, he holds him down tighter]

Eli: What are you gonna do?

[Now yelling]

John: [Finally acknowledges him] Deliver you.

Oskar: Are you a vampire?

Eli: I live off blood... Yes.

Oskar: Are you... dead?

Eli: No. Can't you tell?

Oskar: But... Are you old?

Eli: I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a long time.

Oskar: Eli... Can you and I be together?

Eli: What do you mean?

Oskar: Well... Will you be my girlfriend?

Eli: Oskar... I'm not a girl.

Oskar: You're not?

[pause]

Oskar: Can we be together?

Eli: Can't we just be how we are?

Oskar: I guess...

Eli: Do you do something special if you're "together"?

Oskar: No.

Eli: We stay just as we were?

Oskar: Yes.

Eli: Then I agree...

Oskar: What?

Eli: We can be "together".

Oskar: Really?

Eli: [Whispers] Yes.

Oskar: Good.

Oskar: How old are you?

Eli: Twelve... more or less.

Eli: What about you?

Oskar: Twelve years, eight months and nine days. What do you mean, "more or less"?

Oskar: When's your birthday?

Eli: I don't know.

Oskar: Don't you celebrate your birthday? Your parents... they've got to know.

Eli: [Eli looks down on the ground]

Oskar: Then you don't get any birthday presents, do you?

Eli: No.

Oskar: Who are you?

Eli: I'm like you.

Oskar: What do you mean?

Eli: [accusing tone] What are you staring at? Well?

Eli: Are you looking at me?

Eli: [points her finger at Oskar] So scream! Squeal!

Eli: Those were the first words I heard you say.

Oskar: I don't kill people.

Eli: No, but you'd like to. If you could... To get revenge. Right?

Oskar: Yes.

Eli: Oskar, I do it because I have to.

Eli: Be me, for a while.

[pause]

Eli: Please Oskar... Be me, for a little while.

Eli: I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a long time.

Eli: Oskar... Do you like me?

Oskar: Yeah, a lot.

Eli: If I wasn't a girl... would you like me anyway?

Oskar: I suppose so.

Eli: [standing outside the door] You have to invite me in.

Oskar: What happens if I don't? What happens if you walk in anyway?

[feels the air between himself and Eli]

Oskar: Is there something in the way?

Eli: See, there's a funny thing about fightin' dogs, 'cause no matter how many times you try to save 'em, there's not enough TLC on the planet that can keep him down. Sooner or later, they'll turn.

Eli: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in another time or place? Like, to exist in a completely foreign reality where societal conventions don't apply?

Hannah: Mm, like in France or something?

Eli Porter: Howdy.

T-Loc: Don't give me that goddamn Gomer Pyle, Howdy Doody bullshit, alright? I'm here to get Dee.

Eli: Can't spare him.

T-Loc: What you gonna do? Preach me to death?

[Eli shoves him and runs]

T-Loc: Hey, come back here you little shit! I'm gonna kick your little ass, doo-dah. Doo-dah.

Joe, Ray, Chi, Alby, Steve, Sean, Eli, Greg: Baldeya!

Eli: You ought to relate to women in a more natural way, in a less self-conscious and pre-directed manner. You shouldn't go with a purpose of achieving this or that, you should just let the relationships develop and happen as they do by the accidental circumstances of life. That's what I do. You're asking my advice so the only thing I can say is what I do myself, I don't go picking up somebody, I just meet people naturally and talk to them naturally, if something develops it does, if it doesn't there's no way to force it to develop.

Mort: I just want to be involved, that's all I want, is to be involved.

Eli: You must be going there with a very negative attitude, a negative mentality, and it shows, and it projects itself in some way and they sense it, and that's why they reject you, your going there predisposed to being rejected, that's what I think.

Eli: "In the effort to explain sexual aberrations, Freud introduced two terms, sexual object and sexual aim."

Mort: She's cute how could I meet her?

Eli: By getting into an actual conversation with her, not by having an objective of trying to hit on her or pick her up, but just go around, behave nicely, talk to her, show an interest in her, if you genuinely have one, and behave normally. "Everything abnormal has its normal roots and an accidental factor in childhood may change the whole course of life, this is particularly demonstrable when we study the deviations in reference to the sexual object and the sexual aim."

Eli: Shut the fuck up, Dave.