Jim Thorpe Quotes in Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951)

Jim Thorpe: Which one of you guys is Lacey?

Ed Lacey, Sportswriter Punched by Thorpe: I'm Lacey.

Jim Thorpe: Well I'm Thorpe!

[punches Lacey]

Peter Allendine: [to Jim] Hey, you! Yeah, you, come here. Hey, just a minute. What's your name?

Jim Thorpe: Jim Thorpe.

Peter Allendine: Do you have a tribal name?

Jim Thorpe: Wa-Tho-Huk.

Peter Allendine: What does it mean?

Jim Thorpe: Bright path.

Peter Allendine: Bright path, huh? Well, Bright Path, do you know the school song?

Jim Thorpe: No.

Little Boy Who Walk Like Bear: No, sir.

Peter Allendine: That's right. Well, here are the words. You memorize them, be ready to sing for us tomorrow morning.

[Jim starts to walk away]

Peter Allendine: Oh, uh, just a minute, Bright Path. Do you speak Indian?

Jim Thorpe: Yes.

Peter Allendine: Let's hear you recite the Gettysburg Address in Indian.

Jim Thorpe: Why, I reckon I can't.

Peter Allendine: Good, because when you recite the Gettysburg Address, you recite it in English. Indian isn't spoken here.

Wally Denny: Hello, Pete.

Peter Allendine: Hello.

Wally Denny: What you got here, football material?

Peter Allendine: From his attitude, I don't think he's even Carlisle material.

Peter Allendine: [to Jim] Ever play football before?

Jim Thorpe: What's football?

Peter Allendine: What's - You don't know what football is?

Jim Thorpe: No.

Peter Allendine: Well, football, Bright Path, is a white man's game, and it's played with a... leather skin, something like your suitcase here, and the object of this game is to take this leather skin and, uh... and try to run past Mr. Denny and me.

Wally Denny: Well, frosh, come on, run past them.

[Jim charges at Pete with his suitcase in his arms, and Pete knocks Jim to the ground]

Peter Allendine: I'm sorry, Bright Path, but that's football, very rough game. Indian boy got lot to learn.

Jim Thorpe: Now you try it.

Peter Allendine: Try what?

Jim Thorpe: Run past me.

Peter Allendine: Aw, forget it, Jim, you got plenty of chance next year.

Jim Thorpe: You try it!

[Jim tosses his suitcase at Pete and knocks him to the ground]

Wally Denny: Say, that wasn't bad! Come on, I'd like you to meet Pop Warner!

[Jim picks up his suitcase and walks to his dormitory]

Ed Guyac: Hello.

Jim Thorpe: They sent me up here to bunk with you.

Ed Guyac: Sure, come on in. I'm Ed Guyac.

Jim Thorpe: Jim Thorpe.

Ed Guyac: This untamed aborigine here is Little Boy Who Walk Like Bear. Kind of a mouthful, so I just call him Little Boy.

Little Boy Who Walk Like Bear: How.

Ed Guyac: Not 'how'. What have I been teaching you?

Little Boy Who Walk Like Bear: [Little Boy stands up] Oh. Hi.

Ed Guyac: He's full-blooded Chippewa, his old man's chief. Nothing like bunking with royalty. Where are you from?

Jim Thorpe: Oklahoma, Sac and Fox.

Ed Guyac: I'm Mohawk, heap smart New York Injun. Study law, make plenty wampum, take mortgage off tepee. How about you?

Jim Thorpe: What about me?

Ed Guyac: What are you going to prepare for? You know: doctor, lawyer. Indian chief, rich man, poor man?

Jim Thorpe: I don't know.

Ed Guyac: Well, you've come to the right place to find out. This is your cot right here.

Jim Thorpe: Thanks.

Ed Guyac: Matter of fact, you can take this one if you like; Little Boy never uses it.

Little Boy Who Walk Like Bear: Bed too soft, make Little Boy soft.

Ed Guyac: 'Soft', listen to him. 220 pounds of skin and bone. These natives, I'll never get used to them.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: [inside the cafeteria] You're Jim Thorpe.

Jim Thorpe: That's right.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: Glad to meet you Jim, I'm Pop Warner. You mind if I sit down? I'd like to talk to you a minute.

Jim Thorpe: No.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: That was quite an exhibition you put on this morning.

Jim Thorpe: Exhibition?

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: Don't you know what you did? You ran the 2:20 flat in 23 seconds flat with your clothes on. Why haven't you come out for the team?

Jim Thorpe: Well, I hadn't figured on coming out for the team.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: You just run for exercise, is that it?

Jim Thorpe: I don't rightly know why I run.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: You don't like it here, do you?

Jim Thorpe: No, I don't.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: Then why have you come?

Jim Thorpe: Because I promised someone; he's dead.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: You know, you're the first Sac & Fox I've met here. That's Oklahoma territory, isn't it?

Jim Thorpe: Yes.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: Originally from Wisconsin?

Jim Thorpe: Illinois.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: Oh yes, Illinois; part of the Algonquins?

Jim Thorpe: Yes, that's right.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: A great warrior tribe, great traditions. What do they do now?

Jim Thorpe: Oh, a little farming, a little weaving. They sell blankets at the railway station.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: Yes, I know. That's why Carlisle was founded, Jim: so that your people can do more than sell blankets at the railway station. The trouble is, too many Indian boys take the easy way out; they quit school and go back to the reservation.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: How are you getting along with your studies?

Jim Thorpe: Well, not very good, I'm afraid. I never was much with books.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: Yes, I know what you mean: studying, reading, doing a lot of things, they come awfully hard. I had the same problems when I went to school. It's always hard at the beginning.

Jim Thorpe: Well, it's - it's more than that, Mr. Warner; I don't know what I want to do, or what I want to be.

Glenn S. 'Pop' Warner: Look around you, Jim, look at those faces. All of those kids have problems; a lot of them don't know what they want to be, what they want to do. They'll find out soon enough what they want most in life, so will you. All I'm trying to say is: give Carlisle a chance. And incidentally, don't be afraid of sports, Jim, they're good for you, teach you how to relax, make you sleep well. Look me up; you'll find me in my office or the athletic field. Been nice talking to you.