Prince Akeem Quotes in Coming to America (1988)

Prince Akeem: Good morning, my neighbors!

Voice: Hey, fuck you!

Prince Akeem: [genuinely happy] Yes, yes! Fuck you too!

Lisa McDowell: So why did you come here?

Prince Akeem: To find something special.

Lisa McDowell: It's a long way to travel.

Prince Akeem: No journey is too great when one finds what he seeks.

Prince Akeem: Oha, it is my twenty-first birthday. Do you think perhaps just once I might use the bathroom by myself?

Oha: Most amusing, sir.

[claps hands]

Oha: Wipers!

Prince Akeem: [to hold-up man] It would be wise for you to put the weapon down.

Hold-Up Man: Who the fuck is this asshole?

Prince Akeem: Please refrain from using any further obscenities in the presence of these people.

Hold-Up Man: What?

Prince Akeem: I'm warning you. I will be forced to thrash you.

Hold-Up Man: *Fuck* you!

Lisa McDowell: [Lisa and Akeem are about to kiss] What about Patrice?

Prince Akeem: I am not interested in Patrice.

Lisa McDowell: What about Darryl?

Prince Akeem: [dryly] I am not interested in Darryl either.

Prince Akeem: Sir, did you happen to catch the professional football contest on television last night?

Cleo McDowell: No, I didn't.

Prince Akeem: Oh sir, the Giants of New York took on the Packers of Green Bay. And in the end, the Giants triumphed by kicking an oblong ball made of pigskin through a big "H". It was a most ripping victory.

Cleo McDowell: Son, I'm only going to tell you this one time.

Prince Akeem: Yes?

Cleo McDowell: If you want to keep working here, stay off the drugs.

Prince Akeem: Yes.

Cab Driver: This shitty enough for ya?

Prince Akeem: Yes, this is perfect.

Prince Akeem: But when I marry, I want the woman to love me for who I am, not because of what I am.

King Jaffe Joffer: And who are you?

Prince Akeem: I am a man who has never tied his own shoes before!

King Jaffe Joffer: Wrong. You are a PRINCE who has never tied his shoes. Believe me. I tied my own shoes once. It is an overrated experience.

King Jaffe Joffer: Time does fly fast, my son. It seems only yesterday I ordered your first diaper changed. Now you're a man about to be married. She will give you much pleasure, don't you think?

Prince Akeem: I'm not sure if I'm ready.

King Jaffe Joffer: Son, I know we never talked about this. I always assumed you had sex with your bathers. I know I do.

[last lines]

Lisa McDowell: Would you really have given up all of this just for me?

Prince Akeem: Of course. If you like, we can give it all up now.

Lisa McDowell: [surveys her new kingdom] Nah!

Rev. Brown: [at Black Awareness Rally] But you know, when I look at these contestants! For the Miss Black Awareness Pageant, I feel good! I feel good, because I know there's a God somewhere! There's a God somewhere! Turn around ladies for me please! You know there's a God who sits on high and looks down low! Man cannot make it like this! Larry Flynt! Hugh Hefner! They can take the picture, but you can't make it! Only God above, the Hugh Hefner on high, can make it for ya!

Semmi: [in audience to Akeem] Apparently these are the best women Queens has to offer. Pick one and let's go home.

Prince Akeem: Be patient, my friend.

Rev. Brown: Do you love Him? Do you feel joy? Say "Joy"!

Prince Akeem: Joy!

Rev. Brown: Joy! Can I get an "Ahe-men"? Don't be ashamed to call His name!

Awareness Woman: Yes, Lord!

Rev. Brown: Only God can give that woman the kind of joy she has right there! Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

Prince Akeem: I am very happy to be here!

Rev. Brown: Amen! Yes, sir! Can I get an "Amen"? Ha! Ha! I don't know you what you come to do, but *I* come to praise the name! Lord, Lord!

Prince Akeem: I am Akeem.

Lisa McDowell: It's nice to meet you, Akeem.

Prince Akeem: I have recently been placed in charge of garbage. Do you have any that requires disposal?

Lisa McDowell: No. It's totally empty.

Prince Akeem: When it fills up, call me. I will take it out most urgently.

Lisa McDowell: That's good to know.

Prince Akeem: When you think of garbage, think of Akeem.

Basketball Game Vendor: [Bowing as he exits] This is the greatest day of my life!

Lisa McDowell: Who was that?

Prince Akeem: Oh, just a man I met in the bathroom...

Landlord: Okay, now what the FUCK do you want?

Prince Akeem: We desire a room.

Landlord: Look, you better not be wasting my time. You got money?

[Semmi holds up money]

Landlord: Come on in, gentlemen.

Prince Akeem: I want a woman that will arouse my intellect as well as my loins

Semmi: But where in New York can one find a woman with grace, elegance, taste and culture? A woman suitable for a king.

Prince Akeem, Semmi: Queens!

Prince Akeem: But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend.

Prince Akeem: Are you saying that no matter what I tell you to do, you will do?

Imani Izzi: Yes, Your Highness.

Prince Akeem: Anything I say, you'll do?

Imani Izzi: Yes, Your Highness.

Prince Akeem: Bark like a dog.

Imani Izzi: Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!

Prince Akeem: A big dog.

Imani Izzi: Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!

Prince Akeem: Hop on one leg.

Imani Izzi: [hops on one leg] Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!

Prince Akeem: Make a noise like an orangutan.

Imani Izzi: [still hopping on one leg] Oo! Oo! Oo! Oo!

Clarence: Heyyy, it's the boys from Africa, how y'all doin this evenin'?

Prince Akeem: Sir, where can one go to find nice women here?

Clarence: You gotta get out and look, they ain't just gonna fall on your lap.

Semmi: We've been to every bar in Queens.

Clarence: Well, that's where you messed up, son, you can't go to no bar to find a nice woman. You gotta go to a nice place, a quiet place like a library, there's good women there and 'erm, church, they're good girls.

Prince Akeem: Is it just me, or does every woman in Queens have a severe emotional problem?

Prince Akeem: Listen, I know what I like, and I know you know what I like, because you were trained to know what I like, but I would like to know, what do you like?

Prince Akeem: Fascinating! Semmi, look at this! America is great indeed. Imagine a country so free, one can throw glass on the streets!

Prince Akeem: So, you would share your bed, and your fortune, with a beautiful fool?

Semmi: That is the way it has always been with men of power. It is tradition.

Prince Akeem: But how can a man get excited about a woman he's never seen?

Cleo McDowell: You know how to mop don't you?

Prince Akeem: Oh yes.

[Leaving the mop inside the wheely-bucket begins maneuvering it back and forth along the floor]

Cleo McDowell: Don't use the bucket. It'll just confuse you.

Prince Akeem: What does dumb fuck mean?

Cab Driver: [Akeem steps in front of the cab, causing the cab to screech to a sudden halt] YOU DUMB FUCK!

Prince Akeem: Take us to Queens at once.

Imani Izzi: Ever since I was born, I've been trained to serve you.

Prince Akeem: Yes, I know this. But I would like to know about you. What do you like to do?

Imani Izzi: Whatever you like.

Prince Akeem: What kind of music do you like?

Imani Izzi: Whatever kind of music you like.

Prince Akeem: Look, I know what I like. And I know that you know what I like because you were trained to know what I like, but I would like to know what you like. For instance, do you have a favourite food?

Imani Izzi: Yes!

Prince Akeem: Good! What is your favourite food?

Imani Izzi: Whatever food you like.

Prince Akeem: This is impossible. Listen, from this moment on, I command you not to obey me!

Imani Izzi: No.

[first lines]

Rose Bearer: Good morning, Your Highness.

Rose Bearer: Good morning, Your Highness.

Rose Bearer: Good morning, Your Highness.

Oha: Happy birthday, Your Highness.

Prince Akeem: [thinks] Yes, it *is* my birthday.

Prince Akeem: Just for once, I would like to cook for myself and take care of myself, dress myself, wipe my own backside.

Semmi: Let me get this straight. You can have a woman that will obey you're every command, but you want a woman who has an *opinion*!

Prince Akeem: Only *dogs* are to obey.