Lo: A faithful heart makes wishes come true.
Sir Te: A sword by itself rules nothing. It only comes alive in skilled hands.
Li Mu Bai: I would rather be a ghost drifting by your side as a condemned soul than enter heaven without you... because of your love, I will never be a lonely spirit
Jade Fox: Your master underestimated women! I was good enough to sleep with, but not to teach. What better punishment than to die by a woman's hand?
Yu Shu Lien: Without Green Destiny, you are nothing!
[commenting on the theft of the Green Destiny sword once again]

Sir Te: They take it, they return it, they take it again... this place is becoming everyone's private storeroom!
Jen Yu: Who are you?

Gou Jun Pei: I'm Shining Phoenix Mountain Gou.

Jen Yu: Gou? A name I abhor. When I hear it, my ears start to ache. I feel like vomiting!

[Rising from the table]

Jen Yu: And suddenly I cannot hold back my sword hand's anger!
Li Mu Bai: No growth without assistance. No action without reaction. No desire without restraint. Now give yourself up and find yourself again.
Li Mu Bai: She should come to Wudan and become a disciple.

Yu Shu Lien: But Wudan does not accept women.

Li Mu Bai: For her, they might make an exception. If not, I'm afraid she'll become a poisoned dragon.
Lo: All this trouble for a comb?

Jen Yu: It's mine. It means a lot to me. A barbarian like you wouldn't understand.

Lo: I can use it to pick fleas from my horse.
Li Mu Bai: The things we touch have no permanence. My master would say: there is nothing we can hold onto in this world. Only by letting go can we truly possess what is real.
Li Mu Bai: Giang Hu is a world of tigers and dragons, full of corruption.
Jen Yu: [while slicing through customers at a local restaurant] You want to know who I am? I am... I am the Invincible Sword Goddess, armed with the Green Destiny that knows no equal! Be you Li or Southern Crane, bow your head and ask for mercy! I am the dragon from the desert! Who comes from nowhere and leaves no trace! Today I fly over Eu-Mei. Tomorrow... I topple Mount Wudan!
Li Mu Bai: Like most things, I am nothing.
Sir Te: When in comes to the affairs of the heart, even the greatest warriors can be a consummate idiots.
Yu Shu Lien: To repress one's feelings only makes them stronger.
Li Mu Bai: I've already wasted my whole life. I want to tell you with my last breath that I have always loved you. I would rather be a ghost, drifting by your side as a condemned soul, than enter heaven without you. Because of your love, I will never be a lonely spirit.
Li Mu Bai: Real sharpness comes without effort.
Li Mu Bai: Even if I was banished to the darkest place, my love will never let me be a lonely spirit.
Li Mu Bai: Sharpness is a state of mind.
Yu Shu Lien: You were enlightened?

Li Mu Bai: No. I didn't feel the bliss of enlightenment. Instead... I was surrounded by an endless sorrow.
Gangster A: You don't seem to understand.

Jen Yu: So what if I don't?

Gangster B: [raising weapons along with his partner] We have ways of making you understand...
Waiter: Follow me.

Jen Yu: I want a clean room.

Waiter: We have plenty... Your order?

Jen Yu: Steamed whole cod, bite-size meatballs, a little starchy but keep the sauce light, shark fin soup, mixed vegetables and some warm wine.

Waiter: We only have one chef.

Jen Yu: Then get him started.
Jen Yu: Make a wish, Lo.
[first lines]

Man: Master Li is here! Master Li is here!
Yu Shu Lien: The Green Destiny Sword. You're giving it to Sir Te.

Li Mu Bai: I am. He has always been our greatest protector.

Yu Shu Lien: I don't understand. How can you part with it? It's been with you a long time.

Li Mu Bai: Too many men have died at its edge. It may look pure... , but only because blood washes so easily from its blade.
Jen Yu: It must exciting to be a fighter, to be totally free.

Yu Shu Lien: Fighters have rules, too. Friendship, trust, integrity. Always keep your promise. Without rules we wouldn't survive long.
Jen Yu: I'm getting married soon, but I haven't lived the life I want.

Yu Shu Lien: So I heard. Congratulations.
Yu Shu Lien: [to the Sword Thief] Return the sword and I'll let you go.

[pause]

Yu Shu Lien: You've been trained at Wudan?
Yu Shu Lien: It's a great fortune to marry into such a noble family.

Jen Yu: Is it? Actually, I like the great heroes in the books... just like you and Li Mu Bai. Marriage is a good thing. If only I could be free to live my own life... to choose who I love and love him in my own way. That's real happiness.
Yu Shu Lien: [to Mrs. Yu] This particular thief... is very unusual. And most likely smarter than a mere killer.
Li Mu Bai: [to the Sword Thief] Give yourself up and find yourself again.
Jen Yu: Why do you want to teach me?

Li Mu Bai: I've always wanted a disciple worthy of the Wudang secrets.
Jade Fox: [to Jen] It's the Giang Hu fighter lifestyle... Kill or be killed. Exciting, isn't it?
Yu Shu Lien: [to Li Mu Bai] Are you happy now that the sword is back?
Li Mu Bai: You did your job well. The sword is back. But... This girl. I saw her last night.

Yu Shu Lien: I knew you'd be suspicious.

Li Mu Bai: She needs controlling. She needs real direction and training.
Lo: Jen! Come with me to Xin Jiang!
Li Mu Bai: [to Yu Shu Lien] Crouching tigers and hidden dragons are in the underworld... but so are human feelings.
Yu Shu Lien: What was it?

Li Mu Bai: Something I can't let go of.
Yu Shu Lien: I beg your pardon. Li Mu Bai and I aren't cowards.
Yu Shu Lien: Whatever path you decide to take in this life... be true to yourself.
Jen Yu: How long would you last as my enemy?
Jen Yu: Who am I?
[last lines]

Lo: I wish that we'll be in the desert together again.
Yu Shu Lien: The sword has brought Li Mu Bai as much trouble as glory.
Jade Fox: You deserve to die, but the life I was hoping to take was Jen's. Ten years I devoted to you, but you deceived me! You hid the manual's true meaning. I never improved but your progress was limitless. You know what poison is? An eight year-old girl full of deceit. That's poison!
Li Mu Bai: You need practice. I can teach you to fight with the Green Destiny, but first you must learn to hold it in stillness.

Jen Yu: Why do you want to teach me?

Li Mu Bai: I've always wanted a disciple worthy of Wudan's secrets.

Jen Yu: And if I use them to kill you?

Li Mu Bai: That's a risk I'm willing to take. Deep down you're good. Even Jade Fox couldn't corrupt you.
Lo: We have a legend. Anyone who dares to jump from the mountain, God will grant his wish. Long ago, a young man's parents were ill, so he jumped. He didn't die. He wasn't even hurt. He floated away, far away, never to return. He knew his wish had come true. If you believe, it will happen. The elders say, "A faithful heart makes wishes come true."
Sir Te: When it comes to emotions, even great heroes can be idiots.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Quotes

Extended Reading

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon short comments

Fern 2022-04-24 07:01:03

Ah, I've already shamed myself for the evaluation I gave five years ago. . The mind at that time really couldn't understand this movie. Rewatching it now, I think it's too good to watch, and I don't want to miss every scene. The action design is really great. Yu Jiaolong is too attractive. Yu Jiaolong and Li Mubai's bamboo forest drama is a love drama in disguise. Long and Li have both experienced the emptiness that surpasses their master's height, and they are the real CPs. Middle-aged myths unfold from beginning to end.
Vincent 2022-03-22 09:01:24

The first time I saw it, I felt that it was nothing compared to the Hong Kong martial arts movies of the 1990s, and the traces of the steel cables were heavy. Those Hong Kong-produced films have been lost for more than ten years, only Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is like a timeless calligraphy, a mellow wine, and every gesture makes people feel the secluded feelings of Chinese culture. This is a martial arts movie filmed by Ang Li as a literati.