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John Rambo: [while aiming an arrow at Lewis' eye] Any of you boys want to shoot, now's the time. There isn't one of us that doesn't want to be someplace else. But this is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something. Your call.
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Sarah: You know, you never told us your name.
John Rambo: John.
Sarah: Where are you from?
John Rambo: Bowie, Arizona.
Sarah: Why'd you leave?
John Rambo: I got drafted in 'Nam.
Sarah: And you just stayed?
John Rambo: It's complicated.
Sarah: You have family back home?
John Rambo: Father, maybe. I don't know.
Sarah: Aren't you curious to see how things might've changed back home?
John Rambo: Gotta have a reason for that.
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Burnett: What did you do? We came here to help stop the killing! Who are you to...
John Rambo: [grabs Burnett by the throat, and slams him up against a support beam] WHO ARE YOU?
Sarah: Let him go!
John Rambo: They would've raped her fifty times... and cut your fucking heads off! Who are you? Who are any of you?
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Sarah Miller: Maybe you've lost your faith in people. But you must still be faithful to something. You must still care about something. Maybe we can't change what is. But trying to save a life isn't wasting your life, is it?
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John Rambo: Why'd you come back?
Sarah: Waiting for you.
John Rambo: I told you before, I can't help you.
Sarah: Well, we need to go and help these people. We're here to make a difference. We believe all lives are special.
John Rambo: Some lives... some not.
Sarah: Really? If everyone thought like you, nothing would ever change.
John Rambo: Nothing does change.
Sarah: Of course it does! Nothing stays the same!
John Rambo: Live your life, 'cause you've got a good one.
Sarah: It's what I'm trying to do!
John Rambo: No, what you're trying to do is change what is.
Sarah: And what is?
John Rambo: Go home.
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Sarah: What do we do?
School Boy: Nothing we can do.
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Lewis: God didn't save your life! We did!
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En-Joo: [at the singing Reese] Hey! Knock that shit off!
Reese: En-Joo don't like the arts?
Diaz: En-Joo don't like shit.
En-Joo: I like your sister, Diaz.
Diaz: She's got a thing for retards.
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Snake Village Owner: We need another python. See what you can do. We have enough Cobras, okay?
John Rambo: Fuck off, okay?
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Burnett: I was told it might be possible to rent your boat. We'd like to do that. Is that possible? We need to get upriver.
John Rambo: Where are you going?
Burnett: Into Burma.
John Rambo: Burma's a warzone.
Burnett: Well, that's what people call it, but it's more like genocide than war. Anyway, this will be my fifth trip in, so we're aware of the risks.
John Rambo: I don't go that far north.
Burnett: Let me explain our situation. Our church is part of a pan-Asian ministry, located in Colorado. We are all volunteers who, around this time of year, bring in medical supplies, medical attention, prayer books, and support to the Karen tribespeople. People say you know the river better than anyone.
John Rambo: They ain't lying.
Burnett: So what I'm asking is that we compensate you for a few hours of your time that will help change people's lives.
John Rambo: Are you bringing any weapons?
Burnett: Of course not.
John Rambo: You're not changing anything.
Burnett: Well, it's thinking like that that keeps the world the way it is.
John Rambo: [walking away] Fuck the world.
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Sarah: The man you were talking to...
John Rambo: I wasn't talking to anybody.
Sarah: All right. The man who was talking to you asked if we could hire you to take us upriver. You said no. Why?
John Rambo: Can't help you out.
Sarah: Well, if you have good reasons, would you mind if I heard them?
John Rambo: Go home.
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Major Pa Tee Tint: [after raiding a village] These boys are now our soldiers! They belong to me now! If you try to get them back, your whole village will burn! If you ask the Karen Rebels for help, I will cut out your tongues! If you go against me, I will feed you your intestines! Hear me, believe me, and fear me!
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Pirate Leader: You have lights! Turn them on! I want to see you fuckin' fools!
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Burnett: [to Rambo] I have to report this. I know you think what you did was right, but taking a life is never right.
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Sarah: I don't know what to say.
John Rambo: Then you shouldn't say anything, should you?
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John Rambo: You know what you are... what you're made of. War is in your blood. Don't fight it. You didn't kill for your country. You killed for yourself. God's never gonna make that go away. When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing.
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Lewis: Look at this fucking place. Only a fucking ape would live here. What the fuck am I doing here?
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En-Joo: [to Reese] Try reading a paper, redneck, instead of sleeping under it.
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Lewis: [to Rambo] I don't want to fucking die of old age before I get there, so move!
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Major Pa Tee Tint: [upon seeing a missionary looking at him] Bring that one out to the pigs.
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Lewis: For fuck's sake! I can swim faster than this! Am I right?
Reese: Heard that...
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Lewis: [to Rambo] Those God-squadders. They come over here, spouting all that shit, they expect the whole world to start working like their fucking neighbor. Well it doesn't! So they send in the devil...
[points to himself]
Lewis: ...to do God's work. It's ironic, isn't it? Am I boring you, mate? Is it the trip? Has it got you nervous? 'Cause really, you should appreciate the action, you know what I mean? Got to be better than looking at the ass end of a snake!
[Rambo stares at Lewis]
Lewis: Oh dear, you really are an uptight bastard, aren't you? You can drop the thousand-yard stare. I've seen it all before, and I'm not impressed.
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School Boy: They call me School Boy. The name stuck with me since sniper school, my mates won't stop calling me it no matter how many people I shoot.
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Lewis: One man and a kid? You've got to be fucking joking! This all the rebels they put up?
Reese: I'm not liking it.
En-Joo: You're in the jungle, pus-nuts. There's nothing to like.
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Reese: I know I'm just a white-trash grunt, but I can count. Fuck fucking with a hundred strong!
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Lewis: [to Tint] Gutless fuck! Come and have a go at me, you lady-boy cunt!
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[last lines]
Sarah: Michael!
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John Rambo: [from the Director's Cut] Go live your life 'cause you've got a good one.
Sarah: It's what I'm trying to do.
John Rambo: No, what you're trying to do is change what is.
Sarah: And what is?
John Rambo: That we're like animals! It's in the blood! It's natural! Peace? That's an accident! It's what is! When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing. When the killing stops in one place, it starts in another, but that's okay... 'cause you're killing for your country. But it ain't your country who asks you, it's a few men up top who want it. Old men start it, young men fight it, nobody wins, everybody in the middle dies... and nobody tells the truth! God's gonna make all that go away?
[pause]
John Rambo: Don't waste your life, I did. Go home.
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Burnett: It's thinking like that that keeps the world the way it is.
John Rambo: Fuck the world.
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Lewis: [Speaking to Rambo] Who are you boatman?
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[from Director's Cut]
Arthur Marsh: [praying] Lord, make me your instrument of peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love, for it is in giving that we receive. It is in dying that we awake to eternal life.
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John Rambo: [alternate line from Director's Cut] You're not going anywhere. And there isn't one of us that doesn't want to be someplace else. But this is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something. Your call.
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Burnett: We'll be taking the overland route on the way back so there's no need to wait around. I have to report this. I know you think what you did was right but taking a life is never right.
Rambo Quotes
Extended Reading
