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Beverly Clark: We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."
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Link Peterson: [after wowing the hecklers at his job] Fuck you all...
[walks back to office room]
Link Peterson: And football sucks.
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Bobbie: So why did you all start dancing?
Vern: I'm getting married in September. My bride said she'd like to see me lose a few pounds, thought the dancing might be good exercise. I told her it wouldn't work.
[waitress gives him a hamburger and fries]
John Clark: I think you're gonna win that bet.
Chic: I'm here for the ladies, you know what they say about guys that can dance...
Bobbie: Yeah, that they're great in bed.
Chic: Right.
Bobbie: Where do you hear this crap?
Chic: Everywhere, everywhere the guys that can dance get the pick of the litter.
Bobbie: I'm here for the big dance competition. All I need is a partner.
[to John]
Bobbie: so that leaves you.
John Clark: What?
Bobbie: You're the only one that hasn't said why you're dancing.
John Clark: I'm dancing for exercise like Vern.
Bobbie: Bull.
John Clark: Because I'm lousy in bed like Chic. There I said it.
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Paulina: The rumba is the vertical expression of a horizontal wish. You have to hold her, like the skin on her thigh is your reason for living. Let her go, like your heart's being ripped from your chest. Throw her back, like you're going to have your way with her right here on the dance floor. And then finish, like she's ruined you for life.
Bobbie: [looking up from the floor] Yeah, why can't you do it like that?
-
Scott: I like a woman built for comfort, not for speed.
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Bobbie: ...and stop looking at my ass.
John Clark: I'll try.
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Link Peterson: I mean, a straight man who likes to dance around in sequins walks a very lonely road, I got news for you.
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Devine: It's possible that we could find your husband neck deep in potpourri investing things.
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John Clark: The one thing I am proudest of in my whole life, is that you're happy with me. If I couldn't, if I couldn't tell you that I was unhappy sometimes, is because I didn't want to risk hurting the one person I treasure most. I'm so sorry.
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Link Peterson: Yeah, no more underage bimbets for me, just *real* women from now on.
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Paulina: But we began training too hard, pushing each other, expecting too much. Well, we didn't win. Not even close. I came back without my trophy or my partner.
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Paulina: And all this time, I've been hiding out at Miss Mitzi's, angry at myself, frustrated & embarrassed. But coaching you & Bobbie, seeing how alive you were out there, made me realize just how much I'd given up. And now, for the first time in a long time, I WANT to dance again. So, I need to thank you. Thank you, for helping me to see this.
-
Paulina: What made you wanna dance?
John Clark: You. Looking out that window, right there. You could see it from the train. Every night, I'd come home from work & I'd look for you, your face... you looked on the outside the way I was feeling on the inside.
Paulina: I was watching you, too. From the window, I saw you practicing on the platform.
John Clark: No? Uhh.
Paulina: That night I said all those thing to you, I didn't think I'd ever see you again. But you kept coming back.
John Clark: I didn't want to. I figured if I hadn't, you would have been right about everything you accused me of. Then, I started dancing and found I really liked it. It made me happy!
Paulina: Yes, it shows.
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Scott: "To catch a husband is an art. To hold him is a job." - Simone de Beauvoir.
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Paulina: You... are the frame.
John Clark: I'm the frame.
Paulina: She is the picture...
John Clark: She is the picture...
Paulina: ...in your frame. - Everything that you do is to show her off.
Bobbie: You got that?.
John Clark: I didn't hear that.
Shall We Dance Quotes
Extended Reading
