Most babies want to be held and start crying when they are put down.

My mother tells me that I started crying whenever they tried to pick me up or turned off the TV.

As a child, nothing fascinated me more than movies. I’d get good grades so that Mom would let me spend more time watching my favorite cartoon, series, and movies. During my teenage years, I spent every penny I had on buying VHS tapes to watch my then-favorite movies over and over again.

I worked part-time jobs to save money to go to the cinema every week. Posters of Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Drew Barrymore, Kate Winslet, and Leo DiCaprio filled every spot of my bedroom walls. When it was time to pick a major, I knew it had to be something related to the seventh art. Alas! Our financial situation back then made that impossible, so I picked the closest thing to my sole passion and obsession.

Scriptwriting is the basis of filmmaking, which heavily relies on literature, since most motion pictures are based on books, and so I chose literature as my major. However, the heart wants what the heart wants, so I kept “having an affair” with the hobby that I couldn’t turn into a career. This romance ended up teaching me a lot and changing my life in so many ways.

On the third of January, 1892, J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of my favorite trilogy made into movies, was born. To remember him and all the great authors, scriptwriters, playwrights, and anyone behind the words of the magic we see on the screen, I am sharing 20 movie quotes that hit home for me.

Lord of the Rings

“Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.”

The Matrix

“Neo, sooner or later, you’re going to realize, just as I did, there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”

Fight Club

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh*t we don’t need, and the things you own, end up owning you.”

Into the Wild

“I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God’s place is all around us—it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things.”

Forrest Gump

“My mama always told me that miracles happen every day. Some people don’t think so, but they do.”

Titanic

“Well, yes, ma’am, I do…I mean, I got everything I need right here with me. I got air in my lungs, a few blank sheets of paper. I mean, I love waking up in the morning not knowing what’s gonna happen or who I’m gonna meet, where I’m gonna wind up. Just the other night, I was sleeping under a bridge, and now here I am, on the grandest ship in the world, having champagne with you, fine people. I figure life’s a gift, and I don’t intend on wasting it. You don’t know what hand you’re gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you…to make each day count.”

Braveheart

“Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it.”

Pulp Fiction

“Why do we feel it’s necessary to yak about bullsh*t in order to be comfortable? That’s when you know you’ve found somebody special. When you can just shut the f*ck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.”

Wall-E

“Well, I’m sure our forefathers would be proud to know that 700 years later we’d be…doing the exact same thing they were doing. So, be sure next mealtime to ask for your free sep-tua-centennial cupcake in a cup. Wow, look at that.”

Legends of the Fall

“Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness, and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends.”

Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain

“I like to look for things no one else catches.”

Toy Story

“Now, Woody…he’s been my pal as long as I can remember. He’s brave, like a cowboy should be, and kind and smart. But the thing that makes Woody special is that he’ll never give up on you—ever. He’ll be there for you, no matter what. You think you can take care of him for me?”

The Godfather

“Revenge is a dish best served cold.” 

Avatar

“She said all energy is only borrowed, and one day you have to give it back.”

The Joker

“The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t.”

Bucket List

Edward: “I envy people who have faith—I just can’t get my head around it.
Carter: Maybe because your head’s in the way.”

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

“Too many guys think I’m a concept, or I complete them, or I’m gonna make them alive. But I’m just a f*cked up girl who’s lookin’ for my own peace of mind; don’t assign me yours.” 

Up

“That might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most.”

Meet Joe Black

“Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back. How do you find him? Well, you forget your head, and you listen to your heart.”

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

“4:00, wallow in self-pity. 4:30, stare into the abyss. 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one. 5:30, jazzercise; 6:30, dinner with me. I can’t cancel that again. 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing. I’m booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9, I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling, and slip slowly into madness.”

At the end of the day, we all need a simple getaway that can keep us chasing dreams, inspiring us to create more, live, learn, think, laugh, love, and cry more—some kind of a Neverland we run to when we are stuck, and I have found mine.

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