Quotes from Ordinary People

Karen: Conrad. Let's have a great Christmas. Let's have... a great year. Let's have the best year of our whole lives. We can, you know... this could be the best one ever.

Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Anyway.
Jeannine: Hm, what?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Oh just anyway. It's a conversation starter.
Jeannine: Hm, catchy.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: I knew you'd like it, I've been working on it all day.

Calvin "Cal" Jarrett: He just wants to know that you don't hate him.
Beth Jarrett: Hate him! How could I hate him? Mothers don't hate their sons! Is that what he told you? You see how you believe everything he tells you? And you can't do the same for me, you can't! GOD I DON'T KNOW WHAT ANYONE WANTS FROM ME ANYMORE!
Ward: Beth, we don't want anything from you; Audrey, Cal, Connie and Me, we just want you to be happy.
Beth Jarrett: Happy! Ward, you tell me the meaning of happy. But first you better make sure your kids are good and safe, that they haven't fallen of a horse, been hit by a car, or drown in that swimming pool you're so proud of!
Audrey: Oh Beth!
Beth Jarrett: Then, you come and tell me how to be happy!

Conrad "Con" Jarrett: When I let myself feel, all I feel is lousy.
Dr. Berger: Oh well excuse me, I never promised you a rose garden.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Oh fuck you Berger.
Dr. Berger: What?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: FUCK YOU!
Dr. Berger: Hey, that's it!
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Geez! You're really weird huh, what do you feel huh? Do you jerk off, or jack off, or whatever you call it?
Dr. Berger: What do you think?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: What do I think? I think you're married to a fat lady and you go home and you fuck the living daylights out of her!
Dr. Berger: Sounds good to me.

Conrad "Con" Jarrett: I made a 74 on a trig quiz.
Beth Jarrett: Oh really? Gosh I was awful at trig.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Oh. Really? You took trig?
Beth Jarrett: No... wait a minute... ha, did I take trig? Huh... anyway, I bought you two shirts they're on your bed.

Dr. Berger: A little advice about feelings kiddo; don't expect it always to tickle.

Jeannine: Hey, you stand behind me in the choir, you sing well, you have a lot of energy.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Oh you do, I mean, I do?
Jeannine: I mean that's a good thing. I'm Jeannine Pratt.
Chris: And you're Conrad Jarrett, remember?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Yeah, right!
Jeannine: Well I'll see you around.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Bye.
Lazenby: [mocking Jeannine] You have a lot of energy!

Jeannine: Conrad, I'm not a very good bowler, what I mean is, I'm a funny bowler.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Oh, well we don't have to go bowling if you'd rather not. How funny are ya?
Jeannine: On a scale of one to ten... about a ten.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: Oh... yeah, that's pretty funny.

Dr. Berger: So what are you thinking now?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: That I jack off a lot.
Dr. Berger: So what else is new? Does it help?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: For a minute.

Conrad "Con" Jarrett: It's impossible after all the shit I've pulled.
Dr. Berger: What shit have you pulled?
[pause]
Dr. Berger: Hey, remember, I'm talking proportion here, now what shit?
[pause]
Dr. Berger: C'mon, you must be able to come up with at least one example.
[pause]
Dr. Berger: And don't give me, "I tried to kill myself." That's old turkey.

Calvin "Cal" Jarrett: Don't admire people too much, they might disappoint you.

Jeannine: Can you ever break the ball?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: You can't break the ball. Can't break the floor. Can't break anything in a bowling alley. And that's what I like about bowling alleys. Can't even break the record.

Beth Jarrett: Calvin? Why are you crying? Can I, uh... can I get you something?
Calvin "Cal" Jarrett: I don't...
Beth Jarrett: What did you say? Calvin, what did you say? Tell me!
Calvin "Cal" Jarrett: You are beautiful. And you are unpredictable. But you're so cautious. You're determined, Beth; but you know something? You're not strong. And I don't know if you're really giving. Tell me something. Do you love me? You really love me?
Beth Jarrett: I feel the way I've always felt about you.
Calvin "Cal" Jarrett: We would have been all right if there hadn't been any mess. But you can't handle mess. You need everything neat and easy. I don't know. Maybe you can't love anybody. It was so much Buck. When Buck died, it was like you buried all your love with him, and I don't understand that, I just don't know, I don't... maybe it wasn't even Buck; maybe it was just you. Maybe, finally, it was the best of you that you buried. But whatever it was... I don't know who you are. I don't know what we've been playing at. So I was crying. Because I don't know if I love you any more. And I don't know what I'm going to do without that.

Conrad "Con" Jarrett: You woulda visited Buck if he was in the hospital.
Beth Jarrett: Buck would have never been in the hospital!

Beth Jarrett: [to her mother about the platter she just broke] You know, I think this can be saved. It's a nice clean break.

Conrad "Con" Jarrett: [about Karen's suicide] I feel bad about this! I feel really, really bad about this! Just let me feel bad about this!
Dr. Berger: Okay. I feel bad about it, too.

Conrad "Con" Jarrett: [seeing Beth set the table] Can I help?
Beth Jarrett: Help with what?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: With... this?
Beth Jarrett: No. I'll tell you what you can do is go upstairs to that room of yours and clean out the closet.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: [still desperately trying to talk with her] Mom?
Beth Jarrett: [sensing this, but is afraid] Okay? Because it really is a mess.
[they stare at each other in silence for a moment before the phone rings]

Dr. Berger: Now. You can live with that. Can't you?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: I'm so scared! I'm scared.
Dr. Berger: Feelings are scary. And sometimes they're painful. And if you can't feel pain... you won't feel anything else either. You know what I'm saying?
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: I think so.
Dr. Berger: You're here. You're alive. Don't say you don't feel that.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: It doesn't feel good.
Dr. Berger: It is good. Believe me.
Conrad "Con" Jarrett: How do you know?
Dr. Berger: Because I'm your friend.