Dead Poets Society * Quotes

"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary."

"It's not the Bible, you're not gonna go to Hell for this."

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, 'O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?' Answer: that you are here... that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"

McAllister: "Show me the heart unfettered by foolish dreams and I'll show you a happy man."
John Keating: "But only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be."
McAllister: "Tennyson?"
John Keating: "No, Keating."

"Oh captain, my captain."

"There's a time for daring and there's a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for."

"No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world."