Top 20 Quotes From The Pursuit of Happyness

Christopher: [narrating] I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. I made up my mind that when I had children, my children were going to know who their father was.

Christopher: [the first day of the internship program] This part of my life is called "internship."

Martin: [during the interview room, with Twistle, Frakesh, and Frohm present] What would you say if man walked in here with no shirt, and I hired him? What would you say?
Christopher: He must have had on some really nice pants.

Christopher: [voice-over] This part of my life... this part right here? This part is called "being stupid."

Shoe: [upon entering the classroom for the interns] Hey, you're missing a shoe.
Christopher: Oh, hey, thanks!

Christopher: [during the interview for the internship position] I've been sitting out here for the last half-hour trying to come up with a story that would explain my being here dressed like this. And I wanted to come up with a story that would demonstrate qualities that I'm sure you all admire here like earnestness, diligence, team-playing. And I couldn't think of anything. So the truth is, I was arrested for failure to pay parking tickets.
Jay: Parking tickets?
[employers laugh]
Christopher: I ran all the way here from the police station.
Martin: What were you doing before you were arrested?
Christopher: I was, uh, painting my apartment.

Christopher: [narrating, at a payphone, raining, after learning Linda is taking Christopher away from him] It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?

[last lines]
Christopher: How many planets are there?
Christopher: Um... 7?
Christopher: Seven? Nine! OK, who's the king of the jungle?
Christopher: The gorilla?
Christopher: Gorilla? Nope. Lion.
Christopher: Yeah, lion, lion. You wanna hear something funny?
Christopher: OK.
Christopher: Knock knock.
Christopher: Who's there?
Christopher: [starts be to become out of view] Shelby.
Christopher: Shelby who?
Christopher: Shelby comin' round the mountain when she comes, Shelby comin' round the mountain when she comes!
Christopher: Hey, that's good.
Christopher: Knock knock.
Christopher: Who's there?
Christopher: Nobody.
Christopher: Nobody who?
[Christopher doesn't respond]
Christopher: Nobody who?
[Christopher still doesn't respond]
Christopher: A-ha-ha, that's a good one, I like that!

Reverend: The important thing about that freedom train, is it's got to climb mountains. We ALL have to climb mountains, you know. Mountains that go way up high, and mountains that go deep and low. Yes, we know what those mountains are here at Glide. We sing about them.

[after he hits Chris in the middle of the street while other onlookers help Christopher Sr. find his shoe]
Driver: Hey, asshole! Are you all right, asshole?

Christopher: [while bringing Christopher to daycare, about the spelling mistakes in the graffiti of a building] It's not H-A-P-P-Y-N-E-S-S Happiness is spelled with an "I" instead of a "Y"
Christopher: Oh, okay. Is "Fuck" spelled right?
Christopher: Um, yes. "Fuck" is spelled right but you shouldn't use that word.
Christopher: Why? What's it mean?
Christopher: [going inside the daycare] It's, um, an adult word used to express anger and, uh, other things. But it's an adult word. It's spelled right, but don't use it.

[about Chris' bone-density scanner]
Homeless: It's a time machine... I know it's a time machine...
Christopher: [voice-over, while sitting on a bus] This machine in my lap? It is not a time machine.

Christopher: [walking to Walter Ribbon's home] Probably means there's a good chance. Possibly means we might or we might not.
Christopher: Okay.
Christopher: So, what does probably mean?
Christopher: It means we have a good chance.
Christopher: And what does possibly mean?
Christopher: I know what it means! It means we're *not* going to the game.

Christopher: [in an empty subway] You gotta trust me, all right?
Christopher: I trust you.
Christopher: 'Cause I'm getting a better job

Christopher: [after playing basket ball] Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. Not even me. All right?
Christopher: All right.
Christopher: You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.

Linda: [repeated line to Christopher Sr] Whatever, I don't care.

Christopher: [standing outside the interview room] There's no salary?
Jay: No.
Christopher: I was not aware of that. My circumstances have changed some.

[last narration lines, while walking in the crowd and crying]
Christopher: [voice-over] This part of my life... this part right here? This is called "happyness."

Christopher: [while eating in a restaurant] What are you doing?
Christopher: Paying a parking ticket.
Christopher: ...But we don't have a car anymore.
Christopher: Yeah, I know...

Christopher: [to his father, sleeping next to other homeless people] You're a good papa.