The things a man has to have are hope and confidence in himself against odds, and sometimes he needs somebody, his pal or his moth...er or his wife or God, to give him that confidence. He's got to have some inner standards worth fighting for or there won't be any way to bring him into conflict. And he must be ready to choose death before dishonor without making too much song and dance about it. That's all there is to it.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
crew member [offscreen]: That's an awful big town San Francisco. Weinberg: Strictly a one-whistle stop. There's only one city... in the USA and that's New York. Chief Sergeant: Oh, you're just another hometown hick, Weinberg. What's wrong with California? Weinberg: California. The sun shines and nothing happens. Before you know it, you're sixty years old. Chief Sergeant: It's no different from New York. My sister's been tryin' to get out of Brooklyn for the last forty years. Weinberg: Brooklyn. That ain't New York, Chief. Once you cross that Brooklyn Bridge, you're out of this world. The only noise you hear is the hardening of your arteries. You know when I used to drive a hack, I had a pal who crossed that bridge back in 1929 and ain't never heard from him since.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Well, when you're up there and you're all alone, see, it's just you and your ship and the sky. And you don't want anybody up there... with you, you don't want anybody to spoil it. Everything's kind of still, and you have a feeling that you're halfway to heaven. You don't even seem to hear the sound of your own motor, just a kind of a buzz, like the sky was calling you. Like the sky was singin' you a song.... Yeah. And somehow it's never eight o'clock up there, it's always now. And the earth is so far below you that it just doesn't matter anymore, the sky is the thing that's important. The sky is your pal. You feel like nudging it and saying, "Hiya sky, how are you today? And how was the old moon the last time you saw him?" The wind drift comes straight off the morning star and beautiful white clouds drift towards you. And they're like old friends. Friends you never want to say goodbye to. And you see a patch of clear air in between 'em and you duck in and out, like a porpoise rollin' in the ocean. And then you say to yourself, "Boy, oh boy, this is the only time a man is really ever alive. It's the only time he's really ever free." The old sky smiles back at you and says, "Boy, you're right. You're dead right."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Boots Mulcahey: I'm not gonna make a speech. I just got something to say. Tomorrow our old pal, Doc, here's goin' out. He's bein' ...paid off after 30 years. I know most of you kids gotta long way to go before you find out what 30 years in the Navy means. It means service tough and good. It means serving your country in peace and in war. So let's raise our glasses. Radio announcer: We interrupt this program for an important announcement. This morning.... Boots Mulcahey: Aw, cut that thing off. So let's raise our glasses and drink with all the solemnity this occasion demands.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »