& Ann Newton: I’m trying to keep my mind free of things that don’t matter, because I have so much to keep on my mind. Innumerable things.
& Young Charlie: Oh, I don’t believe in good intentions anymore. All I’m waiting for now is a miracle.
& Ann Newton: Mama, you don’t have to shout... Really, Papa. You’d think Mama had never seen a phone. She makes no allowance for science. She thinks she has to cover the distance by sheer lung power.
& Young Charlie: Mrs. Henderson, do you believe in telepathy?
Mrs. Henderson: Well, I ought to. That’s my business.
Young Charlie: Oh, not telegraphy. Mental telepathy. Like... Well, suppose you have a thought, and suppose the thought is about someone you’re in tune with. And then across thousands of miles, that person knows what you’re thinking about and answers you. And it’s all mental.
Mrs. Henderson: I don’t know what you’re talking about. I only send telegrams the normal way.
& Herbie Hawkins: You can talk all you like about Sherlock Holmes. That little Frenchman beats them all.
Joseph Newton: I read it. Air bubbles don’t necessarily kill a person. Those writers from the other side get too fancy. The best way to commit a murder...
Herbie Hawkins: I know. I know. Hit them on the head with a blunt instrument.
Joseph Newton: Well, it’s true, isn’t it? Listen.
If I wanted to murder you tomorrow, do you think I’d waste my time on fancy hypodermics? Or on inee?
Herbie Hawkins: What’s that?
Joseph Newton:
Inee. Indian arrow poison. Listen. I’d find out if you were alone, walk in, hit you on the head with a piece of lead pipe or a loaded cane...
Herbie Hawkins: What’d be the fun of that? Where’s your planning? Where’s your clues?
Joseph Newton: I don’t want any clues. I want to murder you. What do I want with clues?
Herbie Hawkins: Well,
if you haven’t got any clues, where’s your book?
Joseph Newton: I’m not talking about writing books. I’m talking about killing you!
Herbie Hawkins: If I was going to kill you, I wouldn’t do a dumb thing like hitting you on the head. First of all, I don’t like the fingerprint angle. Of course, I could always wear gloves, press your hands against the pipe after you were dead, and make you look like a suicide... Except it don’t seem hardly likely that you’d beat yourself to death with a club... I’d murder you so it didn’t look like murder.
& Uncle Charlie: What’s the use of looking backward? What’s the use of looking ahead? Today’s the thing. That’s my philosophy. Today.
& Mr. Saunders: I believe you told me you owned the house?
Emma Newton: Own it? It owns us. It seems to me no sooner do I get one thing fixed, then something else gets broken. And then it needs fresh paint and the...
& Young Charlie: You know, your picking us as an average family kind of gave me a funny feeling.
Jack Graham: What kind of a funny feeling?
Young Charlie: Oh, I don’t know. I guess I don’t like to be an average girl in an average family.
Jack Graham: Average families are the best. Look at me. I’m from an average family.
& Emma Newton: Wine for dinner. Sounds so gay!
& Young Charlie: Oh, what’s the matter with you two? Do you always have to talk about killing people?
Joseph Newton: We’re not talking about killing people. Herb’s talking about killing me, and I’m talking about killing him.
Emma Newton: It’s your father’s way of relaxing.
& Uncle Charlie: You think you’re the clever little girl who knows something. There’s so much you don’t know. So much!
What do you know, really? You’re just an ordinary little girl living in an ordinary little town. You wake up every morning of your life and you know perfectly well that there’s nothing in the world to trouble you. You go through your ordinary little day, and at night, you sleep your untroubled, ordinary little sleep filled with peaceful, stupid dreams...
And I brought you nightmares.
& Uncle Charlie: You live in a dream. You’re a sleepwalker, blind. How do you know what the world is like? Do you know the world is a foul sty? Do you know if you ripped the fronts off houses, you’d find swine? The world’s a hell! What does it matter what happens in it? Wake up, Charlie. Use your wits. Learn something!
& Young Charlie: Mother ... always losing things.
Jack Graham: All mothers lose things. Someday, she’ll be losing you...
Young Charlie: Mothers don’t lose daughters, don’t you remember? They gain sons.
& Jack Graham: I like it when you laugh. I like it when you don’t. I guess I like you whatever you do. I guess I like you.
--
+++ quotes on the IMDb