20 Best Movie and TV Teacher Quotes

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Robin Williams: ‘Dead Poets Society’

Memorable Quote: “They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen. You hear it? Carpe—hear it? Carpe, carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”

Ryan Gosling: ‘Half Nelson’

Memorable Quote: “Change moves in spirals, not circles. For example, the sun goes up and then it goes down. But every time that happens, what do you get? You get a new day. You get a new one. When you breathe, you inhale and you exhale, but every single time that you do that you’re a little bit different than the one before. We’re always changing. And its important to know that there are some changes you can’t control and that there are others you can.”

(Photo: THINKFilm)

Tina Fey: ‘Mean Girls’

Memorable Quote: “OK, so we’re all here ’cause of this book, right? Well, I don’t know who wrote this book, but you all have got to stop calling each other sluts and whores. It just makes it okay for guys to call you sluts and whores.”

(Photo: Paramount Pictures)

Richard Harris: ‘Harry Potter’

Memorable Quote: “Dark times lie ahead of us, and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.”

(Photo: Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images)

Morgan Freeman as Principal Joe Clark in

Morgan Freeman: ‘Lean on Me’

Memorable Quote: “We sink, we swim, we rise, we fall, we meet our fate together! Now, it took the help of a good, good friend to make me know and understand that, and I do understand that and I’m grateful. I’m eternally grateful. And now, I’ve got a message for those people out there who’ve abandoned you and written you off! Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Good! You are NOT inferior! Your grades may be, your school may have been. But you can turn that around and make liars out of those bastards in exactly one hour when you take that test and pass it and win! So here’s what I want you to do. When you find your thoughts wandering, I want you to knuckle back down and concentrate. Concentrate! Remember what’s at stake and show them what East Side High’s all about: a spirit that will not die!”

(Photo: Claudio Edinger/Getty Images)

Jack Black: ‘School of Rock’

Memorable Quote: “Now raise your goblet of rock. It’s a toast to those who rock!”

Michelle Pfeiffer: ‘Dangerous Minds’

Memorable Quote: “You asked me once how I was gonna save your life. This is it. This moment.”

Holland Taylor as Professor Stromwell in

Holland Taylor: ‘Legally Blonde’

Memorable Quote: “If you’re going to let one stupid prick ruin your life, you’re not the girl I thought you were.”

Hilary Swank: ‘Freedom Writers’

Memorable Quote: “I don’t want excuses. I know what you’re up against. We’re all of us up against something. So you better make up your mind, because until you have the balls to look me straight in the eye and tell me this is all you deserve, I am not letting you fail. Even if that means coming to your house every night until you finish the work. I see who you are. Do you understand me? I can see you. And you are not failing.”

(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

William Daniels: ‘Boy Meets World’

Memorable Lines:

George Feeny: Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do good.

Topanga: I will never forget you [Mr. Feeny]. You were more of a father to me than my own dad.

Shawn: You never gave up on me. Never once. I’m not going to forget you. You’re the best person I know.

Eric: I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. But I do know that I’m going to be a good person who cares about people. And I blame you for that.

Cory: You’ll always be with us. As long as we live, okay?

George Feeny: I love you all. Class dismissed.

(Photo: ABC/Getty Images)

Richard Dreyfuss: ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’

Memorable Quote: “Playing music is supposed to be fun. It’s about heart, it’s about feelings, moving people, and something beautiful, and it’s not about notes on a page. I can teach you notes on a page; I can’t teach you that other stuff.”

Laura Dern: ‘October Sky’

Memorable Scene:

Principal Turner: Miss Riley, our job is to give these kids an education.

Miss Riley: Mmm-hmm.

Principal Turner: Not false hopes.

Miss Riley: False hopes? Do you want me to sit quiet, let ’em breathe in coal dust the rest of their life?

Principal Turner: Miss Riley, once in a while...a lucky one...will get out on a football scholarship. The rest of ’em work in the mines.

Miss Riley: How ’bout I believe in the unlucky ones? Hmm? I have to, Mister Turner, I’d go out of my mind.

Debbie Allen: ‘Fame’

Memorable Quote: “You want fame? Well, fame costs. And right here is where you start paying. With sweat.”

(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Kyle Chandler: ‘Friday Night Lights’

Memorable Quote: “A few of you have been here. A few of you have not. One thing we all have to do tonight, we’ve got to focus. The game plan, the fundamentals, gentlemen, moving the sticks, what we’re going to be doing out there. And listen, fellas, there’s a joy to this game, is there not? There’s a passion. There’s a reason why we’re all out here. Other than the fact the pride that it gives us and the respect that it demands, we love to play the game, so let’s go out there and have fun tonight. Do you understand? Because tomorrow, if you give 100 percent of yourself tonight, people are going to look at you differently. People are going to think of you differently. And I promise you, you’re going to look and think differently about yourself. Clear eyes. Full hearts.”

Denzel Washington: ‘The Great Debaters’

Memorable Quote: “I am here to help you to find, take back, and keep your righteous mind.”

(Photo: Getty Images)

Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante in

Edward James Olmos: ‘Stand and Deliver’

Memorable Quote: “There will be no free rides, no excuses. You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion. Because of those two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do. Math is the great equalizer... When you go for a job, the person giving you that job will not want to hear your problems; ergo, neither do I. You’re going to work harder here than you’ve ever worked anywhere else. And the only thing I ask from you is ‘ganas.’ Desire.”

Matthew Morrison: ‘Glee’

Memorable Quote: “It’s not the broken dreams that break us. It’s the ones we don’t dare to dream.”

(Photo: Astrid Stawiarz)

Ray Walston: ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’

Memorable Quote: “What is this fascination with truancy? What is it that gets inside of your heads? There are some teachers at this school who look the other way at truants. It’s a little game you both play. They pretend they don’t see you, and you pretend you don’t ditch! Now, in the end, who pays the price? YOU!”