Romantic Quotes From Movies: 12 Lines, the Scenes Behind Them and Who Wrote Them

Nobody in Casablanca says "Play it again, Sam." Ilsa says "Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake," and then "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'." When the American Film Institute ranked the 100 greatest movie quotes in 2005, it listed the line as she actually says it, at No. 28, with a note that the famous version is a misquote. The most-repeated lines in film are often slightly wrong, and they are often credited to the wrong person, too.

This page collects twelve romantic quotes from movies, from 1939 to 2005, each checked against a transcript of the film. For every line you get who says it, to whom, in which scene, and who actually wrote it (the screenwriter, not the actor or the novelist). After that there are two comparison tables, one for choosing a line and one for crediting it, and some notes on putting a film line into a card or letter without it sounding borrowed.

Twelve Lines Side by Side: Which One Fits Your Note

Start here if you already know the occasion. The tone column is the useful one: some of these lines are playful, some are declarations, and two are really about a long marriage.

Old Hollywood: Two Lines From 1939 and 1942

You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how.

— Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), Gone with the Wind, screenplay by Sidney Howard, 1939

Rhett has just given Scarlett a bonnet, and she tells him she won't marry him for it and won't kiss him for it either. He leans in, then stops: "Open your eyes and look at me. No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing badly." The line is a refusal dressed as a compliment, which is why it reads as teasing rather than soppy. The screenplay credit went to Sidney Howard alone, and he won the Oscar for it after his death in 1939, although his script was cut down and revised by several other writers before shooting. Use the line in a note that is meant to make someone laugh and blush at once; it is too cheeky for a sympathy card or a formal letter.

We'll always have Paris.

— Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca, screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch, 1942

Rick says it at the airport, in the farewell scene, when he has decided that Ilsa will leave with her husband. He goes on: "We didn't have it before... we'd lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night." The memory of Paris is what he gives her instead of himself. Casablanca has six lines on AFI's 2005 list, more than any other film; this one is No. 43, and "Here's looking at you, kid", which Rick says in the same scene, is No. 5. For a card, "We'll always have Paris" works best with the city swapped for your own: "We'll always have Lisbon," "We'll always have that motel in Ohio." The swap tells the reader you know the film and that you remember the trip.

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The Big Speeches: Romantic Comedies and One Cartoon, 1987 to 2004

These are the lines people mean when they ask for romantic movie quotes. Most come from a speech, so the short version you see on mugs is a fragment. It helps to know what comes before and after.

As you wish.

— Westley (Cary Elwes), The Princess Bride, screenplay by William Goldman, 1987

The farmhand Westley answers every order Buttercup gives him with the same two words, and she eventually realizes that he is telling her he loves her. At the very end, the grandfather who has been reading the story aloud says it to his grandson. Goldman wrote both the 1973 novel and the screenplay. It is the most useful line on this page for a couple who share the film, because it works as a code: sign a note "As you wish," and nobody else needs to understand it. For someone who has not seen the film it means nothing, so do not use it on them.

I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

— Harry Burns (Billy Crystal), When Harry Met Sally..., written by Nora Ephron, 1989

Harry finds Sally at a New Year's Eve party, and this is the end of his speech. Before it he lists small, slightly annoying things he loves about her: that she gets cold when it is 71 degrees out, that it takes her an hour and a half to order a sandwich. That list is the real lesson for anyone writing a letter. The famous last sentence lands because the specific details come first. If you borrow the line for an engagement card, borrow the method as well: two or three of your own small details, then the sentence.

It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together.

— Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks), Sleepless in Seattle, screenplay by Nora Ephron, David S. Ward and Jeff Arch, 1993

Sam is on a radio talk show on Christmas Eve, after his young son has called in; the host asks what was so special about his wife, who has died, and he answers with this. He goes on to say he knew the first time he touched her, taking her hand to help her out of a car. Because he is speaking about a marriage, not a crush, the line fits an anniversary letter better than a first date. It also fits a note to someone grieving a partner, which few romantic lines can do.

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I love you. You complete me.

— Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise), Jerry Maguire, written by Cameron Crowe, 1996

Jerry flies home, finds Dorothy at her sister's divorcee support group, says "Hello. I'm looking for my wife," and delivers a long apology to Dorothy. She stops him: "Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at hello." Her reply is the one AFI chose (No. 52), and it is the better line for a card, since it is about the other person's effect on you, not your own need. "You complete me" has become a punchline for some readers. Use it if you are both fond of the film, or pair it with Dorothy's answer as a two-line joke between you.

I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.

— Anna Scott (Julia Roberts), Notting Hill, written by Richard Curtis, 1999

Anna, a film star, says it in William's bookshop after he has turned her down, to remind him that fame isn't the whole of her. He still says no, then repeats her words to his friends and realizes he has made the wrong decision. The line is plain and a little exposed, and that is what makes it a good first "I love you" in writing. Change the nouns if they don't fit you; the shape of the sentence ("just a ___, standing in front of a ___, asking...") survives the change.

You are my greatest adventure. And I almost missed it.

— Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson), The Incredibles, written by Brad Bird, 2004

Bob, a retired superhero, says it to his wife Helen while the villain holds the family captive, after he has secretly gone back to hero work without telling her. The first half sounds like a slogan; the second half is an admission, and it is the half that makes the line honest. It suits a long marriage or a card from a partner who knows they have been distracted. Quote both sentences, not just the first.

Book or Screenplay? Four Lines From Adaptations

These four films are based on novels, and the lines below are often credited to the novelist. In each case the wording belongs to the screenplay.

I have crossed oceans of time to find you.

— Dracula (Gary Oldman), Bram Stoker's Dracula, screenplay by James V. Hart, 1992

The sentence is not in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel; a search of the full text finds no "oceans of time." Hart's script adds a love story the book does not have: the film opens with Dracula's wife Elisabeta, and in London he believes Mina, Jonathan Harker's fiancée, is Elisabeta reborn. That is the weight behind "oceans of time." In a card it reads as grand and slightly theatrical, which suits a reunion after long distance, or a note to someone you found late in life.

They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops. And that's true.

— Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor), Big Fish, screenplay by John August, 2003

Edward is telling the story of how he fell in love with Sandra the first time he saw her, at a circus. He adds: "What they don't tell you is that once time starts again, it moves extra fast to catch up." The film is adapted from Daniel Wallace's 1998 novel, but this narration is August's. The second sentence is the reason to use it in a wedding speech or anniversary card: it admits that the years since have gone by quickly.

I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day.

— Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), The Notebook, screenplay by Jeremy Leven, 2004

Young Noah says it in the middle of an argument by Allie's car. Just before it he says, "It's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard, and we're gonna have to work at this every day." The film adapts Nicholas Sparks's 1996 novel; the screenplay is credited to Jeremy Leven. What people forget is the half about hard work, and that half is what makes it work in vows or in a letter after a difficult year.

You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love... I love... I love you.

— Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), Pride & Prejudice, screenplay by Deborah Moggach, 2005

This line is regularly credited to Jane Austen, but her Darcy never says it. In the novel's second proposal (chapter 58) he says, "My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever." The word "bewitched" appears in the novel once, in chapter 10, as the narrator's comment: "Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her." Moggach's screenplay took Austen's sentence, kept it almost word for word, then added the confession. Credit it to the 2005 film, not to Austen, especially in a wedding reading where someone in the room may know the book.

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Who Gets the Credit: Screenwriter, Novelist or Nobody

An earlier version of this page credited several of these lines to novelists, and some lines did not match any transcript we could find. Here is what we found.

For more lines like these, with the evidence behind each verdict, see our misattributed love quotes reference.

Putting a Film Line in a Card or Letter

A movie quote can carry a note, but it can also make it sound as if you didn't have anything of your own to say. A few rules help.

• Name the film. A line in quotation marks with the film in brackets reads as a shared reference. Without the credit, it reads as if you wrote it yourself.
• Add one sentence of your own straight after it. The film line sets the tone; your sentence says why you thought of it. "We'll always have Paris" plus "and that awful hostel with the broken lift" is a better note than either half alone.
• Cut long speeches cleanly. Use the last sentence, or mark the cut with an ellipsis, as in the table above. Don't stitch two halves together so it looks like one line.
• Check that they know the film. "As you wish" and "You had me at hello" depend on recognition. For someone who has not seen the film, pick a line that works on its own, like the Sleepless in Seattle or Big Fish lines.
• Match the setting. Rhett's line belongs in a flirty note, not a wedding reading. Darcy's belongs in ink, not a text message.

Three short examples, written by our editors to show the pattern (replace the bracketed parts):

Anniversary card: "'It was a million tiny little things' (Sleepless in Seattle). Ours: [the way you warm my side of the bed], [the coffee you leave on the stairs], [how you still laugh at my worst joke]. Happy [number] years."

After a hard few months: "Noah was right in The Notebook: it's not easy, and we have to work at it every day. I still want all of you, forever, you and me, every day."

A note in a suitcase: "We'll always have [the place]. Come home soon. Here's looking at you, kid."

If the quote is going into a longer letter, our guides on how to write a love letter and how to start and end one show where a borrowed line sits best, usually near the end rather than as the opening. For short lines from poems and novels instead of films, see our short quiet love quotes.

Questions About Romantic Movie Quotes

What is the most famous romantic movie quote?

By the American Film Institute's 2005 ranking of 100 movie quotes, the highest-placed love line is "Here's looking at you, kid," from Casablanca, at No. 5. The same film also has "We'll always have Paris" at No. 43. "You had me at hello," from Jerry Maguire, is No. 52.

Did Jane Austen write "You have bewitched me, body and soul"?

No. Deborah Moggach wrote it for the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice. In the novel's second proposal Darcy says, "My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever." "Bewitched" appears once in the book, in the narration of chapter 10.

Can you use a movie quote in wedding vows?

Yes. Keep it to one line, say which film it comes from, and follow it with your own words, so the vow is still yours. Lines about the long run, like the one from The Notebook or Sleepless in Seattle, suit vows better than flirtatious ones.

One last fact about the most famous line here: "Here's looking at you, kid" was not in the draft screenplays of Casablanca. According to Aljean Harmetz's 1992 history of the film, it has been traced to something Bogart said to Ingrid Bergman between takes while she played poker. He says it four times in the finished film. The line everyone remembers started as something one person said to another, off camera.