Memento Movie Quotes
Leonard Shelby
We all lie to ourselves to be happy.
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[sees Dodd also running]
Leonard Shelby
Oh, I'm chasing this guy.
[Dodd shoots at Leonard]
Leonard Shelby
No... he's chasing me.
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Leonard Shelby
I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there. Do I believe the world's still there? Is it still out there?... Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.
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Leonard Shelby
Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.
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[last lines]
Leonard Shelby
Now... where was I?
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Leonard Shelby
I can't remember to forget you.
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Teddy
You don't want the truth. You make up your own truth.
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Leonard Shelby
I'm not a killer. I'm just someone who wanted to make things right. Can't I just let myself forget what you've told me? Can't I just let myself forget what you've made me do. You think I just want another puzzle to solve? Another John G. to look for? You're John G. So you can be my John G... Will I lie to myself to be happy? In your case Teddy... yes I will.
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Natalie
What's the last thing that you do remember?
Leonard Shelby
My wife...
Natalie
That's sweet.
Leonard Shelby
... dying. I remember my wife dying.
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Leonard Shelby
I don't even know how long she's been gone. It's like I've woken up in bed and she's not here... because she's gone to the bathroom or something. But somehow, I know she's never gonna come back to bed. If I could just... reach over and touch... her side of the bed, I would know that it was cold, but I can't. I know I can't have her back... but I don't want to wake up in the morning, thinking she's still here. I lie here not knowing... how long I've been alone. So how... how can I heal? How am I supposed to heal if I can't... feel time?
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Leonard Shelby
If we can't make memories, we can't heal.
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Leonard Shelby
We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.
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Leonard Shelby
Remember Sammy Jankis.
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[repeated line]
Leonard Shelby
I have this condition.
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Leonard Shelby
I don't think they'd let someone like me carry a gun.
Teddy
I fucking hope not.
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Natalie
But even if you get revenge you're not gonna remember it. You're not even going to know that it happened.
Leonard Shelby
My wife deserves vengance. Doesn't make a difference whether I know about it. Just becuase there are things I don't remember doesn't make my actions meaningless. The world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes, does it? Anyway, maybe I'll take a photograph to remind myself, get another freaky tattoo.
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[finding a beaten man in his closet]
Leonard Shelby
...who did this to you?
Dodd
What?
Leonard Shelby
Who did this to you?
Dodd
You did.
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Natalie
Tell me about her again.
Leonard Shelby
Why?
Natalie
Because you like to remember her.
Leonard Shelby
She was beautiful. To me, she was perfect.
Natalie
No, don't just recite the words. Close your eyes... and remember her.
Leonard Shelby
You can just feel the details. The bits and pieces you never bothered to put into words. And you can feel these extreme moments... even if you don't want to. You put these together, and you get the feel of a person. Enough to know how much you miss them... and how much you hate the person who took them away.
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Teddy
Hey! Hey, that's not your car!
Teddy
Jesus Chri- you can't take it!
Leonard Shelby
Why not?
Teddy
Because the guy you killed owns it; somebody will recognize it!
Leonard Shelby
You know, I think I'd rather be mistaken for a dead guy than a killer.
[Holds up Teddy's gun]
Leonard Shelby
I might hang onto this for a while.
[Throws the gun in the trunk]
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Leonard Shelby
There are things you know for sure.
Natalie
Such as?
Leonard Shelby
I know what that's going to sound like when I knock on it. I know that's what going to feel like when I pick it up. See? Certainties. It's the kind of memory that you take for granted.
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Doctor
It's a test, Sammy.
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Leonard Shelby
These tracks are just a few days old.
Teddy
What are you, Pocahontas?
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Natalie
Is that what your little note says? It must be hard living your life off a couple of scraps of paper. You mix your laundry list with your grocery list you'll end up eating your underwear for breakfast.
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Teddy
So you lie to yourself to be happy. There's nothing wrong with that. We all do it.
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Teddy
You know, I've had more rewarding friendships than this one. Although I do get to keep telling the same jokes.
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Burt Hadley
Oh shit. This is the wrong room. You're in 304 now. I'm sorry. I fucked up.
Leonard Shelby
This is not my room?
Burt Hadley
No, come on, let's go.
Leonard Shelby
Why is this my handwriting?
Burt Hadley
...This was your room, but now you're in 304.
Leonard Shelby
When was I in here?
Burt Hadley
Last week. But then I rented you another room on top of it.
Leonard Shelby
Why?
Burt Hadley
Business is slow. I mean, I told my boss about the - your condition and stuff, and he said try and rent him another room.
Leonard Shelby
So how many rooms am I checked into in this shit-hole?
Burt Hadley
Just two, so far.
Leonard Shelby
Well, at least you're being honest about ripping me off.
Burt Hadley
Well, you're not gonna remember anyway.
Leonard Shelby
You don't have to be *that* honest, Burt.
Burt Hadley
Leonard, always get a receipt.
Leonard Shelby
That's good advice. I'll have to write that down.
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Natalie
You sad, sad freak. I can say whatever the fuck I want, and you won't remember. We'll still be best friends. Or maybe even lovers.
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Jimmy Grantz
Whoa, whoa whoa - wait, wait, wait wait! Did he tell you what I was bringing?
Leonard Shelby
Take your fucking pants off!
Jimmy Grantz
I've got two hundred - two hundred grand, stashed in the car! Just take it!
Leonard Shelby
What?
Jimmy Grantz
Just take it!
Leonard Shelby
You think you can bargain with me?
Jimmy Grantz
Just take the money and walk away!
Leonard Shelby
I don't want your fuckin' money.
Jimmy Grantz
Then what? What do you want from me?
Leonard Shelby
I want my Fuckin' life back!
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Leonard Shelby
I always thought the joy of reading a book is not knowing what happens next.
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Teddy
You know how many towns, how many guys called James G? Or John G? Shit, Leonard, I'm a fuckin' John G.
Leonard Shelby
Your name's Teddy.
Teddy
My *mother* calls me Teddy.
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Leonard Shelby
I take it I've told you about my condition.
Teddy
Only every time I see ya.
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Leonard Shelby
When I looked into his eyes I thought I saw recognition. Now I know. You fake it. If you think you're supposed to recognize somebody you, you just pretend. You bluff it to get a pat on the head from the doctors. You bluff it to seem less like a freak.
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[flashback]
Leonard Shelby
How can you read that again?
Leonard's Wife
It's good.
Leonard Shelby
Yeah, but you read it like a thousand times.
Leonard's Wife
I enjoy it.
Leonard Shelby
I always thought the pleasure of a book was wanting to know what comes next.
Leonard's Wife
Hey, don't be a prick. I'm not reading it to annoy you, I enjoy it. Just let me read... please.
[smiles at him]
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Teddy
You don't know who you are anymore.
Leonard Shelby
Of course I do. I'm Leonard Shelby. I'm from San Francisco.
Teddy
No, that's who you were. Maybe it's time you started investigating yourself.
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Leonard Shelby
Only for revenge.
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Leonard Shelby
Hi. Uh, Lincoln Street?
Waiter
Oh, you just take the main road...
Leonard Shelby
Hang on, let me write this down.
Waiter
Oh, it's easy. You just...
Leonard Shelby
Trust me, I need to write this down.
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Leonard Shelby
Facts, not memories. That's how you investigate. I know, it's what I used to do.
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Teddy
But when you killed him I, I was so convinced that you'd remember. But it didn't stick... like nothin' ever sticks, like this won't stick.
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Leonard Shelby
I found you, you fuck.
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Leonard Shelby
If we talk for too long, I'll forget how we started. Next time I see you, I'm not gonna remember this conversation. I don't even know if I've met you before.
[pause]
Leonard Shelby
I've told you this before, haven't I?
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Natalie
You know what one of the reasons for short term memory loss is? Venereal disease. Maybe your cunt of fucking a wife sucked one too many diseased cocks and turned you into a fucking retard.
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Leonard Shelby
Probably burned truck loads of your stuff before. Can't remember to forget you.
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Leonard Shelby
[while walking through a parking lot, Teddy stops at his dilapidated Chevrolet]
My car.
Leonard Shelby
[holds up a picture of the Jaguar with the caption My Car]
Oh, you're in a playful mood. It's not good for you to make fun of somebody's handicap.
Teddy
Just trying to have a little fun.
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Natalie
You know what? I think I'm gonna use you. I'm telling you now because I'll enjoy it so much more if I know that you could stop me if you weren't such a fucking freak!
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Leonard Shelby
You know, I can remember so much. The feel of the world... her.
[sighs]
Leonard Shelby
She's gone. And the present is trivia, which I scribble down as fucking notes.
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Leonard Shelby
My wife deserves revenge, whether I know about it or not.
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Teddy
You really want to get this guy, don't you?
Leonard Shelby
He killed my wife. He took away my fucking memory. He destroyed my ability to live.
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Leonard Shelby
Sammy Jankis wrote himself endless notes. But he'd get mixed up. I've got a more graceful solution to the memory problem. I'm disciplined and organized. I use habit and routine to make my life possible. Sammy had no drive. No reason to make it work.
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[repeated line]
Leonard Shelby
Awake. Where am I?
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Teddy
We found him, you killed him!... But you didn't remember.
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Leonard Shelby
I was the only guy who disagreed with the cops - and I had brain damage.
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Leonard Shelby
I meet Sammy through work. Insurance. I was an investigator. I'd investigate the claims to see which ones were phony. I had to see through people's bullshit. It was useful experience, 'cause now it's my life.
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[about Leonard's condition]
Burt Hadley
What's it like?
Leonard Shelby
It's like waking. Like you just woke up.
Burt Hadley
That must suck.
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Leonard Shelby
[voiceover]
So where are you? You're in some motel room. You just - you just wake up and you're in - in a motel room. There's the key. It feels like maybe it's just the first time you've been there, but perhaps you've been there for a week, three months. It's - it's kind of hard to say. I don't - I don't know. It's just an anonymous room.
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Jimmy Grantz
You're making a big fuckin' mistake, pal!
Leonard Shelby
STRIP!
Leonard Shelby
Don't say anything else.
Jimmy Grantz
I knew I couldn't trust that fuck!
Leonard Shelby
Take it off.
Leonard Shelby
Your pants too.
Jimmy Grantz
Why?
Leonard Shelby
I don't wanna get blood on them.
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Teddy
When she offers to help, it'll be for her own reasons. I'm not lying. Take my pen, write this down. Do not trust her.
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Leonard Shelby
Natalie, right?
[Holds up photo of a bloody face, labeled "Dodd"]
Leonard Shelby
Who the fuck is Dodd?
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Teddy
I guess I can only make you remember the things you want to be true.
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Teddy
It's beer o'clock, and I'm buying.
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Leonard Shelby
It's just an anonymous room. There's nothing in the drawers. But you look anyway. Nothing except the Gideon bible, which I, of course, read religiously.
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Leonard Shelby
[after kicking down a motel room door, knocking out the occupant, but then realizing it was the wrong room and person]
Ah, fuck... Sorry.
[leaves the room]
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[Leonard hits Teddy in the back of his head with his camera]
Teddy
Lenny! That shit kills!
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Sammy Jankis
That's a test? Where were you guys when I did my CPA?
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Natalie
Get rid of Dodd for me. Kill him. I'll pay you.
Leonard Shelby
Are you crazy? I'm not gonna kill someone for money.
Natalie
What then? Love? What would you kill for? You'd kill for your wife, wouldn't you?
Leonard Shelby
That's different!
Natalie
Not to me, I wasn't fucking married to her!
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[talking on the phone about Sammy Jankis' attempts to learn through repitition]
Leonard Shelby
Sammy had no drive, no reason to make it work.
[listens and looks at his tattoo reading "John G. raped and murdered my wife"]
Leonard Shelby
Me? Yeah, I got a reason.
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Teddy
Someone has to pay, Lenny. Somebody always pays.
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Teddy
Finished playing with yourself there, Lenny?
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Teddy
Nice shot, Liebowitz.
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Teddy
Come on. You got your revenge. Enjoy it while you still remember. What difference does it make whether he was your guy or not?
Leonard
It makes all the difference.
Teddy
Why? You're never gonna know.
Leonard
Yes, I will.
Teddy
No, you won't.
Leonard
I will. Somehow I'll know.
Teddy
You won't remember!
Leonard
When it's done, I will know. It'll be different.
Teddy
Well I thought so too. In fact, I was sure of it, but you didn't!
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Leonard Shelby
Natalie, right? Who the fuck is Dodd?
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Leonard Shelby
The world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes, does it?
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Leonard
That's Sammy, not me. I told you about Sammy.
Teddy
Yeah, right. Like you tell yourself over and over again. Conditioning yourself to remember. Learning through repetition.
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Leonard
So who was he?
Teddy
Just some guy. I mean, does it even matter who? No reason, Lenny. No conspiracy, just bad fucking luck.
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Teddy
[to Leonard]
All you do is moan. *I'm* the one that has to live with what you've done. I'm the one that put it all together. You, you wander around, you're playing detective. You're living a dream, kid. A dead wife to pine for. A sense of purpose to your life. A romantic quest that you wouldn't end, even if I wasn't in the picture.
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Leonard Shelby
She knew beyond doubt that he loved her. So she found a way to test him.
Mrs. Jankis
Sammy, it's time for my shot.
[Sammy goes into his kitchen and comes back with a bottle of insulin, a syringe and a cotton swab. Sammy injects the insulin into Mrs. Jankis. Mrs. Jankis sets her watch back by fifteen minutes.]
Mrs. Jankis
Sammy, it's time for my shot.
[Sammy gives Mrs. Jankis her shot again.]
Leonard Shelby
She really though she would call his bluff...
[Mrs. Jankis sets her watch back by fifteen minutes again and Sammy gives her another shot of insulin]
Leonard Shelby
... or didn't want to live with the things she'd put him through.
[Mrs. Jankis falls unconscious in her chair and Sammy tries waking her up, worried]
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Teddy
Where to next Pocahontas?"
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Leonard Shelby
I have to believe in the world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can't remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world's still there. But do I? Do I believe the world's still there? Is it still out there? Yes. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different. Now... where was I?
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