Memorable quotes for
20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) More at IMDbPro »

Captain Nemo: I am not what is called a civilized man, Professor. I have done with society for reasons that seem good to me. Therefore, I do not obey its laws.
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Captain Nemo: The natives over there are cannibals. They eat liars with the same enthusiasm as they eat honest men.
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Captain Nemo: Think of it. On the surface there is hunger and fear. Men still exercise unjust laws. They fight, tear one another to pieces. A mere few feet beneath the waves their reign ceases, their evil drowns. Here on the ocean floor is the only independence. Here I am free! Imagine what would happen if they controlled machines such as this submarine boat. Far better that they think there's a monster and hunt me with harpoons.
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Captain Nemo: There's a fork on your left, Mr. Land. Or aren't you accustomed to utensils?
Ned Land: I'm indifferent to 'em.
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Captain Nemo: Eat your pudding, Mr. Land.
Ned Land: I ain't sure it's puddin'.
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[Boarding the Nautilus for the first time]
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: There is great genius behind all this.
Conseil: Yes, and great evil. Don't forget this, this is an engine of destruction.
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Captain Nemo: Accept one of these cigars, professor.
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: Thank you.
[He lights it]
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: Delightful smoke. Different somehow. Havana?
Captain Nemo: Seaweed.
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Captain Nemo: Ah, we're almost at the island of Crespo. All this was once an island. Although it is now sunk, it is nevertheless fertile. We do our hunting and farming here.
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: Underwater?
Captain Nemo: The sea supplies all my wants.
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[Donning diving gear]
Ned Land: Fine way to go huntin'. I knew there'd be a catch to this.
Conseil: Seems you can't do anything on this boat without getting wet.
Ned Land: Hey, I feel like I'm keepin' a fish outta work.
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Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: A strange twilight world opened up before me, and I felt as the first man to set foot on another planet, an intruder in this mystic garden of the deep.
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[Observing the slave island]
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: What is in those sacks they are carrying?
Captain Nemo: Nitrates and phosphate for ammunition. The seeds of war. They're loading a full cargo of death. And when that ship takes it home the world will die a little more. I was once one of those pitiful wretches you see down there. Look at it again, professor, I don't want you to forget what you've seen here today.
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: I've seen enough.
Captain Nemo: It's burned everlastingly in my memory.
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Captain Nemo: Do you know the meaning of love, professor?
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: I believe I do.
Captain Nemo: What you fail to understand is the power of hate. It can fill the heart as surely as love can.
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: I'm sorry for you. That's a bitter substitute.
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[Upon arriving on a deserted beach with Ned Land]
Conseil: I don't see any native girls hungry for affection.
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Captain Nemo: Would you care to come along, Professor?
Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator: No, thank you. The last time I went ashore it was a prelude to murder.
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Captain Nemo: ...there is hope for the future. When the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass, in God's good time.
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[Ned cautiously samples his "pudding"]
Ned Land: What is it?
Captain Nemo: It's my own recipe: sauté of unborn octopus.
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Conseil: I want to escape, too! You said you had a plan.
Ned Land: I do have a plan. Trouble is, it won't work.
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Ned Land: [watching Nemo's bomb explode] There she blows.
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Conseil: All those men. They didn't even have a chance.
Ned Land: They were sailors, same as me. Slaughtered by that monster you're trying to make friends with.
Conseil: Ned, don't...
Ned Land: I don't know about you, Professor, but I feel like a knife that's just stabbed a friend in the back.
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Captain Nemo: I asked you to leave, Professor.
Prof. Pierre Arronax: You also asked me ashore, to show me man's inhumanity to man. Why? To justify this? You are not only a murderer, you are a hypocrite. The proof lies out there.
Captain Nemo: You call that murder? Well, I see murder, too. Not on those drowned faces out there, but on the faces of dead thousands! They are the assassins, the dealers in death. I am the avenger!
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Conseil: Cannibals! Hundreds of cannibals! Captain, Captain, scores of boats!
Ned Land: Captain, we're under attack!
Captain Nemo: Naturally, since you invaded their privacy, they have every right to invade ours.
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Captain Nemo: Mr. Land, you saved my life. Why?
Ned Land: That's a good question. Well, there's only one thing a fella can do when he's made a mistake as big as this.
Conseil: What?
Ned Land: Get drunk!
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Old Billy: Come on, Casey! This is no place for a clergyman's son!
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Conseil: Don't forget the cannibals.
Ned Land: Oh, belay the cannibals. He said that to scare us.
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Ned Land: [singing] Got a whale of a tale to tell ya, lads, a whale of a tale or two, 'bout the floppin' fish and the girls I've loved on nights like this with the moon above. A whale of a tale and it's all true, I swear by my tattoo. There was Mermaid Minnie; met her down in Madagascar. She would kiss me anytime that I would ask her. Then one evening, her flame of love blew out. Blow me down and pick me up, she swapped me for a trout!
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Ned Land: [singing] Got a whale of a tale to tell ya, lads, a whale of a tale or two, 'bout the floppin' fish and the girls I've loved on nights like this with the moon above. A whale of a tale and it's all true, I swear by my tattoo. There was Typhoon Tessie; met her on the coast of Java. When we kissed, I bubbled up like molten lava. Then she gave me the scare of my young life. Blow me down and pick me up, she was the captain's wife!
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