Terms of Endearment (1983)

Shirley MacLaine: Aurora Greenway

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Aurora Greenway : Do you have any reaction at all to my telling you I love you?

  Garrett Breedlove : I was just inches from a clean getaway.

• Aurora Greenway : Excuse me. It is after ten. Give my daughter the pain shot, please.

  Nurse : Mrs. Greenway, I was going to.

  Aurora Greenway : Oh, good, go ahead.

  Nurse : In just a few minutes.

  Aurora Greenway : Well, please - it's, it's after ten. It's after ten. I don't see why she has to have this pain.

  Nurse : Ma'am, it's not my patient.

  Aurora Greenway : [increasingly hysterically]  It's time for her shot! Do you understand? Do something! All she had to do is hold out until ten! And it's past ten! She's - in pain, my daughter's in pain! Give her the shot, do you understand me?

  Nurse : You're going to behave...

  Aurora Greenway : [at the top of her lungs]  Give my daughter the shot!

  Nurse : [walks away to give Emma the shot] 

  Aurora Greenway : Thank you very much. Thank you.

• [Arriving back from their first date] 

  Aurora Greenway : Would you like to come in?

  Garrett Breedlove : I'd rather stick needles in my eyes.

  Aurora Greenway : Everything would have been just fine, you know, if you hadn't gotten drunk. I was... I... I just didn't want you to think I was like one of your other girls.

  Garrett Breedlove : Not much danger in that unless you curtsy on my face real soon.

  Aurora Greenway : Garrett! What is it that makes you so insistent on shocking and insulting me? I mean, I really hate that way of talking. You must know this. Why do you do it?

  Garrett Breedlove : I'll tell you, Aurora. I don't know what it is about you, but you do bring out the devil in me.

• Aurora Greenway : Don't worship me until I've earned it.

• Garrett Breedlove : I like the lights on.

  Aurora Greenway : Then go home and turn them on.

• [upon hearing of her daughter's pregnancy] 

  Aurora Greenway : Why should I be happy about being a GRANDMOTHER?

  Flap Horton : Does this mean you won't be knitting the baby any booties?

• Aurora Greenway : I just don't want to fight anymore.

  Emma Horton : What do you mean? When do we fight?

  Aurora Greenway : WHEN do we FIGHT? I always think of us as fighting!

  Emma Horton : That's because you're never satisfied with me.

• Aurora Greenway : [to Flap]  Raising three children, working full-time *and* chasing women requires a lot more energy than you have. You know, one of the nicest qualities about you has always been that you recognized your weaknesses. *Don't* lose that quality now just when you need it the most!

• Aurora Greenway : You are not special enough to overcome a bad marriage.

• Aurora Greenway : [watching Garret with a toddler]  She's too old for him.

• Garrett Breedlove : You're just going to have to trust me about this one thing. You need a lot of drinks.

  Aurora Greenway : To break the ice?

  Garrett Breedlove : To kill the bug that you have up your ass.

• Dr. Maise : We do more and more on an outpatient basis. We shouldn't need to take her back, unless the illness escalates.

  Aurora Greenway : But you're not telling me anything.

  Dr. Maise : What are you confused about?

  Aurora Greenway : How is she?

  Dr. Maise : I tell people to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

  Aurora Greenway : And they let you get away with that?

• Aurora Greenway : [to workmen hanging her paintings]  Careful there. Those are worth more than you'll ever make in your lifetime.

  [everyone stares at her] 

  Emma Horton : [sighs]  I grew up with it my whole life. You can take it for a couple of minutes.

• Aurora Greenway : He can't even do the simple things, like fail locally.

• Garrett Breedlove : [on their first date]  Aurora...

  Aurora Greenway : Yes?

  Garrett Breedlove : You're not *fun*, by any chance, are you?

  Aurora Greenway : I don't really think we should think about that right now.

  [pause] 

  Aurora Greenway : Impatient boys sometimes miss dessert!

• Aurora Greenway : [to a toddler]  Gorgeous isn't everything.

• Aurora Greenway : If I don't answer the bell, that means the back door's open.

  Garrett Breedlove : The back door's open?

• Aurora Greenway : I'm inviting you to come over and look at my Renoir.

  Garrett Breedlove : You're inviting me to bed.

  Aurora Greenway : It happens to be in my bedroom.

  Garrett Breedlove : Is the Renoir under the covers?

  Aurora Greenway : Don't cackle, Garrett. Do you want to see it?

• Aurora Greenway : Not that it's any of your business... Oh, let's just leave it at that.

• Garrett Breedlove : Breedlove at the helm! Just keep pumping that throttle! Keep giving it that gas! I see the Gulf of Mexico below me!

  Aurora Greenway : I'm not enjoying this!

• Aurora Greenway : How are you? It's not my fault, but I'm sorry.

• Aurora Greenway : Grown women are prepared for life's little emergencies.

• Aurora Greenway : This is my moment.

• Aurora Greenway : Come closer... come closer... come closer...