One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest


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Important Quotations Explained

1. Harding:   “I’m not just talking about my wife, I’m talking about my life. I can’t seem to get that through to you. I’m not just talking about one person, I’m talking about everybody, I’m talking about form, I’m talking about content, I’m talking about interrelationships. I’m talking about God, the devil, hell, heaven.”


2. McMurphy:   “You let me go on hassling Nurse Ratched here, knowing how much I had to lose, and you never told me nothing.”


3. McMurphy:   “Jesus, I mean you guys do nothing but complain about how you can’t stand it in this place here and then you haven’t got the guts just to walk out? What do you think you are for Christ sake, crazy or something? Well, you’re not! You’re not! You’re no crazier than the average asshole out walking around on the streets.”


4. Chief:   “My papa was real big. He did like he pleased. That’s why everybody worked on him. The last time I seen my father he was blind in the cities from drinking and every time he put the bottle to his mouth, he don’t suck out of it, it sucks out of him. . . . I’m not saying they killed him. The just worked on him, the way they’re working on you.”


5. Nurse Ratched:   “Now calm down. The best thing we can do is go on with our daily routine.”


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