Harold and Maude (1971)

Ruth Gordon: Maude Chardin

Photos 

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Quotes 

• [seagulls fly across the sky] 

  Maude : Dreyfus once wrote from Devil's Island that he would see the most glorious birds. Many years later in Brittany he realized they had only been seagulls... For me they will always be - *glorious* birds.

• Maude : A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life. *Reach* out. Take a *chance*. Get *hurt* even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room.

• Harold : Maude?

  Maude : Yeah?

  Harold : [pulls the stamped coin from the arcade out of his pocket]  Here.

  Maude : A gift!

  [reads the engraving] 

  Maude : "Harold loves Maude."... and Maude loves Harold. This is the nicest gift I've received in years.

  [she throws the stamped coin into the water] 

  Harold : [gasps, bemused] 

  Maude : So I'll always know where it is.

• Maude : You know, at one time, I used to break into pet shops to liberate the canaries. But I decided that was an idea way before its time. Zoos are full, prisons are overflowing... oh my, how the world still *dearly* loves a *cage.*

• Maude : Harold, *everyone* has the right to make an ass out of themselves. You just can't let the world judge you too much.

• Harold : You sure have a way with people.

  Maude : Well, they're my species!

• Maude : I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. They're so tall and simple. What flower would you like to be?

  Harold : I don't know. One of these, maybe.

  Maude : Why do you say that?

  Harold : Because they're all alike.

  Maude : Oooh, but they're *not*. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals. All *kinds* of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world's sorrow comes from people who are *this*,

  [she points to a daisy] 

  Maude : yet allow themselves be treated as *that*.

  [she gestures to a field of daisies] 

  Maude : [cut to a shot of a field of gravestones in a military cemetery] 

• Maude : The earth is my body; my head is in the stars.

  [pauses] 

  Maude : Who said that, Harold?

  Harold : I don't know.

  Maude : Well, I suppose I did, then.

• [last lines] 

  Maude : Oh, Harold... That's *wonderful.* Go and love some more.

• Harold : You hop in any car you want and just drive off?

  Maude : Well, not any car - I like to keep a variety. I'm always looking for the new experience.

  Harold : [smiling]  Maybe.

  Harold : [more seriously]  Nevertheless, I think you're upsetting people. I don't know if that's right.

  Maude : Well, if some people get upset because they feel they have a hold on some things, I'm merely acting as a gentle reminder: here today, gone tomorrow, so don't get attached to things *now.* With *that* in mind, I'm not against collecting stuff.

• Maude : [to a motorcycle officer]  *Don't* get officious. You're not yourself when you're officious - That is the curse of a government job.

• Maude : [gesturing to a sick tree growing through a sidewalk]  Harold, we have *got* to do something about this life.

  Harold : What?

  Maude : We'll transplant it. To the forest.

  Harold : You can't do that.

  Maude : Why not?

  Harold : This is public property.

  Maude : Well, *exactly*.

• Maude : Vice, Virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much *life.* Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then you're bound to live life fully.

• Maude : [at her 80th birthday party]  I couldn't imagine a lovelier farewell!

  Harold : Farewell?

  Maude : Oh, yes, dear... My 80th birthday.

  Harold : But you're not going anywhere... are you?

  Maude : [long pause]  I took the tablets an hour ago. I'll be gone by midnight.

  Harold : [after a long pause]  WHAT?

  [immediately cut to an ambulance] 

• Harold : I like you, Maude.

  Maude : I like you, Harold.

• Harold : So... you don't use the umbrella anymore?

  [Maude does not hear him] 

  Harold : No more revolts?

  Maude : [Maude is crying, and finally looks at Harold]  Oh, yes! Every day. But I don't need a *defense* anymore. I embrace! Still fighting for the Big Issues, but now in my small, individual way.

• Harold : Maude.

  Maude : Hmm?

  Harold : Do you pray?

  Maude : Pray? No. I communicate.

  Harold : With God?

  Maude : With *life*.

• Motorcycle Officer : License, lady?

  Maude : I don't have one. I don't believe in them.

  Motorcycle Officer : How long you been driving, lady?

  Maude : About 45 minutes,

  [turning to Harold] 

  Maude : wouldn't you say, Harold? We were hoping to start sooner but you see it's rather hard to find a truck.

  Motorcycle Officer : This your truck?

  Maude : Oh no, I just took it.

• Maude : That was fun! Let's play something together.

  Harold : I don't play anything.

  Maude : Nothing? Dear me, everybody should be able to make some music. That's the cosmic dance.

• Maude : Tell me, do you dance?

  Harold : Pardon me?

  Maude : Do you sing and dance?

  Harold : Uh, no.

  Maude : Uh, no. I thought not.

  [laughs] 

• Maude : Consistency is not *really* a human trait.

• Harold : [referring to police officer]  He's following us.

  Maude : Is he? Police always want to play games!

• Maude : [Maude is driving Harold's hearse through a cemetery]  Hey, this old thing handles well! Ever drive a hearse Harold?

  Harold : Yeah.

  Maude : Well! It's a new experience for me!

  [the hearse is seen squealing through a curve] 

  Maude : Good on curves! Shall I take you home Harold?

  Harold : Uh, this is my car.

  Maude : [looks at Harold]  YOUR hearse?

  Harold : Y'hearse!

  Maude : Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!

  [the hearse is seen screeching to a stop] 

  Maude : Then YOU shall take ME home!

• Maude : [watching funeral party]  Who sends dead flowers to a funeral? It's absurd.

• Maude : [Upon entering her house]  It's all memorabilia, but incidental and not integral, if you know what I mean.

• Harold : This is definitely a new experience for me.

  Maude : Oh, wonderful! Try something new each day. After all, we're given life to find it out. It doesn't last forever.

• Maude : Vice, virtue, it's best not to be too moral; you cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. When you apply that to life, then you're bound to live it fully!

• Harold : I had the most wonderful day today - and - you're very beautiful.

  Maude : Oh, Harold - you make me feel like a schoolgirl.

• Harold : What were you fighting for?

  Maude : Oh, big issues. Liberty. Rights. Justice. Kings died, kingdoms fell. I don't regret the kingdoms - what sense in borders and nations and patriotism? But I miss the kings.

• Maude : Grab the shovel, Harold.

• Maude : [observing trash sorting operation]  I ask you though Harold, is it enough?

• Maude : I like to watch things grow. They - grow and bloom and fade and die and change into something else. Ah, life!

• Maude : Isn't it wonderful! All around us, living things.

• Maude : What is your name?

  Harold : Harold, Harold Chasen.

  Maude : Oh, how do you do? I'm Dame Marjorie Chardin but you may call me Maude.

  Harold : How do you do? Nice to meet you.

  Maude : Well, thank you. I think we're gonna be great friends. Don't you?

• Harold : Do you often model for Glaucus?

  Maude : Oh, heavens, no! I don't have the time but I like to keep in practice and poor Glaucus occasionally needs his memory refreshed as to the contours of the female form. Do you disapprove?

• Maude : I wanna show you my painting. This is "The Rape Of Rome." Over in the corner is "Leda And The Swan", a self-portrait.

• Maude : Please sit down, Harold. I'll put the kettle on. We'll have a nice, hot cup of tea.

  Harold : Thank you but I really have to go.

  Maude : But it's oat straw tea! You've not had oat straw tea, have you?

• Maude : Stroke... palm... caress... explore.

• Maude : [singing]  Sing out, sing out, And if you want to be free, be free, 'Cause there's a million things to be, You know that there are, And if you want to be high, be high, And if you want to be low, be low, 'Cause there's a million ways to go, You know that there are...

• Maude : Tell me about yourself. What do you do when you aren't visiting funerals?