The King's Speech (2010) quotes
Director
Tom Hooper.
Cast
Colin Firth.
Geoffrey Rush.
Helena Bonham Carter.
The story of King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.
All that… work… down the drain. My own… b… brother, I couldn’t say a single w-word to him in reply.
– King George VI
Why do you stammer so much more with David than you ever do with me?
– Lionel Logue
‘Cos you’re b… bloody well paid to listen.
– King George VI
Bertie, I’m not a geisha girl.
– Lionel Logue
Stop trying to be so bloody clever.
– King George VI
What is it about David that stops you speaking?
– Lionel Logue
What is it about you that bloody well makes you want to go on about it the whole bloody time?
– King George VI
Vulgar, but fluent; you don’t stammer when you swear.
– Lionel Logue
Oh, bugger off!
– King George VI
Is that the best you can do?
– Lionel Logue
Well… bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.
– King George VI
Oh, a public school prig could do better than that.
– Lionel Logue
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!
– King George VI
Yes!
– Lionel Logue
Shit!
– King George VI
Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!
– Lionel Logue
Because I’m angry!
– King George VI
Do you know the f-word?
– Lionel Logue
F… f… fornication?
– King George VI
Oh, Bertie.
– Lionel Logue
Fuck. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck! Fuck, fuck and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, fuck, fuck, arse!
– King George VI
Yes…
– Lionel Logue
Balls, balls…
– King George VI
…you see, not a hesitation!
– Lionel Logue
…fuckity, shit, shit, fuck and willy. Willy, shit and fuck and… tits.
– King George VI
Well, please, don’t do that.
– Lionel Logue
I’m sorry?
– King George VI
I believe sucking smoke into your lungs will… will kill you.
– Lionel Logue
My physicians said it relaxes the… the… the throat.
– King George VI
They’re idiots.
– Lionel Logue
They’ve all been knighted.
– King George VI
Makes it official, then.
– Lionel Logue
In this grave hour, perhaps the most fateful in our history, I send to every household of my peoples, both at home and overseas, this message, spoken with the same depth of feeling for each one of you, as if I were able to cross your threshold and speak to you myself: For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at… at war. Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies, but it has been in vain. We have been forced into a conflict, for we are called to meet the challenge of a principle, which, if it were to prevail, would be fatal to any civilized order in the world. Such a principle, stripped of all disguise, is surely the mere primitive doctrine that “might is right.” For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge. It is to this high purpose that I now call my people at home, and my peoples across the seas, who will make our cause their own. I ask them to stand calm and firm and united in this time of trial. The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the battlefield, but we can only do the right as we see the right, and reverently commit our cause to God. If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, then, with God’s help, we shall prevail.
– King George VI
Kiss the book, sign the oath, and you’re king. Easy.
– Lionel Logue
Is the nation ready for two… minutes of radio silence?
– King George VI
Long pauses are good: they add solemnity to great occasions.
– Lionel Logue
Then I’m the solemnest king who ever lived.
– King George VI
How do you feel?
– Lionel Logue
Full of hot air.
– King George VI
Isn’t that what public speaking’s all about?
– Lionel Logue
Cigarette smoking calms the nerves and, uh, gives you confidence.
– Dr. Blandine Bentham
We’re not a family, we’re a firm.
– King George VI
What are friends for?
– Lionel Logue
I wouldn’t know.
– King George VI
Papa, what’s he saying?
– Lilibet
I don’t know but… he seems to be saying it rather well.
– King George VI
Do you know any jokes?
– Lionel Logue
E… e… Timing isn’t my strong suit.
– King George VI
Waiting for a king to apologize, one can wait a rather long wait.
– King George VI
Would I lie to a prince of the realm to win twelve pennies?
– Lionel Logue
I have no idea what an Australian might do for that sort of money.
– King George VI
I’m not a king! I’m not a king!
– King George VI
You still stammered on the ‘W’.*
– Lionel Logue
Well, I had to throw in a few so they knew it was me.
– King George VI
In the past, all a King had to do was look respectable in uniform and not fall off his horse. Now we must invade people’s homes and ingratiate ourselves with them. This family’s been reduced to those lowest, basest of all creatures. We’ve become actors!
– King George V
You know, ih… if I’m a… a King, where’s my power? Can I… can I form a government? Can I… can I l-levy a tax, declare a… a war? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority. Why? Because… the nation believes that when I s… I speak, I speak for them – but I can’t speak.
– King George VI
My castle, my rules.
– Lionel Logue