One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Book · 6 characters · 622 quotes · 1962

Quotes from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

C
"We are the Combine."
Chief Bromden Power
R
"It's a hard world to practice any kind of decent human values in."
Randle McMurphy Life
C
"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that very existence is an act of rebellion."
Chief Bromden Freedom
R
"You're the first one of these birds I ever seen that didn't have her tongue hanging out."
Randle McMurphy Humor
R
"I'm not saying I'm not crazy, I'm just saying I ain't let it stop me."
Randle McMurphy Courage
R
"That's the funny thing, a good man stops trying."
Randle McMurphy Wisdom
C
"History will forget us because we never mattered to begin with."
Chief Bromden History
R
"War begins the moment you stop fighting back."
Randle McMurphy War
B
"Adventure is remembering who you were before this place."
Billy Bibbit Adventure
C
"Health is conformity with a stethoscope."
Cheswick Health
R
"Motivation comes from spite when hope is gone."
Randle McMurphy Motivation
C
"Solitude is the only honest companion."
Chief Bromden Solitude
B
"Work keeps you from thinking about what you've lost."
Billy Bibbit Work
N
"A leader is just someone who convinces you he knows the way."
Nurse Ratched Leadership
C
"Every man here believes his own story."
Cheswick Wisdom
C
"Beauty exists even in the ugliest places, if you look close enough."
Chief Bromden Beauty
R
"Strength isn't about winning; it's about refusing to quit."
Randle McMurphy Strength
B
"The mind is a strange country; some of us never leave it."
Billy Bibbit Philosophy
C
"Imagination is the only thing they can't medicate away."
Chief Bromden Imagination
R
"You have to learn to live with your own ghosts."
Randle McMurphy Peace
B
"Some men are broken by what happens to them; others break themselves."
Billy Bibbit Perseverance
C
"The system doesn't want you to question it; it wants you to join it."
Chief Bromden Education
C
"Laughter is the only honest thing left."
Cheswick Humor
R
"You can break a man's body, but his spirit is another matter."
Randle McMurphy Strength
N
"Kindness is revolutionary in a place built on cruelty."
Nurse Ratched Kindness
C
"The wall between sane and insane is thinner than we think."
Chief Bromden Philosophy
R
"A man needs something to believe in, even if it's a lie."
Randle McMurphy Faith
B
"Love doesn't exist in places like this—only its memory."
Billy Bibbit Love
C
"The real sickness is believing you deserve to be here."
Cheswick Wisdom
R
"Rebellion isn't always loud; sometimes it's just refusing to disappear."
Randle McMurphy Courage