Shawshank Redemption Quotes: Inspiring words from a timeless film

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Get busy living or get busy dying.

Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free.

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

You can either get busy living, or get busy dying.

I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.

Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.

I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged.

Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see. You know, I don’t have any idea what that means.

I’m institutionalized. The only way I can remember the outside world is by painting.

I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are better left unsaid. I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can’t be expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it.

I find I’m so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

That’s institutionalized. They send you here for life and that’s exactly what they take. The part that counts, anyway.

Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

All I know is that it’s strange to be anything but free – free always to shape your own circumstances.

Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.

They say it has no memory. That’s where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory.

We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the Lords of all creation.

I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged.

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

In prison, life was years of routine. Boring routine. But if you’re willing to work, there’s always a way out.

The funny thing is, on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.

It’s funny – on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to become a crook.

There’s something inside they can’t get to, that they can’t touch. That’s yours.

We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the Lords of all creation.

Get busy living, or get busy dying. That’s goddamn right.

I’m not sure what to think of this. It’s straight-out un-natural, if you ask me. I mean, a guy in here spends all his time being miserable, and then they spring his ass, and he’s happy as hell to be miserable again.

I set my own rules, I don’t follow anyone else’s.

There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t feel regret. Not because I’m in here or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then. A young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him.

The funny thing is, on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.

I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.

“I find I’m so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged.

Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.

I believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. Here, you’ll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord; your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Shawshank.

I believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. Here, you’ll receive both. Put your trust in the Lord; your ass belongs to me.

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

I’m not sure what to think of this. It’s straight-out un-natural, if you ask me. I mean, a guy in here spends all his time being miserable, and then they spring his ass, and he’s happy as hell to be miserable again.

Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see. You know, I don’t have any idea what that means.

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

I had to come to prison to be a crook.

There are places in this world that aren’t made out of stone. That there’s something inside that they can’t get to, that they can’t touch. That’s yours.

I find I’m so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

The funny thing is, on the outside, I was an honest man, straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.

Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see. You know, I don’t have any idea what that means.

We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could’ve been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were young, we were stupid, we were invincible. And it felt like we could do anything.

I’m not sure what to think of this. I mean, I’m happy to be miserable again.

I find I’m so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

There’s something inside that they can’t get to, that they can’t touch. That’s yours.