Austin: Don’t you guys realize, if there’s a war, we’ll be expected to fight. This isn’t like when we were kids playing with our little toy soldiers. Thousands of people, real people, will die. People like us, and our generation, we’ll be on the front lines. It’s like Abraham Lincoln said at the convention: ‘A house divided cannot stand.’
Mrs. Dickinson: Oh, that’s nonsense.
Austin: Mom?
Mrs. Dickinson: If I can find a way to serve two perfect tea parties, we Americans can figure out how to keep our country together.

Emily: Austin, you are not a fraud. In fact, you are the most genuine person I know. You are so full of love. You have so much love to give. And none of us could survive without it, least of all me.
Austin: Do you really mean that?
Emily: Don’t I always say what I mean?

Frazar: Hi, Emily, right?
Emily: You’re… Nobody.
Frazar: Um, no, I’m…
Austin: Frazar, hey, there you are. You’re here. Emily, this is Frazar Stearns, my old college friend. You remember him, don’t you?
Frazar: Yeah, I think we met at a couple of those house parties you used to throw.
Emily: This is Nobody. He’s Nobody. You’re… you’re Nobody.
Austin: Emily, don’t be rude. My sister can be a little strange. Don’t be offended.

Emily: I did have more, but I gave them all to my editor. Terrible mistake.
Frazar: Why? You don’t want to be published?
Emily: Part of me does or did. But another part of me is pretty sure that fame isn’t good for me. In fact, I think it could be very dangerous.

Emily: So it’s real. It’s all real.
Austin: Emily, what was that? You can’t do that to people.
Emily: I was hoping I was crazy, but everything I saw yesterday, everything I experienced…
Austin: What are you talking about?
Emily: Austin, I have to tell you something. I have to tell you something terrible.
Austin: What?
Emily: Sue has betrayed you with Sam. I saw them in here. I’m so sorry. Did you not hear what I said? Sue cheated on you.
Austin: I know about that already.
Emily: You do?
Austin: Yeah, I’ve known for weeks.
Emily: Oh, well, great. I guess that means you know everything then.

Austin: Mom, what am I going to do? All the guys are coming over, and I told them we’d have lunch or you know, at least snacks.
Mrs. Dickinson: Oh my dear boy, do not fret. I’ll help you.
Austin: Oh my god. Would you?
Mrs. Dickinson: Of course. I’ve been itching to get into that new kitchen of yours. I can’t wait to get my hands on that shiny new pastry jigger. Oh yes, I’ll throw you boys the best tea party you’ve ever had.
Edward: What’s this? Why is the boy over here in his slippers?
Mrs. Dickinson: Our son is throwing a tea party for his friends, and I’m going to help.
Edward: Can’t he take care of himself?
Mrs. Dickinson: No.

Austin: OK, well, just so you know I’ve invested in things too. Good things, things that will make the world a better place.
Edward: Oh like what? Like your forged painting? You thought I wouldn’t find out about that. honestly, to think of everything I’ve given you, all the opportunities I’ve handed to you on a plate, and what have you done with it all? What have you accomplished? Nothing. It’s just one failure after another.
Austin: I have…
Edward: You say what you will about Emily, but at least she has her damn poems.

Mary: We were going to have a baby girl this year, but she died inside of me.
Sue: Oh. God, Mary. I’m so sorry.
Mary: I… I just lost it.
Sue: Something like that… something like that happened to me.
Mary: Oh, I’m so sorry.
Sue: It’s like I’ve been trying… I’ve been trying to push the pain away.
Mary: You don’t have to push it away. It’s OK to feel it.

Edward: I was a bit skeptical at first, but he’s made a rather compelling case. The newspaper business can only expand. Print journalism is the future.
Austin: But father, I don’t understand. I mean how could you give money to the man who published Emily’s poem? I thought you were completely opposed to that. You know he plans on publishing even more of them.
Edward: Well, I suppose times change, don’t they? And besides if I’d made a fuss about that, it might have made it more complicated to make the investment.
Austin: Oh OK, so it’s all about the money. I get it. Some much for your principles.
Edward: Don’t you speak to me like that.
Austin: You should have consulted me before making this decision.
Edward: Consult you?
Austin: Yes, I am a partner in this business with you, yet you keep making decisions entirely without me. You treat me like a child.
Edward: My dear boy, you are a child. My god, look at yourself. It’s almost noon, and you’re still in your dressing gown.
Austin: I have been too busy to get changed.
Edward: Too busy being frantic about a tea party with your friends. Just one of the many aspects of your life over which you seem to exhibit no control.

Austin: Dad was right. I’m a failure. I’m a total utter failure. I’m a joke.
Emily: No, that is not true.
Austin: Yes, it is, Emily. Yes. You don’t understand. Nothing I do works. Everything I touch breaks. I’ve been trying so hard to find meaning, to find something that will make Sue love me. But nothing I do will ever matter. I’m a joke, Emily. A fraud, with a hole inside that nothing can ever fill.

Austin: I thought people were going to rise up. I thought this was the beginning of a whole new world.
Henry: Things will have to get worse before they can get better. This country is gonna have to be destroyed before it can be healed.
Austin: Isn’t there something we can do?
Henry: I’m doing what I have to do. I’m leaving with my family. Betty was right. I put my daughter’s life at risk, and if they track us down, who knows what they’ll do.
Austin: But where will you go?
Henry: I can’t tell you that. Goodbye, Mr. Dickinson. Austin.

Ship: The country’s on the brick of war, and I don’t want there to be any conflict between us.
Lavinia: What are you talking about?
Ship: We gotta work this out, Vinnie. You’re the perfect wife for me, and I know it. Let’s get married.
Lavinia: Ship, we broke up because you can’t ever accept me for who I am. One minute I’m too sexual, the next I’m too intellectual. You’ll never love the real Lavinia.
Ship: I will. I mean I do. I do, Vinnie.

Dickinson Quotes

Ship: I’m glad you asked. I came here for you.
Lavinia: I’m surprised you even remember me.
Ship: Of course I remember you. You’re the most pure, simple, quiet, traditional girl I ever knew, and that is why I want to make you my wife.
Lavinia: Ship, Ship, we hooked up once. Then you hooked up with someone else the same night.
Ship: That wasn’t very chivalrous of me. You’ll see I’ve changed, Lavinia. I’m not that college dropout that got drunk and tobogganed into a lake. I’m a serious adult man with entrepreneurial instincts and a profound respect for women who embody traditional values such as submissiveness, chastity, and willingness to do household chores.
Lavinia: I’m not even like that.
Ship: You’re Lavinia Dickinson. You have tea parties for your cats.
Lavinia: Well, yes, but I’ve changed too.
Ship: Oh, and how have you changed?
Lavinia: I’ll show you.
Ship: Whoa, whoa, whoa, don’t you think we should wait until marriage?
Lavinia: Henry ‘Ship’ Shipley, I don’t think you have any idea who you’re dealing with.

Edward: You really are a poet. You write all the time these days. Well, what do you with all these poems? You never show them to me.
Emily: I couldn’t show them to you.
Edward: Why not?
Emily: You wouldn’t understand them.
Edward: Oh, well, you’re probably right. I just hope you find someone who can understand them.
Emily: Well, don’t worry. I have someone. I do.