Freedom Writers Quotes

Freedom Writers is a TV show that first aired in 1970 . Freedom Writers completed its run in 1970.

It features Danny DeVito as producer, Mark Isham in charge of musical score, and Jim Denault as head of cinematography.

Freedom Writers is recorded in English and originally aired in United States. Each episode of Freedom Writers is 122 minutes long. Freedom Writers is distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The cast includes: Pat Carroll as Miep Gies, Hilary Swank as Erin Gruwell, Mario as Andre, Vanetta Smith as Brandy, Jason Finn as Marcus, Jaclyn Ngan as Sindy, Gabriel Chavarria as Tito, April Lee Hernández as Eva, Imelda Staunton as Margaret Campbell, Kristin Herrera as Gloria, Hunter Parrish as Ben, Deance Wyatt as Jamal, Giovonnie Samuels as Victoria, Sergio Montalvo as Alejandro, and Scott Glenn as Steve Gruwell.

Freedom Writers Quotes

Mario as Andre

• (Mario) "She can't even look at me because I look like my dad."

• (Mario) "Justice doesn't mean the bad guy goes to jail, it just means that someone pays for the crime."

• (Mario) "My brother taught me what the life is for a young black man. Pimp, deal, whatever. Learn what colors to wear. Gang banners. You can sell to one corner, but you can't sell another. Learn to be quiet. The wrong word can get you popped."

• (Mario) "It's the dumb class cuz. It means you too dumb."
• (Deance Wyatt) "Man, say it to my face cuz."
• (Mario) "I just did. See what I mean? Dumb?"

Kristin Herrera as Gloria

• (Kristin Herrera) "If you look in my eyes, you'll see a lonely girl. If you like at my smile, you'll see nothing wrong. If you pull up my shirt, you'll see the bruises. What did I do to make him so mad?"

April Lee Hernández as Eva

• (April Lee Hernández) "In America, a girl can be crowned a princess for her beauty, and her grace. But an Aztec princess is chosen for her blood. To fight for her people as Papi and his father fought, against those who say we are less than they are, against those who say that we are not equal in beauty or blessings."

• (April Lee Hernández) "White people wanting respect like they deserve it for free."
• (Hilary Swank) "I'm a teacher, it doesn't matter what color I am."
• (April Lee Hernández) "It's all about color, it's about people deciding what you deserve, about people wanting what they don't deserve. About whites thinking they own this world no matter what, you see, I hate white people."
• (Hilary Swank) "You hate me? You don't even know me."
• (April Lee Hernández) "I know what you can do. I saw white cops shoot my friend in the back for reaching into his pocket, his pocket. I saw white cops come into my house and take my father away for no REASON except they feel like it. Except because they can. And they can, because they're white. So I HATE white people on sight."

• (April Lee Hernández) "So when's Anne Frank gonna smoke Hitler?"

• (April Lee Hernández) "I don't even know how this war started. It's just two sides that tripped each other way back. Who cares about the history behind it? I am my father's daughter, and when they call me to testify, I will protect my own, no matter what."

• (April Lee Hernández) "My PO doesn't understand that schools are like the city and the city is jut like a prison."

Jason Finn as Marcus

• (Jason Finn) "No, that don't fly Ma."
• (Hilary Swank) "First of all I'm not anybody's mother."
• (Mario) "No, that's not what it means."
• (April Lee Hernández) "It's a sign of respect -- for you."

• (Jason Finn) "Lady, stop acting like you tryin' to understand our situation, and just do your little babysitting up there."
• (Hilary Swank) "That's what you think this is?"
• (Jason Finn) "It ain't nothing else. When I look out in the world I don't see nobody that looks like me with their pockets full unless they're rapping a lyrics or dribbling a ball, so what else you got in here for me?"
• (Hilary Swank) "And what if you can't rap a lyric or dribble a ball?"
• (Mario) "It ain't this."
• (Jason Finn) "I know that's right."
• (Hilary Swank) "And you all think you're gonna make it to graduation like this?"
• (Mario) "I made it to HIGH school ain't nobody stop me."
• (Jason Finn) "Lady I'm lucky if I make it to 18, we in a war. We graduating every day we live because we ain't afraid to die, protecting our own. At least when you die for your own, you die with respect, you die a warrior."

• (Jason Finn) "That Miep Gies lady, the one that help hide her, I like her. I got all these other books about her from the library."
• (Hilary Swank) "Wow, you used your library card?"
• (Jason Finn) "Nah --"

• (Jason Finn) "I've never had a hero before. But you are my hero."
• (Pat Carroll) "Oh, no. No, no, no, young man, no. I am not a hero. No. I did what I had to do, because it was the right thing to do. That is all."

Vanetta Smith as Brandy

• (Vanetta Smith) "In every war, there is an enemy. I watched my mother being hlaf-beaten to death, and watched as bloodand tears streamed down her face. I felt useless and scared, and furious at the same time. I can still feel the sting of the belt on my back and my legs. One time he couldn't pay the rent. That night he stopped us on the street and pointed to the concrete. He said, "pick a spot.""

• (Vanetta Smith) "Nobody ever listens to a teenager. Everybody thinks you should be happy just because you're young. They don't see the wars that we fight every single day. And one day, my war will end. And I won't die. And I will not tolerate abuse from anyone. I am strong."

Sergio Montalvo as Alejandro

(We don't have any quotes for this character)

Gabriel Chavarria as Tito

• (Gabriel Chavarria) "Nobody cares what I do. Why should I bother coming to school?"

• (Gabriel Chavarria) "What's a holocaust?"
• (Hilary Swank) "Who here knows what the Holocaust is?"
• (Hilary Swank) "Who here has ever been shot at?"

Deance Wyatt as Jamal

• (Deance Wyatt) "At sixteen, I've seen more bodies than a mortician. Every time I step out my door I face the risk of being shot. To the rest of the world it's just another dead body on a street corner. They don't know that he was my friend."

Hilary Swank as Erin Gruwell

• (Hilary Swank) "But to get respect you have to give it."
• (Mario) "Bulls***."
• (Hilary Swank) "What?"
• (Mario) "Why should I give you my respect to you? Because you're a teacher? I don't know you. How do I know you're not a liar standing up there. How do I know you're not a bad person standing up there? I'm not just gonna give you my respect because you're called a teacher."
• (April Lee Hernández) "White people wanting their respect like its for free."

• (Hilary Swank) "So when you're dead, you'll get respect, that what you think?"
• (Hilary Swank) "You know what's gonna happen when you die? You're gonna rot in the ground, and people are going to go on living, and they're going to forget all about you. And when you ROT, do you think it's gonna matter whether you were an original gangsta? You're dead, and nobody, NOBODY, is gonna want to remember you, because all you left in the world is this."

• (Hilary Swank) "Your bags are packed and you think the wine will give me a headache?"

• (Hilary Swank) "An F? What,are ya trippin'?"

• (Hilary Swank) "The evaluation assignment was to grade yourself on the work you're doing. You gave yourself an F. What's that about?"
• (Mario) "It's what I feel I deserve, that's all."
• (Hilary Swank) "Oh really?"
• (Hilary Swank) "You know what this is? This is a f*** You to me and everyone in this class. I don't want excuses. I know what you're up against. We're all of us up against something. So you better make up your mind, because until you have the balls to look me straight in the eye and tell me this is all you deserve, I am not letting you fail. Even if that means coming to your house every night until you finish the work. I see who you are. Do you understand me? I can see you. And you are not failing."

• (Hilary Swank) "Does anyone know Homer's the Odyssey?"
• (Mario) "I know Homer the Simpson."

• (Hilary Swank) "Maybe we should talk about art. Tito's got real talent, don't you think? You know something? I saw a picture just like this once, in a museum. Only it wasn't a black man, it was a jewish man. And instead of the big lips he had a really big nose, like a rat's nose. But he wasn't just one particular jewish man. This was a drawing of all jews. And these drawings were put in the newspapers by the most famous gang in history. You think you know all about gangs? You're amateurs. This gang will put you all to shame. And they started out poor and angry and everybody looked down on them. Until one man decided to give them some pride, an identity -- and somebody to blame. You take over neighborhoods? That's nothing compared to them. They took over countries. You want to know how? They just wiped out everybody else. Yeah, they wiped out everybody they didn't like and everybody they blamed for their life being hard. And one of the ways they did it was by doing this: see, they print pictures like this in the newspapers, jewish people with big, long noses -- blacks with big, fat lips. They'd also published scientific evidence that proved that jews and blacks were the lowest form of human species. Jews and blacks were more like animals. And because they were just like animals it didn't matter if they lived or died. In fact, life would be a whole lot better if they were all dead. That's how a holocaust happens. And that's what you all think of each other."

• (Hilary Swank) "Who has been to jail or a juvenile hall?"
• (Jaclyn Ngan) "Does a refugee camp count?"
• (Hilary Swank) "You decide."

• (Hilary Swank) "All right, guys and gals, listen up."

• (Hilary Swank) "I love you."
• (Scott Glenn) "You love the idea of me."

Imelda Staunton as Margaret Campbell

• (Imelda Staunton) "You're an honor student. If you transfer to Mrs. Gruwell's class, think how that'll reflect on your records."
• (Giovonnie Samuels) "It doesn't matter to me, my grades will still be the same. Look, Ms. Campbell, when I first transferred to this school, I had a 4.0 average. But when I applied for advanced placement in English and Math, I was told it'd be better for me to be in a class of my own kind. Now, when I did get in, my teacher said "Victoria. It's not everyday one finds an African American student in AP and Honors courses." -- As if I didn't notice. And when I asked another Honors teacher why we don't read more black literature, she said, "We don't read black literature because of all the sex, drugs, cussing, and fornication". I thought a simple -- "It's inappropriate" -- would have sufficed."

Pat Carroll as Miep Gies

(We don't have any quotes for this character)

Jaclyn Ngan as Sindy

• (Jaclyn Ngan) "During the war in Cambodia, the camps stripped away my father's dignity. He sometimes tries to hurt me and my mom. I feel like I have to protect my family."

Hunter Parrish as Ben

• (Hunter Parrish) "Ms. G, we can fight this y'know, like the Freedom Riders."
• (Jason Finn) "Yeh yeh, we all drive around on a bus, only this time they try and bust us up we bust a few of them board member's heads."
• (Vanetta Smith) "Or we can go to the newspapers. Media?"
• (Gabriel Chavarria) "Or we can paint the administration building with the word assholes, in various colours."

Add or Update Quotes

If you have a quote to add or change and want to let us know, please fill in the form below. Include the time in the film/video if possible so we can find it.