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The Great Debaters Quotes

The Great Debaters is a TV show that debuted in 1970 . The Great Debaters ended its run in 1970.

It features Todd Black, and Kate Forte; Joe Roth; Oprah Winfrey as producer, Peter Golub, and James Newton Howard in charge of musical score, and Philippe Rousselot as head of cinematography.

The Great Debaters is recorded in English and originally aired in United States. Each episode of The Great Debaters is 126 minutes long. The Great Debaters is distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The cast includes: Denzel Washington as Melvin B. Tolson, Jermaine Williams as Hamilton Burgess, Nate Parker as Henry Lowe, John Heard as Sheriff Dozier, Gina Ravera as Ruth Tolson, and Justice Leak as Harland Osbourne.

The Great Debaters Quotes

Nate Parker as Henry Lowe

  • (James Farmer Jr.) "Five dollars? Lowe, I got five dollars."
  • (Nate Parker) "Yeah, I did too. It's called per diem. Want me to hold it for you?"
  • (James Farmer Jr.) "No, not MY five dollars."
  • (Samantha) "I got five dollars. I got five dollars."
  • (Nate Parker) "Yeah, me too."
  • (Samantha) "Well, mine is crisp."
  • (Samantha) "James, this is high tea, all right? We nibble, we do not DEVOUR."
  • (James Farmer Jr.) "How do you know?"
  • (Samantha) "I don't."
  • (Nate Parker) "A brilliant young woman I know was asked once to support her argument in favor of social welfare. She named the most powerful source imaginable: the look in a mother's face when she cannot feed her children. Can you look that hungry child in the eyes? See the blood on his feet from working barefoot in the cotton fields. Or do you ask his baby sister with her belly swollen from hunger if she cares about her daddy's work ethics?"

Denzel Washington as Melvin B. Tolson

  • (Denzel Washington) "I and every professor on this campus are here to help you to find, take back, and keep your righteous mind -- because obviously you have lost it."
  • (Denzel Washington) "We'll be one of the first Negro colleges to ever debate a white college. If we beat them, we beat the best."
  • (Denzel Washington) "Resolved."
  • (Denzel Washington) "Who is the judge?"
  • (Jermaine Williams) "The judge is God."
  • (Denzel Washington) "Why is he God?"
  • (Jermaine Williams) "Because he decides who wins or loses. Not my opponeent."
  • (Denzel Washington) "Who is your opponent?"
  • (Jermaine Williams) "He does not exist."
  • (Denzel Washington) "Why does he not exist?"
  • (Jermaine Williams) "Because he is a mere dissenting voice of the truth I speak."
  • (Denzel Washington) "Denigrate. There's a word for you. From the Latin word "niger", to defame, to blacken. It's always there, isn't it? Even in the dictionary. Even in the speech of a Negro professor. Somehow, "black" is always equated with failure."

Gina Ravera as Ruth Tolson

  • (Gina Ravera) "Here, this came. Go on, open it."
  • (Denzel Washington) "Hmm, looks like someone already opened it."
  • (Gina Ravera) "Not me."

John Heard as Sheriff Dozier

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

Justice Leak as Harland Osbourne

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