A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Raymond Massey: Abraham Farlan

Photos 

Quotes 

• Abraham Farlan : You claim you love her.

  Peter : I do love her!

  Abraham Farlan : Can you prove it?

  Peter : Well give me time, sir. Fifty years will do.

  Abraham Farlan : But can you prove it?

  Peter : Well, can a starving man prove he's hungry except by eating?

  Abraham Farlan : Would you die for her?

  Peter : I would, but, er, I'd rather live.

• Abraham Farlan : Child, where were you born?

  June : In Boston Sir.

  Abraham Farlan : Do you know this man?

  June : I think so.

  Abraham Farlan : You think so?

  June : I only met him a few days ago.

  Abraham Farlan : You hardly know him. How can you think you love him?

  June : But I do love him.

  Abraham Farlan : Nonsense my child.

  Doctor Frank Reeves : I object. Council will withdraw the expression.

  June : It's all right Frank. he's right. There's no sense in love.

  Abraham Farlan : Wisdom still flowers in Boston.

• Doctor Frank Reeves : Sir, may I bring you up to date? We are living in the 20th century, not in the 18th.

  Abraham Farlan : May I bring you up to date, sir? We are not alive at all.

• Abraham Farlan : Be careful, doctor Reeves. In the whole Universe, nothing is stronger than The Law.

  Doctor Frank Reeves : Yes, Mr. Farlan, nothing is stronger than The Law in the Universe, but on Earth nothing is stronger than Love.

• Abraham Farlan : Your smile is not unattractive, sir. Did you use it to enamor this young American lady?

  Peter : I love her sir.

  Abraham Farlan : Answer the question.

  Peter : Would you repeat the question? It, erm, had "enamored" in it.

• Abraham Farlan : An American baby sucks in freedom with the milk of the breast on which he hangs.

• Doctor Frank Reeves : I doubt if you have more practical freedom in America than in England. An Englishman thinks as he likes in religion and politics.

  Abraham Farlan : It isn't what a man thinks and says, it's when and where, and to whom he thinks and says it. A man with a flint and steel, striking sparks over a wet blanket, is one thing. But striking them over a tinderbox is another.

• Abraham Farlan : But Peter Carter's character, sir, like every other human being, has been formed by circumstance, by a chain of circumstances. As Benjamin Franklin said, for want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost. For want of a horse, the rider was lost. For want of a rider, the message was lost. For want of a message, the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

• Abraham Farlan : Do you see this glass? Out of it, Benedict Arnold drank the health of King George the Third. Does it break because it is faulty, or because it is glass? Can I tear this piece of paper because it is defective, or because it is paper?