Movie Quotes

John Dunbar: [to his army captors who are interrogating him, in Lakota] My name is Dances with Wolves. I will not talk to you anymore. You are not worth talking to.

[talking about the white men coming]
Kicking Bird: How many?
John Dunbar: Like the stars.

John Dunbar: As I heard my Sioux name called out over and over, I know who I really was

Timmons: [after he has bent over and farted] Why don’t you put that in your book?

John Dunbar: I am Lieutenant John Jay Dunbar and this is my post.

Toughest Pawnee: Only a white man would make a fire for everyone to see.
Pawnee #1: Maybe there’s more than one.
Pawnee #2: There may be three or four.
Toughest Pawnee: I know three or four who will not be making the trip home.

Stands With a Fist: [translating for Kicking Bird] He thanks Dances with Wolves for coming.
John Dunbar: Who is Dances with Wolves?
Stands With a Fist: It is the name all the people are calling you now.

[Ten Bears shows Dunbar an old Spanish Conquistador's helmet]
Ten Bears: [in Lakota] The white men who wore this came around the time of my grandfather’s grandfather. Eventually we drove them out. Then the Mexicans came. But they do not come here any more. In my own time, the Texans. They have been like all the others. They take without asking. But I think you are right. I think they will keep coming. When I think of that, I look at this helmet. I don’t know if we are ready for these people. Our country is all that we have, and we will fight to keep it.

John Dunbar: [writing in his diary] If it wasn’t for my companion, I believe I’d be having the time of my life.

Major Fambrough: You wish to see the frontier?
John Dunbar: Yes sir, before it’s gone.

Stands With a Fist: My place is with you. I go where you go.

John Dunbar: We are trying for a baby.
Kicking Bird: No waiting?
John Dunbar: No waiting.
Kicking Bird: I was just thinking that of all the trails in this life, there are some that matter most. It is the trail of a true human being. I think you are on this trail, and it is good to see.

Sgt. Bauer: Turned injun, didn’t yeh.

John Dunbar: The strangeness of this life cannot be measured: in trying to produce my own death, I was elevated to the status of a living hero.

John Dunbar: [voice over] It seems everyday ends with a miracle here. And whatever God may be, I thank God for this day

John Dunbar: [at the celebration of the buffalo feast, noticing a big Sioux man has his Lieutenant's hat] That’s my hat… that’s my hat!
Big Warrior: [in Lakota, as all becomes quiet in the tent] I found it on the prarie. It’s mine.
Wind In His Hair: [stands up, in Lakota] The hat belongs to Lieutenant.
Big Warrior: He left it on the prarie. He didn’t want it.
Wind In His Hair: Well, you can see he wants it now. We all know it’s a soldier hat. We all know who wears it. If you want to keep it, that’s fine. But give something for it.
[the Sioux takes his knife and sheath off his belt and gives it to Dunbar]
Wind In His Hair: [in English, to Dunbar] Good… trade!

John Dunbar: They were a people so eager to laugh, so devoted to family, so dedicated to each other. The only word that comes to mind is harmony.

John Dunbar: Nothing I have been told about these people is correct. They are not thieves or beggars. They are not the bogeymen they are made out to be. On the contrary, they are polite guest and I enjoy their humor.

Stands With a Fist: He also asks if you would watch over his family while he is gone.
[pauses]
Stands With a Fist: This thing he asks of you is a great honor.
John Dunbar: Tell him I would be happy to watch over his family.

Kicking Bird: [after receiving the pipe from Dances With Wolves] How, does it smoke?

Lt. Elgin: You bash that prisoner one more time, I’ll put those shackles on *you*.