Avalon (1990 film)

"I came to America in 1914 - by way of Philadelphia. Thats where I got off the boat. And then I came to Baltimore. It was the most beautiful place you ever seen in your life. There were lights everywhere! What lights they had! It was a celebration of lights! I thought they were for me, Sam, who was in America. Sam was in America! I didnt know what holiday it was, but there were lights. And I walked under them. The sky exploded, people cheered, there were fireworks! What a welcome it was, what a welcome!"

"I found the man who knew the name Krichinsky. He was a little man with big shoes. Ill never forget him. He had such big shoes! They were brand new, beautiful shoes. He told me this was how he made his living. He would break in shoes for the wealthy. Stuff them with newspaper and walk in them. I said, "What a country is this. What a country." The wealthy didnt even have to break in their own shoes."

"A couple of years ago, I went to see the house on Avalon. It was gone. Not just the house, but the whole neighborhood. I went to see the ballroom, where me and my brother used to play. The whole place, gone. Not just that. But the grocery store where we used to shop, gone. All gone. I went to see where Eva lived off Poplar Street. It isnt there. Not even the street. It isnt there. Not even the street. And then I went to see the nightclub I used to have. And thank God, it was there, because for a minute, I thought I never was."

"When I was a little younger than you, I used to think the world was made up of big people and little people. And thats the way it would always stay. And then I always wondered why sinks were too high. You had to climb up to wash your face. Cupboards, too high. The hole in the toilet was too big. Nothing. Nothing was made for us. Its just a world of big people and little people. You never got any older and nobody ever died."

"On the weekend, we made music. What music it was! We liked American music. We were very popular ourselves. One night I looked across the floor and I saw this young, lovely girl. I wasnt handsome and I didnt have a beautiful body. But when I touched a woman they fell in love with me."

"Jules, if you stop remembering, you forget."

"This English, its very difficult. I never realized how difficult English is. "May" or "can." You can, but you may not. Weve come a long way. In the old days, if you had to pee, you peed on a tree. With no "may" or "can." Thats progress for you."

"Were getting farther and farther away from Avalon. I think Im getting too old for change."

"If I knew things would no longer be, I would have tried to remember better."

"Armin Mueller-Stahl - Sam Krichinsky"

"[Meeting the train that carries her brother] Where are the people who know where the people are?"

"That man will be late for his own funeral."