Howland Chamberlain – Judge Atkins — Kramer vs. Kramer

"Billy has a home with me. Ive made it the best I could. Its not perfect. Im not a perfect parent. Sometimes I dont have enough patience because I forget that hes a little kid. But Im there. We get up in the morning and then we eat breakfast, and he talks to me and then we go to school. And at night, we have dinner together and we talk then and I read to him. And, and we built a life together and we love each other. If you destroy that, it may be irreparable. Joanna, dont do that, please. Dont do it twice to him."

"For the last six months Ive been spitting blood to get this agency one of the biggest account its ever had. And at five oclock this afternoon, we got the account. At eight oclock, I am walking home with the vice president and tells me Ill be the next creative director of this department. I come through this door to share with my wife one of the five best days of my life, and she looks at me and tells me she doesnt want to live with me anymore! Cant you understand what shes done to me?"

"[having lunch with his boss] So the other morning, Im at the refrigerator... you know, getting Billy ready for school. So Im just in my underwear and he notices Ive lost weight. And he comes in and pats me. He comes up to here... [touches his stomach]... and he says "Daddy, youve really lost a lot of weight", he looks up at me and he says "And its all gone to your nose." [laughs] He was so cute. You know?"

"[in court] Theres a lot of things I didnt understand, a lot of things Id do different if I could. Just like I think theres a lot of things you wish you could change, but we cant. Some things once theyre done cant be undone. My wife, my ex-wife, says that she loves Billy, and I believe she does, but I dont think thats the issue here."

"Jane Alexander – Margaret Phelps"

"If I understand it correctly, what means the most here is whats best for our son. Whats best for Billy. My wife used to always say to me: Why cant a woman have the same ambitions as a man? I think youre right. And maybe Ive learned that much. But by the same token, Id like to know, what law is it that says that a woman is a better parent simply by virtue of her sex? You know, Ive had a lot of time to think about what it is it that makes somebody a good parent? You know, it has to do with constancy, it has to do with patience, it has to do with listening to him. It has to do with pretending to listen to him when you cant even listen anymore. It has to do with love, like, like, like she was saying. And I dont know where its written that it says that a woman has a corner on that market, that, that a man has any less of those emotions than a woman does."