Ghost Quotes

Shmoop will make you a better lover...of quotes

ALL QUOTES POPULAR BROWSE BY AUTHOR BROWSE BY SOURCE BROWSE BY TOPIC BROWSE BY SUBJECT

Source: Ghost

Speaker: Sam Wheat

It's amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you.

Context

This line is spoken by Sam Wheat, played by Patrick Swayze, in the film Ghost, directed by Jerry Zucker (1990).

Sam is dead, a victim of murder arranged by his friend and colleague, Carl. Why? Follow the money. But Sam loves Molly so much that he can't move into the afterlife. Or maybe he just can't bear to move out of his ritzy Manhattan apartment. Or maybe he just wants to stick around to strangle Carl for (a) killing him and (b) making moves on his newly widowed wife. Carl might end up killing Molly too, even though she's clueless about the money. Sam cannot let that happen. Poor Carl—he doesn't get the money and he doesn't get the girl. He just gets… dead, then dragged horribly into the underworld.

Now that Carl is gone, Molly is safe and Sam can finally stop straddling the lands of the living and the formerly living. But ya gotta have the goodbye scene with the tears, sentimental music, and moody light. As Sam departs the mortal world, he reveals a secret: when we die, we take with us the love we have inside. Well, that explains a lot. All the billions of people who have died took all their love with them. How thoughtless. We could have used it down here, people.

Check out the line in action.

Where you've heard it

When the bouncer stops you at the pearly gates and says, "You can't take it with you," now you can cop a 'tude and reply, "Oh yes I can."

Additional Notable References

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

If a dude says this to you at a party, first, check for a pulse. If he's alive, you know he's being a little pretentious (and kinda awkward). Dude definitely needs to work on his pick-up lines. If he's dead, well, the relationship's D.O.A., so don't waste your time. In either case, say "My name's not Molly" and walk away.