Forrest Gump quotes

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now, when I got home, I had no idea, but Mama'd 

had all sorts of visitors.
Mrs. Gump: We've had all sorts of visitors, Forrest. Everybody wants you to 

use their ping-pong stuff. One man even left a check for twenty five thousand 

dollars if you'd be agreeable to sayin' you like using their paddle. 
Forrest Gump: Oh, Momma. I only like using my own paddle. Hi, Miss Louise.
Louise: Hey, Forrest. 
Mrs. Gump: I know that. I know that. But it's twenty five thousand dollars, 

Forrest. I thought maybe you could hold it for a while, see if it grows on 

you. 

Forrest Gump: [voice over] I didn't stay home for long because I'd made a 

promise to Bubba, and I always try to keep my promise, so I went on down to 

Bayou La Batre to meet Bubba's family and make their introduction. 
Mrs. Blue: Are you crazy or just plain stupid?
Forrest Gump: Stupid is as stupid does, Mrs Blue.
Mrs. Blue: I guess.

[Forrest visits Bubba's grave and reads from the notes he's taken out of his 

pocket]
Forrest Gump: Hey, Bubba. It's me, Forrest Gump. I remember everything you 

said, and I got it all figured out. I'm taking the twenty-four thousand, five 

hundred and six-two dollars and forty-seven cents that I got…well, that's-

that's left after a new haircut and a new suit and I took Mama out to a real 

fancy dinner, and I bought a bus ticket, and three Dr Peppers.

[Forrest continues talking at Bubba’s grave]
Forrest Gump: That's what's left after me saying, "When I was in China on the 

All-America ping-pong team, I just loved playing ping-pong with my Flex-o-

lite ping-pong paddle," which everybody knows isn't true, but Mama said it's 

just a little white lie so it wouldn't hurt nobody. So anyway, I'm putting 

all that on gas, ropes, and new nets and a brand-new shrimping boat.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now, Bubba had told me everything he knew about 

shrimpin', but you know what I found out? Shrimpin' is tough. 
[Forrest pulls a couple of shrimps out of a bucket]
Forrest Gump: I only caught five.
Old Shrimper Man: A couple more, you can have yourself a cocktail.    

Forrest Gump: [voice over] I thought about Jenny all the time.

Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan, what are you doing here? 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Well, I thought I'd try out my sea legs. 
Forrest Gump: Well, you ain't got no legs, Lieutenant Dan. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Yes, I know that. You wrote me a letter, you idiot. Well, 

well. Captain Forrest Gump. I had to see this for myself. And I told you if 

you were ever a shrimp boat captain, that I'd be your first mate. Well, here 

I am. I'm a man of my word.
Forrest Gump: Okay. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Yeah, but don't you be thinking that I'm going to be calling 

you "Sir." 
Forrest Gump: No, sir.

[Forrest empties the net with their “catch” and debris falls to the deck]
Forrest Gump: Still no shrimp, Lieutenant Dan.
Lt. Dan Taylor: Okay, so I was wrong. 
Forrest Gump: Well, how are we going to find them? 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Well, maybe you should just pray for shrimp. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] So I went to church every Sunday. Sometimes 

Lieutenant Dan came too, though I think he left the praying up to me.
[another catch of junk is dumped onto the deck]
Forrest Gump: [dejected] No shrimp. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Where the hell's this God of yours? 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] It's funny Lieutenant Dan said that, 'cause right 

then God showed up.

[on the boat deck during a hurricane]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now, me, I was scared, but Lieutenant Dan, he was 

mad.
[shouting to sky]
Lt. Dan Taylor: Come on! You call this a storm? Blow, you son of a bitch! 

Blow! It's time for a showdown! You and me! I'm right here! Come and get me! 

You'll never sink this boat!
[we then see news footage on TV shows hurricane Carmen came had hit the 

coast, Bayou La Batre's entire shrimping industry]

Forrest Gump: [voice over] After that, shrimpin' was easy.
Forrest Gump: And since people still needed them shrimps for shrimp cocktails 

and barbecues and all, and we were the only boat left standing "Bubba-Gump" 

shrimp's what they got. We got a whole bunch of boats. Twelve Jenny's, big 

ol' warehouse, we even have hats that says "Bubba-Gump" on them. "Bubba-Gump 

Shrimp". It's a household name.
[cut to Forrest sitting on bus bench with man sitting next to Forrest 

listening] 
Man at bus bench: Hold on there, boy. Are you telling me you're the owner of 

the Bubba-Gump Shrimp Corporation? 
Forrest Gump: Yes. We got more money than Davy Crockett. 
Man at bus bench: Boy, I heard some whoppers in my time, but that tops them 

all. We were sitting next to a millionaire!
[the man laughs as he walks away]

[Forrest and Lt. Dan are working on the boat]
Lt. Dan Taylor: Forrest, I never thanked you for saving my life.
[Lt. Dan pulls himself out of his chair to the railing and jumps into the 

water] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] He never actually said so, but I think he made his 

peace with God. 

Forrest Gump: What's the matter, Mama?
Mrs. Gump: I'm dying, Forrest. Come on in, sit down over here.
Forrest Gump: Why are you dying, Mama?
Mrs. Gump: It's my time. It's just my time. Oh, now, don't you be afraid, 

sweetheart. Death is just a part of life. Something we're all destined to do. 

I didn't know it, but I was destined to be your mama. I did the best I could.
Forrest Gump: You did good. 
Mrs. Gump: Well, I happen to believe you make your own destiny. You have to 

do the best with what God gave you. 
Forrest Gump: What's my destiny, Mama? 
Mrs. Gump: You're gonna have to figure that out for yourself. Life is a box 

of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you're gonna to get. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Mama always had a way of explaining things so I 

could understand them. 
Mrs. Gump: I will miss you, Forrest. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] She had got the cancer and died on a Tuesday. I 

bought her a new hat with little flowers on it.
[back on the bus bench where the elderly woman sitting next to Forrest is 

crying] 
Forrest Gump: And that's all I have to say about that.

Forrest Gump: Now, because I had been a football star and a war hero and a 

national celebrity and a shrimpin' boat captain and a college graduate, the 

city fathers of Greenbow, Alabama, decided to get together and offered me a 

fine job. So I never went back to work for Lieutenant Dan.
[we see Forrest riding a lawn tractor cutting the football field grass] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Though he did take care of my Bubba-Gump money. He 

got me invested in some kind of fruit company. And so then I got a call from 

him saying we don't have to worry about money no more, and I said, "That's 

good. One less thing." Now, Mama said there's only so much fortune a man 

really needs, and the rest is just for showing off. So I gave a whole bunch 

of it to the Four Square Gospel Church. And I gave a whole bunch to the Bayou 

La Batre fishing hospital. And even though Bubba was dead and Lieutenant Dan 

said I was nuts, I gave Bubba's mama Bubba's share. You know what? She didn't 

have to work in nobody's kitchen no more.
[we see Forrest opening a letter from Apple Computers]

Forrest Gump: [voice over] And 'cause I was a gozillionaire and I liked doing 

it so much, I cut that grass for free. But at night-time when there was 

nothing to do and the house was all empty, and the house was all empty, I'd 

always think of Jenny. And then, she was there.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Jenny came back and stayed with me. Maybe it was 

because she had nowhere else to go, or maybe it was because she was so tired, 

'cause she went to bed and slept and slept, like she hadn't slept in years. 

It was wonderful having her home.

[Jenny and Forrest walk up to Jenny old house where she had lived with her 

father. Jenny suddenly heaves a rock angrily at the house] 
Jenny Curran: [shouting] How could you do this? 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Sometimes I guess there just aren't enough rocks. 

I never really knew why she came back, but I didn't care. It was like olden 

times. We was like peas and carrots again. 

Forrest Gump: [voice over] And well, we was like family, Jenny and me…and 

it was the happiest time in my life.

Forrest Gump: Will you marry me? I'd make a good husband, Jenny. 
[Jenny turns and looks at him] 
Jenny Curran: You would, Forrest. 
Forrest Gump: But you won't marry me. 
Jenny Curran: [sadly] You don't want to marry me. 
Forrest Gump: Why don't you love me, Jenny?
[Jenny says nothing]
Forrest Gump: I'm not a smart man…but I know what love is.

[Forrest lies in his bed the door opens and Jenny gets into bed next to 

Forrest]
Forrest Gump: Jenny?
Jenny Curran: Forrest, I do love you.
[Jenny and Forrest kiss and they make love]    

[after Forrest discovers Jenny has left]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] That day, for no particular reason, I decided to 

go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road, and when I got there, I 

thought maybe I'd run to the end of town.
[three men in barbershop are sitting watching TV when Forrest runs through 

the main street of town]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run 

across Greenbow County. Now, thinking since I'd run this far, maybe I'd just 

run across the great state of Alabama. And that's what I did. I ran clear 

across Alabama. No particular reason. I just kept on going. I ran clear to 

the ocean. And when I got there, I figured since I'd gone this far, might as 

well turn around, just keep on going. And when I got to another ocean, I 

figured since I'd gone this far, I might as well just turn back and keep 

right on going. When I got tired, I slept. When I got hungry, I ate. When I 

had to go…you know… I went.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] I'd think a lot about Momma and Bubba, and 

Lieutenant Dan, but most of all, I thought about Jenny. I thought about her a 

lot.

[three men in the barber shop watch the news about Forrest on TV]
TV Newscaster: For more than two years now, a man named Forrest Gump, a 

gardener from Greenbow, Alabama, stopping only to sleep, has been running 

across America. Charles Cooper brings us this report.

[reporters ask Forrest his reasons for running all this time]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] They just couldn't believe that somebody would do 

all that running for no reason.
Reporter: Why are you doing this?
Forrest Gump: I just felt like running.    

[young man starts running and following Forrest] 
Young Man: I mean, it was like an alarm went off in my head, you know. I 

said, here's a guy that's got his act together. Here's somebody who's got it, 

all figured out. Here's somebody who has the answer. I'll follow you 

anywhere, Mr. Gump.

[running after Forrest] 
Aging Hippie: Hey, man, hey, listen. I was wondering if you might help me, 

huh? Listen, I'm in the bumper sticker business and I've been trying to think 

up a good slogan. And since you have been such a big inspiration to the 

people around here, I thought you might be able to help me jump into… Whoa! 

Man, you just ran through a big pile of dogshit!
Forrest Gump: It happens.
Aging Hippie: What, shit? 
Forrest Gump: Sometimes. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And some years later, I heard that that fella did 

come up with a bumper sticker slogan and he made a lot of money off of it.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Another time, I was running along, somebody who'd 

lost all his money in the T-shirt business, and he wanted to put my face on a 

T-shirt, but he couldn't draw that well, and he didn't have a camera.
Wild Eyed Man: Here, use this one. Nobody likes that color anyway. 
[Forrest wipes his face on the T-shirt and hands it back to the man]
Forrest Gump: Have a nice day. 
[the man looks at the T-shirt, holding up displaying the “Happy Face”] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And some years later, I found out that that man 

did come up with an idea for a T-shirt. He made a lot of money off of it.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Anyway, like I was saying, I had a lot of company. 

My Mama always said you got to put the past behind you before you can move 

on. And I think that's what my running was all about. I had run for three 

years, two months, fourteen days, and sixteen hours.
[Forrest stops running and the group running behind him stops waiting 

expectantly]
Young Man: Quiet. Quiet. He's going to say something. 
[Forrest pauses for a moment before speaking]
Forrest Gump: I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now.
[Forrest turns and the group parts for Forrest as he walks down the middle of 

the road] 
Young Man: Now what are we supposed to do? 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And just like that, my runnin' days was over. So I 

went home to Alabama.

[back on the bus bench an Elderly Woman is listening to Forrest’s story]
Forrest Gump: And one day, out of the blue clear sky, I got a letter from 

Jenny wondering if I could come down to Savannah and see her, and that's what 

I'm doing here. She saw me on TV, running. I'm supposed to go on the number 

nine bus to Richmond Street and get off and go one block left to 1-9-4-7 

Henry Street, apartment 4.
Elderly Woman: Why, you don't need to take a bus. Henry Street is just five 

or six blocks down that way.

Jenny Curran: Listen, Forrest, I don't know how to say this. I just I want to 

apologize for anything that I ever did to you 'cause I was messed up for a 

long time, and…

Jenny Curran: There. Listen, Forrest. I don't know how to say this. Um, I 

just…I want to apologize for anything that I ever did to you, 'cause I was 

messed up for a long time, and…

Forrest Gump: You're a mama, Jenny.
Jenny Curran: I'm a mama. His name is Forrest.
Forrest Gump: Like me!
Jenny Curran: I named him after his daddy.
Forrest Gump: He got a daddy named Forrest, too? 
Jenny Curran: You're his daddy, Forrest. 
[Forrest then looks frightened and starts to back away]
Jenny Curran: Hey, Forrest, look at me. Look at me, Forrest. There's nothing 

you need to do. Okay? You didn't do anything wrong. Okay? Isn't he beautiful? 
Forrest Gump: He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. But…is, is he 

smart? Or is he… 
Jenny Curran: He's very smart. He's one of the smartest in his class. Yeah, 

it's okay. Go talk to him.

Jenny Curran: Forrest, I'm sick. 
Forrest Gump: What, do you have a cough due to a cold? 
Jenny Curran: I have some kind virus. And the doctors don't, they don't know 

what it is. And there isn't anything they can do about it.
Forrest Gump: You could come home with me. Jenny, you and little Forrest 

could come stay at my house in Greenbow. I'll take care of you if you're 

sick.
Jenny Curran: Would you marry me, Forrest? 
Forrest Gump: [pause] Okay.

Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan.
Lt. Dan Taylor: Hello, Forrest. 
Forrest Gump: You got new legs. [to Jenny] New legs! 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Yeah. I got new legs. Custom-made titanium alloy. It's what 

they use on the space shuttle. 
Forrest Gump: Magic legs. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: This is my fiancée, Susan.
Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan!
Susan: Hi, Forrest.
Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan, this is my Jenny.
Jenny Curran: Hi. It's nice to meet you finally.

Jenny Curran: Hey, Forrest, were you scared in Vietnam? 
Forrest Gump: Yes. Well, I-I don't know. Sometimes it would stop raining long 

enough for the stars to come out. And then it was nice. It was like just 

before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. There was over a million 

sparkles on the water. Like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny. It 

looked like there were two skies, one on top of the other. And then in the 

desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the 

earth began. It was so beautiful. 
Jenny Curran: I wish I could've been there with you. 
Forrest Gump: You were. 
Jenny Curran: I love you.

[Forrest stands under the old oak tree where Jenny’s been buried]
Forrest Gump: You died on a Saturday morning. And I had you placed here under 

our tree. And I had that house of your father's bulldozed to the ground. Mama 

always said that dyin' was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn't. Little 

Forrest is doing just fine. About to start school again soon, and I make his 

breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I make sure he combs his hair and 

brushes his teeth every day. Teaching him how to play ping-pong. He's really 

good. We fish a lot. And every night, we read a book. He's so smart, Jenny. 

You'd be so proud of him. I am. He wrote you a letter. And he says I can't 

read it. I'm not supposed to, so I'll just leave it here for you. 
[Forrest places the letter down at the grave marker]
Forrest Gump: Jenny, I don't know if mama was right or if it's Lieutenant 

Dan. I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating 

around accidental-like on a breeze. But I…I think maybe it's both. Maybe 

both is happening at the same time. But I miss you, Jenny. If there's 

anything you need, I won't be far away.

[Forrest is waiting with Forrest Jr. for the school bus on little Forrest's 

first day of 
school in Greenbow, the bus arrives and little Forrest is about to board it]
Forrest Gump: Hey, Forrest. Don't… I wanted to tell you I love you.
Forrest Gump Jr.: I love you, too, Daddy. 
Forrest Gump: I'll be right here when you get back.

[last lines]
Dorothy Harris: You understand this is the bus to the school now, don't you?
Forrest Gump Jr.: Of course, and you're Dorothy Harris and I'm Forrest Gump. 
[Forrest Jr. gets on the bus, the bus pulls away. Forrest stands next to the 

mailbox then sits down, we see the same feather from the beginning of the 

movie lying at Forrest's feet and a gust of wind picks it up and it floats up 

in the air]

Lt. Dan Taylor: Two standing orders in this platoon. One, take good care of 

your feet. Two, try not to do anything stupid, like getting yourself killed. 
[Bubba and Forrest look at each other]
Forrest Gump: I sure hope I don't let him down.

[describing Vietnam] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I got to see a lot of countryside. We would take 

these real long walks. And we were always lookin' for this guy named Charlie.

[Forrest’s unit walking along a dirt road in Vietnam following Lt. Dan]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] It wasn't always fun. Lieutenant Dan was always 

getting these funny feelings about a rock or a trail or the road, so he'd 

tell us to "get down, shut up!"
Lt. Dan Taylor: Get down! Shut up! 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] So we did. 

[describing the men in his platoon]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now, I don't know much about anything, but I think 

some of America's best young men served in this war. There was Dallas from 

Phoenix. Cleveland, he was from Detroit. 
Cleveland: Hey, Tex. Hey Tex. Man, what the hell's going on?
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And Tex was…well, I don't remember where Tex 

come from. 

Forrest Gump: [voice over] One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for 

four months. We've been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty 

stinging rain…and big old fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And 

sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it 

even rained at night.

[it's raining heavily on the men of the platoon as they sit in a camp, Bubba 

sits down next to Forrest leaning his back up against Forrest's back]
Bubba: Hey, Forrest.
Forrest Gump: Hey, Bubba. 
Bubba: I'm gonna lean up against you, you just lean right back against me. 

This way we don't have to sleep with our heads in the mud. You know why we're 

a good partnership, Forrest? 'Cause we be watching out for one another, like 

brothers and stuff. Hey, Forrest, somethin' I been thinkin' about. I got a 

very important question to ask you. How would you like to go into the 

shrimpin' business with me? 
Forrest Gump: Okay.
Bubba: Man, I tell you what. I got it all figured out, too. So many pounds of 

shrimp will pay off the boat. So many pounds for gas. We can just live right 

on the boat. We ain't got to pay no rent. I'll be the captain, we can just 

work it together. Split everything right down the middle. Man, I'm telling 

you, fifty-fifty. And, hey, Forrest, all the shrimp you can eat. 
Forrest Gump: That's a fine idea. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Bubba did have a fine idea. I even wrote Jenny and 

told her all about it.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] This one day, we was out walking like always, and 

then, just like that, somebody turned off the rain, and the sun come out. 

[while being ambushed] 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Goddammit, Mac! Get that pig unfucked and get it in the 

treeline!
[talks into the radio]
Lt. Dan Taylor: [to his men] Pull back! Pull back!
Bubba: Forrest! Run! Run, Forrest!
Lt. Dan Taylor: Pull back!
Bubba: Forrest! Run! Run, Forrest! Run! Run!
Lt. Dan: Pull back, Gump! Run, goddamn it! Run! 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I ran and ran just like Jenny told me to. I ran so 

far and so fast that pretty soon I was all by myself, which was a bad thing. 
Forrest Gump: Bubba!
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Bubba was my best good friend. I had to make sure 

he was okay.
[Forrest runs back into the jungle to look for Bubba. He can hear soldiers 

shouting to each other. He stops] 
Forrest Gump: Bubba!
[he turns and sees wounded soldier has put up his hand] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And on my way back to find Bubba, well there was 

this boy laying on the ground. 
Forrest Gump: Tex! Okay. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I couldn't let him lay there all alone and scared 

the way he was, so I grabbed him up and run him out of there. And every time 

I went back looking for Bubba, somebody else was saying, "Help me, Forrest, 

help me!"
[Forrest runs back towards the jungle and keeps encountering wounded soldiers 

from his platoon]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I started to get scared that I might never find 

Bubba.

[Forrest tries to pick up Lt. Dan, who tries to push Forrest away]
Lt. Dan Taylor: Goddamn it! What are you doing? You leave me here! Get away. 

Just leave me here! Get out! Oh God, I said leave me here, Goddamn it! 
[Forrest pulls Lt. Dan over his shoulder and runs through the jungle] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Then it felt like something just jumped up and bit 

me. 
Forrest Gump: Ah…something bit me! 
[shouting and shooting into the jungle]
Lt. Dan Taylor: You dink son of a bitch! [to Forrest] I can't leave the 

platoon. I told you to leave me there, Gump. Forget about me. Get yourself 

out! Did you hear what I said? Gump, damn it, put me down. Get your ass out 

of here. I didn't ask you to pull me out of there, God damn you!
[Forrest drops Lt. Dan down at the bank, next to the other wounded soldiers]
Lt. Dan Taylor: [angrily] Where do you think you're going?
Forrest Gump: To get Bubba.
Lt. Dan Taylor: I got an air strike inbound right now. They're going to nape 

the whole area. Gump, you stay here, goddammit! That's an order! 
[Forrest runs back through the jungle searching for Bubba] 
Forrest Gump: I gotta find Bubba!

[Forrest finds Bubba who has been wounded, his chest has been blown open] 
Bubba: I'm okay, Forrest. I'm okay.
Forrest Gump: Oh, Bubba, no!
Bubba: Naw, I'm gonna be all right.
Forrest Gump: Come on. Come on. Come here…
Bubba: I'm okay, Forrest. I'm Okay. I'm fine.
[Forrest carries Bubba to the bank of the river. Lt. Dan and the other 

wounded soldiers] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] If I'd have known this was going to be the last 

time me and Bubba was gonna talk, I'd of thought of something better to say.
Forrest Gump: Hey, Bubba.
Bubba: Hey, Forrest. Forrest, why did this happen?
Forrest Gump: You got shot.
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Then Bubba said something I won't ever forget. 
Bubba: I wanna go home.
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Bubba was my best good friend. And even I know 

that ain't somethin' you can find just around the corner. Bubba was gonna be 

a shrimpin' boat captain, but instead, he died right there by that river in 

Vietnam. 
[back on the bus bench]
Forrest Gump: That's all I have to say about that.

[a man is sitting next Forrest on the Bus Bench now listening to his story]
Man at bus bench: It was a bullet, wasn't it?
Forrest Gump: A bullet?
Man at bus bench: That jumped up and bit you. 
Forrest Gump: Oh Yes, sir. Bit me directly in the but-tocks. They said it was 

a million 
dollar wound, but…the army must keep that money, 'cause I still ain't seen 

a nickel of 
that million dollars. The only good thing about being wounded in the but-

tocks…is the ice cream. They gave me all the ice cream I could eat. And 

guess what? A good friend of mine was in the bed right next door.
[Forrest, lying on his stomach, is wheeled to his bed, his butt sticks up and 

is bandaged, Lt. Dan is lying on the bed next to Forrest's] 
Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan, I got you some ice cream. Lieutenant Dan, ice 

cream. 
[Lt. Dan, annoyed, takes the ice cream cone and drops it into his bed pan]
Male Nurse: It's time for your bath, Lieutenant.
[the male nurse picks up Lt. Dan, whose legs have been amputated] 

[Forrest is watching “Gomer Pyle” on the TV]
Solider: Gump, how can you watch that stupid shit? Turn it off.

[Forrest is hit on the back of his head by a ping pong]
Soldier: Good catch, Gump. You know how to play this? Come on. Let me show 

you. Now the secret to this game is, no matter what happens, never, ever take 

your eye off the ball. [starts hitting the ping pong back and forth, Forrest 

keeps his eyes on the ball] 
Soldier: Alright. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] For some reason, ping-pong came very natural to 

me. 
Soldier: See? Any idiot can play.
Forrest Gump: [voice over] So I started playing it all the time. I played 

ping-pong even when I didn't have anyone to play ping-pong with. The 

hospital's people said it made me look like a duck in water, whatever that 

means. Even Lieutenant Dan would come and watch me play. I played ping-pong 

so much, I even played it in my sleep.

[Forrest lies in his bed asleep when suddenly Lt. Dan pulls Forrest to the 

floor, and holds Forrest down]
Lt. Dan Taylor: Now, you listen to me. We all have a destiny. Nothing just 

happens. It's all part of a plan! I should have died out there with my men, 

but now, I'm nothing but a goddamn cripple! A legless freak! Look! Look! Look 

at me! Do you see that? Do you know what it's like not to be able to use your 

legs? 
Forrest Gump: Ye-yes, sir, I do. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Did you hear what I said? You cheated me! I had a destiny. I 

was supposed to die in the field with honor! That was my destiny, and you 

cheated me out of it! You understand what I'm saying, Gump? This wasn't 

supposed to happen. Not to me. I had a destiny. I was Lieutenant Dan Taylor. 
Forrest Gump: Yo-you're still Lieutenant Dan.
[Lt. Dan sits up] 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Look at me. What am I going to do now? What am I going to do 

now?

[TV news reel shows Forrest is being awarded the Medal of Honor by President 

Johnson]
President Lyndon B. Johnson: America owes you a debt of gratitude, son. I 

understand you were wounded. Where were you hit?
Forrest Gump: In the but-tocks, sir.
President Lyndon B. Johnson: Well, that must be a sight. 
[Whispering to Forrest]
President Lyndon B. Johnson: I'd like to see that.
[Forrest drops his pants, bends over and shows the bullet wound on his bare 

buttocks, President Johnson looks down, smiles and walks away shaking his 

head]
President Lyndon B. Johnson: Goddamn, son! 

[Forrest is walking by the Lincoln Memorial and gets caught up in an anti-war 

rally led by activist Abbie Hoffman]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] There was this man giving a little talk. And for 

some reason, he was wearing an American flag for a shirt. And he liked to say 

the "F" Word. A lot. "F" This and "F" That. And every time he said the "F" 

Word, people, for some reason, well, they'd cheer.

[on the stage Abbie Hoffmann steps up to Forrest]
Abbie Hoffman: Tell us a little bit about the war, man.
Forrest Gump: The war in Vietnam?
[into the microphone] 
Abbie Hoffman: The war in Viet-fucking-nam!
[audience cheers]

[after Forrest have given his speech about Vietnam war]
Abbie Hoffman: That's so right on, man. You said it all. What's your name, 

man?
Forrest Gump: My name is Forrest. Forrest Gump.
Abbie Hoffman: Forrest Gump.
Crowd: Gump!
Jenny Curran: [shouting] Forrest! Forrest!
Forrest Gump: Jenny!
[Forrest sees Jenny in the crowd and jumps into the crowd to run towards her. 

They both run through the water in the reflection pool. The crowd cheers once 

they embrace]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] It was the happiest moment of my life. Jenny and 

me were just like peas and carrots again. She showed me around and even 

introduced me to some of her new friends.
[Jenny has taken him to the Black Panther Headquarters]

[to Forrest at the Black Panther Headquarters]
Ruben: Shut that blind, man. And get your white ass away from that window. 

Don't you know we in war here?

[Forrest tackles Wesley, Jenny's boyfriend, when he has hit Jenny across the 

face]
Jenny Curran: Forrest! Stop it! Stop it! 
Wesley: I shouldn't have brought you here. I should have known it was going 

to be some bullshit hassle!
Forrest Gump: He should not be hitting you, Jenny. 
Jenny Curran: Come on, Forrest.
Forrest Gump: Sorry I had a fight in the middle of your Black Panther party.
Jenny Curran: He doesn't mean it when he does things like this. He doesn't
Forrest Gump: I would never hurt you, Jenny. 
Jenny Curran: I know you wouldn't, Forrest. 
Forrest Gump: I wanted to be your boyfriend. 
[they walk in silence] 
Jenny Curran: That uniform is a trip, Forrest. You look handsome in it. You 

do.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] We walked around all night, Jenny and me, just 

talkin'. She told me about all the traveling she'd done and how she 

discovered ways to expand her mind and learn how to live in harmony, which 

must be out west somewhere, 'cause she made it all the way to California.

[Jenny is preparing to board a bus back to Berkeley]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] It was a very special night for the two of us. I 

didn't want it to end.
Forrest Gump: Wish you wouldn't go, Jenny.
Jenny Curran: I have to, Forrest. 
Wesley: Jenny? Things got a little out of hand. It's just this war and that 

lying son of a bitch Johnson and…I would never hurt you. You know that. 
Forrest Gump: Know what I think? I think you should go home to Greenbow, 

Alabama! 
Jenny Curran: Forrest, we have very different lives, you know. 
Forrest Gump: I want you to have this.
[he places his Medal of Honor in Jenny’s hand] 
Jenny Curran: Forrest, I can't keep this. 
Forrest Gump: I got it just by doing what you told me to do.
Jenny Curran: Why are you so good to me?
Forrest Gump: You're my girl. 
Jenny Curran: I'll always be your girl. 
[they embrace and Jenny boards onto the bus with Wesley] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And just like that, she was gone out of my life 

again.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] I thought I was going back to Vietnam, but instead 

they decided the best way for me to fight the communists was to play ping-

pong, so I was in the Special Services, traveling around the country, 

cheering up all them wounded veterans and showing 'em how to play ping-pong. 

I was so good that some years later the Army decided that I should be on the 

All-American ping-pong team. We were the first Americans to visit the land of 

China in like a million years or something like that, and somebody said world 

peace was in our hands, but all I did was play ping-pong. When I got home I 

was a national celebrity. Famouser even than Captain Kangaroo.

[Forrest being interviewed on the Dick Cavett show]
Forrest Gump: In the land of China, people hardly got nothing at all.
John Lennon: No possessions?
Forrest Gump: And in China they never go to church.
John Lennon: No religion too?
Dick Cavett: Oh. Hard to imagine.
John Lennon: Well it's easy if you try, Dick.    

[Forrest sees Lt. Dan. outside the TV studio, he's in a wheelchair looking 

dirty with long hair]
Lt. Dan Taylor: They gave you the Congressional Medal of Honor. 
Forrest Gump: Yes, sir. They surely did. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: They gave you, an imbecile, a moron who goes on television 

and makes a fool out of himself in front of the whole damn country, the 

Congressional Medal of Honor.
Forrest Gump: Yes, sir. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Well, then, that's just perfect! Yeah, well, I just got one 

thing to say to that. Goddamn bless America.
[Lt. Dan's wheelchair begins to slide down the ramp and spins crashing at the 

bottom of the ramp]
Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan!

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Lieutenant Dan said he was living in a hotel. And 

because he didn't have no legs, he spent most of his time exercising his 

arms.

Forrest Gump: What do you do here in New York, Lt. Dan?
Lieutenant Daniel Taylor: I am living off the government tit! Sucking it dry!

Lt. Dan Taylor: Have you found Jesus yet, Gump? 
Forrest Gump: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.
[Lt. Dan chuckles] 
Lt. Dan Taylor: That's all these cripples at the VA, that's all they ever 

talk about. Jesus this and Jesus that. Have I found Jesus? They even had a 

priest come and talk to me. He said God is listening, but I have to help 

myself. Now, if I accept Jesus into my heart, I'll get to walk beside him in 

the kingdom of heaven. 
[he becomes enraged as he throws the bottle and looks at Forrest] 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Did you hear what I said? WALK beside him in the kingdom of 

heaven. Well, kiss my crippled ass. God is listening? What a crock of shit.
Forrest Gump: I'm going to heaven, Lieutenant Dan. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Oh? Ah, well, before you go, why don't you get your ass down 

to the corner and get us another bottle of ripple.
Forrest Gump: Yes, sir.

Lt. Dan Taylor: What the hell is in Bayou La Batre?
Forrest Gump: Shrimpin' boats. 

Lt. Dan Taylor: Shrimping boats? Who gives a shit about shrimping boats? 
Forrest Gump: I gotta buy me one of them shrimpin' boats as soon as I have 

some money. I made me a promise to Bubba in Vietnam, that as soon as the war 

was over, we'd go in partners. He'd be the captain of the shrimpin' boat and 

I'd be his first mate. But now that he's dead, that means I gotta be the 

captain. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: A shrimp boat captain. 
Forrest Gump: Yes, sir. A promise is a promise, Lieutenant Dan.
[Lt. Dan starts to chuckle and shouts] 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Now hear this! Private Gump here is gonna be a shrimp boat 

captain. Well, I tell you what, Gilligan. The day that you are a shrimp boat 

captain, I will come and be your first mate. 
Forrest Gump: Okay.
Lt. Dan Taylor: If you're ever a shrimp boat captain, that's the day I'm an 

astronaut!

Lenore: Mr Hot Wheels. Who's your friend?
Forrest Gump: My name is Forrest. Forrest Gump. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: This is Cunning Carla and Long-limbs Lenore.

[Forrest is back in Lt. Dan's hotel room. Lenore leaps on him and begins to 

kiss him and grabbing his crotch. Forrest stands up nervously, causing Lenore 

to fall down on the floor]
Lenore: [angrily] What are you, stupid or something? What's your problem? 

What's his problem? Did you lose your pecker in the war or something?
Carla: Is your friend stupid or something?
Lt. Dan Taylor: What did you say? 
Carla: I said is your friend stupid or something?
Lt. Dan Taylor: Hey! Don't call him stupid!
Lenore: Hey, don't push her! 
Lt. Dan Taylor: You shut up! Don't you ever call him stupid! 
Carla: What's the matter, baby? Why you so upset? 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Get the hell out of here!
Lenore: You stupid gimp. You belong in "Ripley's Believe It Or Not." 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Get your goddamn clothes and get the hell out of here! 
Lenore: You should be in a sideshow. You're so pathetic! 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Get out of here!
Carla: You retard!
Lenore: Loser. You freak!

 

Forrest Gump: I'm sorry I ruined your New Year's Eve party, Lieutenant Dan. 

She tastes like cigarettes.
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I guess Lieutenant Dan figured there's some things 

you can't change. He didn't want to be called crippled just, like I didn't 

want to be called stupid. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Happy New Year, Gump. 

[President Nixon awarding Forest U.S table tennis tournament medal in 1972]
President Richard M. Nixon: So are you enjoying yourself in our nation's 

capital, young man?
Forrest Gump: Yes, sir.
President Richard M. Nixon: Well, where are you staying?
Forrest Gump: It's called the Hotel Ebbott.
President Richard M. Nixon: Oh, no, no, no, no. I know of a much nicer hotel. 

It's brand new. Very modern. I'll have my people take care of it for you. 

[in the Watergate hotel on phone with security] 
Forrest Gump: Yeah. Sir…You might want to send a maintenance man over to 

that office across the way. The lights are off and they must be looking for a 

fuse box, 'cause them flashlights they're… they're keeping me awake. 
Security: Okay, sir. I'll check it out. 
Forrest Gump: Thank you. 
Security: No Problem.
Forrest Gump: Good night.
[Forrest hangs up the phone and by the phone is the hotel stationary, which 

reads "The Watergate Hotel"]

[President Nixon making his resignation speech on TV]
President Richard M. Nixon: Therefore, I shall resign the presidency 

effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President 

at that hour in this office.

[Forrest is playing ping-pong by himself at the gymnasium. An officer steps 

up to him]
Officer: Forrest Gump.
Forrest Gump: Yes, sir! 
Officer: As you were. I have your discharge papers. Service is up, son. 
Forrest Gump: Does this mean I can't play ping-pong no more? 
Officer: For the Army, it does. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And just like that, my service in the United 

States Army was over. So I went home.

[a feather floats through the air and finally lands on Forrest's muddy 

trainers. He picks up the feather and places it in his book]
[first lines]
Forrest Gump: Hello. My name's Forrest, Forrest Gump. [he opens a box of 

chocolates and holds it out to a nurse sat next to him] 
Forrest Gump: You want a chocolate?

Forrest Gump: My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You 

never know what you're gonna get.    

Forrest Gump: Those must be comfortable shoes, I bet you could walk all day 

in shoes like those and not feel a thing. I wish I had shoes like that.
Nurse at Bus Bench: My feet hurt.
Forrest Gump: Mama always said there's an awful lot you can tell about a 

person by their shoes. Where they're going, where they've been. I've worn 

lots of shoes. I bet if I think about it real hard, I could remember my first 

pair of shoes. Mama said they'd take me anywhere. She said they was my magic 

shoes. 

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now when I was a baby, Mama named me after the 

great Civil War hero General Nathan Bedford Forrest. She said we was related 

to him in some way. What he did was he started up this club called the Ku 

Klux Klan. They'd all dress up in their robes and their bed sheets and act 

like a bunch of ghosts or spooks or something'. They'd even put bed sheets on 

their horses and ride around. And anyway, that's how I got my name, Forrest 

Gump. Mama said the Forrest part was to remind me that sometimes we all do 

things that, well, just don't make no sense.

[to young Forrest] 
Mrs. Gump: Don't ever let anybody tell you they're better than you, Forrest. 

If God intended everybody to be the same, he'd have given us all braces on 

our legs.
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Mama always had a way of explaining things so I 

could understand them.

[to young Forrest]
Mrs. Gump: Remember what I told you, Forrest. You're no different than 

anybody else is. Did you hear what I said, Forrest? You're the same as 

everybody else. You are no different.
[in the school Principal’s office] 
Principal: Your boy's… different, Mrs. Gump. Now, his I.Q. is seventy-five.
Mrs Gump: Well, we're all different, Mr. Hancock.

[The principal holds up a I.Q chart and points to the center of the graph, 

labeled "Normal"]
Principal: I want to show you something, Mrs Gump. Now, this is normal. 

Forrest is right here. The state requires a minimum I.Q. of eighty to attend 

public school Mrs Gump. He's going to have to go to a special school. Now, 

he'll be just fine.
Mrs. Gump: What does normal mean anyway? He might be a bit on the slow side, 

but my boy Forrest is gonna get the same opportunities as everyone else. He's 

not going to some special school to learn how to retread tyres. We're talking 

about five little points here. There must be somethin' can be done.
Principal: We're a progressive school system. We don't want to see anybody 

left behind. Is there a Mr. Gump, Mrs. Gump?
Mrs. Gump: He's on vacation. 

[Forrest sitting outside his house, he can hear loud male grunts coming from 

inside the house. Then the school principal steps out and wipes the sweat 

from his face]
Principal: Well, your mama sure does care about your schooling, son.
[Forrest remains quiet] 
Principal: You don't say much, do you?
[Forrest imitates the noises he had just heard]
Young Forrest Gump: eh, eh, eh, eh, eh…

Young Forrest Gump: Mama, what's vacation mean?
Mrs. Gump: Vacation? 
Young Forrest Gump: Where daddy went? 
Mrs. Gump: Vacation's when you go somewhere…and you don't ever come back.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] I remember the bus ride on the first day of school 

very well.
[the school bus driver opens the door, Forrest steps on to the bus and looks 

at the driver]
Dorothy Harris: Are you coming along? 
Young Forrest Gump: Mama said not to be takin' rides from strangers. 
Dorothy Harris: This is the bus to school.
Young Forrest Gump: I'm Forrest, Forrest Gump.
Dorothy Harris: I'm Dorothy Harris. 
Young Forrest Gump: Well, now we ain't strangers anymore.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] You know, it's funny what a young man recollects, 

'cause I don't remember being born. I don't recall what I got for my first 

Christmas, and I don't know when I went on my first outdoor picnic, but I do 

remember the first time I heard the sweetest voice in the wide world.
[back on the school bus a young girl about Forrest’s age speaks up]
Young Jenny Curran: You can sit here if you want. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. 

She was like an angel.
Young Jenny Curran: Well, are you going to sit down or aren't ya?
[Forrest sits down next to her] 
Young Jenny Curran: What's wrong with your legs? 
Young Forrest Gump: Nothing at all, thank you. My legs are just fine and 

dandy.
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I just sat next to her on that bus and had a 

conversation all the way to school.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Next to Mama, no one ever talked to me or asked me 

questions.
Young Jenny Curran: Are you stupid or something? 
Young Forrest Gump: Mama says, "Stupid is as stupid does."
Young Jenny Curran: I'm Jenny.
Young Forrest Gump: I'm Forrest, Forrest Gump.
Forrest Gump: [voice over] From that day on, we was always together. Jenny 

and me was like peas and carrots. She taught me how to climb…
[Jenny is sitting on a tree branch]
Young Jenny Curran: Come on, Forrest, you can do it. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over]…I showed her how to dangle. She helped me learn 

how to read, and I showed her how to swing. Sometimes, we'd just sit out and 

wait for the stars.

[referring to his friendship with Jenny]
Forrest Gump: [voice over]She was my most special friend. My only friend. 

[talking to the nurse on the bench who doesn't seem to be listening as she 

reads her magazine]
Forrest Gump: My Mama always told me that miracles happen every day. Some 

people don't think so, but they do. 

Boy 1: Hey, dummy! 
Boy 2: Are you retarded, or just plain stupid?
Boy 3: Look, I'm Forrest Gump.
Young Jenny Curran: Just run away, Forrest. Run, Forrest! Run away! Hurry!

[when bullies from school start chasing young Forrest]
Young Jenny Curran: Run, Forrest, run! Run, Forrest!

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now, you wouldn't believe it if I told you, but I 

can run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was going somewhere, I 

was running.

[young Forrest running away from the bullies runs across the street where two 

old men siting in a barber shop notice him]
Old man in barbershop: That boy sure is a runnin' fool!

[young Jenny's father is chasing her through the fields to beat her when she 

stops and hides in the corn field]
Young Jenny Curran: Pray with me, Forrest. Pray with me. Dear God, make me a 

bird so I can fly far, far, far away from here. Dear God, make me a bird so I 

can fly far… 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Mama always said God is mysterious. He didn't turn 

Jenny into a bird that day. Instead, he had the po-lice say Jenny didn't have 

to stay in that house no more. She was to live with her grandma, just over on 

Creekmore Avenue, which made me happy, 'cause she was so close. Some nights, 

Jenny'd sneak out and come on over to my house, just 'cause she said she was 

scared. Scared of what, I don't know. But I think it was her grandma's dog. 

He was a mean dog. Anyway, Jenny and me was best friends all the way up 

through high school.

[back on the bus bench Forrest continues his story]
Forrest Gump: Now, it used to be, I ran to get where I was goin'. I never 

thought it would take me anywhere.
[a grown Forrest running away from the local bullies runs across the high 

school football field during a football scrimmage]
Football Coach: Who in the hell is that? 
Assistant Football Coach: That there is Forrest Gump, coach. Just a local 

idiot.
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And can you believe it? I got to go to college, 

too. 

[Forrest is in the University of Alabama football team and one of his 

teammates runs over and hands him the ball]
Coach Bryant: Run, you stupid son of a bitch! Run!
[Forrest runs across the field getting past everyone scoring a touch down but 

continues to run, smashing through the band members, then all the way toward 

the team tunnel]
Coach Bryant: He must be the stupidest son of a bitch alive, but he sure is 

fast! 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now, maybe it's just me, but college was very 

confusing times.

[in Jenny’s college dorm room]
Jenny Curran: Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you're gonna be?
Forrest Gump: Who I'm gonna be? 
Jenny Curran: Yeah.
Forrest Gump: Aren't I gonna to be me?
Jenny Curran: You'll always be you, just another kind of you. You know? I 

want to be
famous. I want to be a singer like Joan Baez. I just want to be on an empty 

stage with my guitar, my voice. Just me. And I want to reach people on a 

personal level. I want to be able to say things, just one to one.
[Jenny has taken off her slip and sits on the bed next to Forrest with only 

her bra and panties. Forrest looks at her nervously]
Jenny Curran: Have you ever been with a girl, Forrest?
Forrest Gump: [nervously] I sit next to them in my Home Economics class all 

the time.
[Jenny removes her bra and takes his hand and guides it up to her breast, 

Forrest looks at Jenny's breasts then shudders as he has an orgasm] 
Forrest Gump: Ohh…Oh…I'm sorry. Sorry. 
Jenny Curran: It's okay.
Forrest Gump: Sorry. 
Jenny Curran: It's all right. It's okay.
Forrest Gump: Oh…I'm dizzy. 
Jenny Curran: I'll bet that never happened in Home Ec. 
Forrest Gump: No. I think I ruined your roommate's bathrobe.
Jenny Curran: I don't care. I don't like her, anyway. 

Forrest Gump: [voice over] College ran by real fast 'cause I played so much 

football. They even put me on a thing called the All-America team where you 

get to meet the President of the United States.

[Forrest is at the White House Standing in front of a food table with a large 

spread of 
food and soda]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] The really good thing about meeting the President 

of the United States is the food. They put you in this little room with just 

about anything you'd want to eat or drink. But since, number one, I wasn't 

hungry, but thirsty, and number two, they was free, I must have drank me 

about fifteen Dr. Peppers.

[Black and white news reel footage shows President Kennedy shaking hands with 

the All-American football players, Forrest steps up to the President to shake 

his hand]
President Kennedy: Congratulations. How do you feel?
Forrest Gump: I gotta pee. 
[President Kennedy turns and smiles to the camera]
President Kennedy: I believe he said he had to pee.    

[Forrest has just graduated from college]
Military Recruit Officer: Congratulations, son. Have you given any thought to 

your future?
[Forrest looks a the military pamphlet the recruit officer has just handed to 

him]
Forrest Gump: "Thought"?

Forrest Gump: Hello. I'm Forrest. Forrest Gump. 
Army Bus Driver: Nobody gives a horse's shit who you are, fuzzballl! You're 

not even a low-life, scum-sucking maggot! Get your maggoty ass on the bus! 

You're in the army now! 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] At first it seemed like I made a mistake seeing 

how it was only my induction day, and I was getting yelled at. 
[Forrest steps forward, looking much like he did on his first bus ride to 

school years ago when no one would let him sit next to them] 
Bubba: Sit down if you want to. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I didn't know who I might meet or what they might 

ask.

[Bubba has just offered Forrest the seat next to him on the army bus]
Bubba: You ever been on a real shrimp boat? 
Forrest Gump: No. But I been on a real big boat. 
Bubba: I'm talkin' about a shrimp catchin' boat. I been working on shrimp 

boats all my life. I started out on my uncle's boat, that's my mama's 

brother, when I was about maybe nine. I was just lookin' into buyin' my own 

boat and got drafted. My given name is Benjamin Buford Blue. People call me 

Bubba, just like one of them ol' redneck boys. Can you believe that?
Forrest Gump: My name's Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump. 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] So Bubba was from Bayou la Batre, Alabama, and his 

mama cooked shrimp. And her mama before her cooked shrimp, and her mama 

before her mama cooked shrimp, too. Bubba's family knew everything there was 

to know about the shrimpin' business.
Bubba: I know everything there is to know about the shrimpin' business. 

Matter of fact, I'm goin' into the shrimpin' business by myself after I get 

out of the army.

Drill Sergeant: Gump! What's your sole purpose in this army? 
Forrest Gump: To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant! 
Drill Sergeant: God damn it, Gump, you're a goddamn genius. That's the most 

outstanding answer I've ever heard. You must have a goddamn I.Q. of a hundred 

and sixty! You are goddamn gifted, Private Gump.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now for some reason, I fit in the army like one of 

them round pegs. It's not really hard. You just make your bed real neat and 

remember to stand up straight, and always answer every question with "Yes, 

drill sergeant." 
Drill Sergeant: …Is that clear?
Forrest Gump: [shouts] Yes, drill sergeant!

[the recruits are assembling their rifles] 
Bubba: What you do is you just drag your nets along the bottom. On a good 

day, you can catch over a hundred pounds of shrimp. If everything goes all 

right, two men shrimpin' ten hours, less what you spends on gas, you can…
[Forrest has finished assembling his rifle]
Forrest Gump: DONE, DRILL SERGEANT!
Drill Sergeant: GUUUUUUMP! Why did you put that weapon together so quickly, 

Gump?
Forrest Gump: [confused] You told me to, Drill Sergeant?
Drill Sergeant: Jesus H. Christ! [looks at stopwatch] This is a new company 

record! If it wouldn't be such a waste of a damn-fine enlisted man I'd 

recommend you for OCS! You are gonna be a general someday, Gump, now 

disassemble your weapon and continue!
[Bubba continues talking about shrimp to Forrest]
Bubba: Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can 

barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's uh, shrimp kabobs, 

shrimp creole…
[the next day Bubba continues when their shining their shoes] 
Bubba: …shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple 

shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp…
[the next day Bubba continues when they are on their hands and knees 

scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes]
Bubba: …shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp in potatoes, shrimp 

burger, shrimp sandwich. That-that's about it.

[Forrest visits Jenny in the night club she's working at, she's sitting on a 

stool on the stage naked and begins to play her guitar and sing] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] Her dream had come true. She was a folk singer.

[after Forrest has carried Jenny away from the stage in the night club where 

she was singing topless]
Jenny Curran: You can't keep doing this, Forrest. You can't keep tryin' to 

rescue me all the time.
Forrest Gump: They was tryin' to grab you.
Jenny Curran: A lot of people try to grab me. You…you can't keep doing this 

all the time.
Forrest Gump: I can't help it. I love you. 
Jenny Curran: Forrest, you don't know what love is. 
[Jenny turns and looks over the bridge]
Jenny Curran:You remember that time we prayed, Forrest? We prayed for God to 

turn me into a bird so I could fly far, far away? 
Forrest Gump: Yes, I do. 
Jenny Curran: You think I could fly off this bridge? 
Forrest Gump: What do you mean, Jenny? 
Jenny Curran: Nothing.

Forrest Gump: They sending me to Vietnam. It's this whole other country. 
[to the driver]
Jenny Curran: Just hang on a minute.
[to Forrest]
Jenny Curran: Listen, you promise me something, okay? Just if you're ever in 

trouble, don't try to be brave. You just run, Okay? Just run away.
Forrest Gump: Okay. Jenny, I'll write you all the time.
[Jenny takes a last look at Forrest, then climbs into the truck which drives 

away] 
Forrest Gump: [voice over] And just like that, she was gone.

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Now. they told us that Vietnam was going to be 

very different from the United States of America. Except for all the beer 

cans and the barbecues, it was. 

[to Forrest]
Bubba: Y'know I'll bet there's shrimp all in these waters. They tell me these 

Vietnams is good shrimp. After we win this war and we take over everything, 

we can get American shrimpers to come out here and shrimp these waters. We'll 

just shrimp all the time, man.

[Forrest and Bubba salute Lt. Dan]
Lt. Dan Taylor: Ho! Get your hands down. Do not salute me. There are goddamn 

snipers all around this area who'd love to grease an officer. I'm Lieutenant 

Dan Taylor. Welcome to Fort Platoon.
[Lt. Dan looks at Bubba]
Lt. Dan Taylor: What's wrong with your lip?
Bubba: I was born with big gums, sir. 
Lt. Dan Taylor: Well, you better tuck that in. Gonna get that caught on a 

trip wire. Where are you boys from in the world?
Bubba, Forrest Gump: Alabama, sir!
Lt. Dan Taylor: You twins?
[Forrest and Bubba look at each other oddly not getting the joke] 
Forrest Gump: No. We are not relations, sir. 

Forrest Gump: [voice over] Lieutenant Dan sure knew his stuff. I felt real 

lucky he was my lieutenant. He was from a long, great military tradition. 

Somebody in his family had fought and died in every single American war.
[we see 3 different settings where distant relatives of Lt. Dan are fighting 

in major American wars]
Forrest Gump: [voice over] I guess you could say he had a lot to live up to.