Can you believe it’s been nearly 27 years since Forrest Gump sat on that bench and delivered his famous quote, “life is like a box of chocolates”? On July 6, 1994, the slow, but sweet character played by Tom Hanks entered theaters—and our hearts. Besides being a blockbuster, the film was also critically acclaimed, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture that year, along with 13 other Oscar nominations.
To celebrate this classic movie, we’ve rounded up 20 of our favorite quotes from the film that includes Jenny, shrimp, running, mama and a box of chocolates.
Forrest Gump Quotes
- “Stupid is as stupid does.” – Forrest Gump
- “My mama always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’” -Forrest
- “Run, Forrest! Run!” – Jenny Curran
- “You have to do the best with what God gave you.” – Mrs. Gump
- “My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.” – Forrest
- “Mama always said, dying was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn’t.” – Forrest
- “Listen, you promise me something, OK? Just if you’re ever in trouble, don’t be brave. You just run, OK? Just run away.” – Jenny
- “What’s normal anyways?” -Forrest
- “Mama always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them.”- Forrest
- Bubba: My given name is Benjamin Buford Blue, but people call me Bubba. Just like one of them ol’ redneck boys. Can you believe that?
- Forrest: My name’s Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump.
- “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 shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That, that’s about it.” – Bubba
- “Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company [Apple computer]. 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.” – Forrest
- “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. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I 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. For 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, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going.” – Forrest
- Forrest: [running] I had run for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours.
- [he stops and turns around]
- Young Man Running: Quiet, quiet! He’s gonna say something!
- Forrest: I’m pretty tired… I think I’ll go home now.
- “I never thanked you for saving my life.” – Lieutenant Dan
- Forrest: What’s my destiny, Mama?
- Mrs. Gump: You’re gonna have to figure that out for yourself.
- “One day it started raining, and it didn’t quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin’ rain… and big ol’ fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night…” – Forrest
- “Bubba was my best good friend. And even I know that ain’t something you can find just around the corner. Bubba was going to be a shrimping boat captain, but instead, he died right there by that river in Vietnam.” – Forrest
- “Me and Jenny goes together like peas and carrots.” – Forrest
- “The best thing about visiting the President is the food! Now, since it was all free, and I wasn’t hungry but thirsty, I must’ve drank me fifteen Dr. Peppers.” – Forrest