The 20 most memorable quotes from 'The Shawshank Redemption' (2024)

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While “The Shawshank Redemption” is not a two-hander between Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, the characters of Andy and Red dominate on the memorable quote front. Andy’s refrain of “Get busy living, or get busy dying” is arguably the most-quoted line from the film.

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Red is a mentor to Andy, having been in prison for many years. He offers this as a warning to Andy, a bit of hard-earned cynicism from his own personal prison experience.

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Andy, of course, does not necessarily agree with Red. Instead, he has his own feelings on hope, the kind that helped him on his journey to escaping from Shawshank.

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Andy Dufresne is in prison for a murder he did not commit. While in prison, he uses his acumen with numbers to curry some favor by doing the books for the prison. That includes some, um, creative accounting, which is part of what inspired this line from Andy.

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Red does a lot of narrating in “Shawshank Redemption,” which is what you do when you cast Morgan Freeman (in a role that in the book is a white Irish guy). After Andy’s escape, Red is left to reflect on his complex emotions. This bit of narration ends somberly, if sweetly, with Red saying, “I guess I just miss my friend.”

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Here’s another Red line. The prisoners are given a bit of entertainment, some “high art” to try and teach them some culture, perhaps. Red is able to enjoy it, even if he can’t understand the language. He understands the emotion, though.

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Red says this at his parole hearing. He’s asked if he’s been “rehabilitated” and when he says he isn’t sure what that means, the man running the parole hearing starts to define it, before Red cuts him off to say this.

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This is part of a tete-a-tete about music between Andy and Red. Andy expounds on the beauty of music, and Red says he used to play harmonica before he was in prison, figuring it didn’t make sense anymore. Andy disagrees, saying music makes more sense than ever in prison, so that you don’t forget, well, what he says in this quote.

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This is a phrase used commonly and not as a movie quote. It cuts to the heart of the matter, that’s for sure. Red says it after he is denied parole, which is what he expected to happen.

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Hey, a quote from somebody who isn’t Andy or Red! It’s Floyd, one of the other prisoners who says it. He’s talking to Heywood, who calls the book “The Count of Monte Cristo” the “Count of Monte Crisco.” File that one under “Educational.”

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Brooks offers a brief, somber aside for the prisoners of Shawshank. He’s been in prison for ages, so much so that in his letter he is floored by there being cars everywhere. Alas, Brooks is unable to make it on the outside, unable to adjust to life and get his legs under him in a world without a place for this old crook. This is how he ends his letter. By the time the prisoner get it, Brooks has already killed himself.

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It’s a little morbid to have these two quotes back-to-back but, well, this is a film about a prison, so it’s not exactly a cheerful tale. The crooked warden has been bested, with Andy free and aware of all the criminality the warden has been involved with. Unable to face the penalty for his crimes, the warden opts to end his life instead. Red, reasonably given the way the warden treated the prisoners, is not feeling too solemn on the occasion.

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It’s a joke in Shawshank that nobody is actually guilty. That is, save for Red. When he tells Andy what he’s in for, Andy replies with “Innocent?” Red, shaking his head, offers this up.

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It’s the town in Mexico that Andy dreams of. It’s where he plans to escape to. He tells Red about it. Andy escapes, and when Red gets out, he has a letter from him. Andy asks, in the letter, of Red remembers the town's name. Then, we get to hear Freeman say, “Zihuatanejo.”

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More Zihuatanejo talk. Or, more specifically, the Pacific Ocean. This is what Andy says Mexicans say about the Pacific, and it is what Andy dreams of.

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Warden Norton, as we noted, is not a kind man. He does not mince words, clearly. This is how he introduces himself to the new inmates, and it doesn’t get any nicer from there.

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Andy says this incredulously to the warden, and probably introduced many people to the word “obtuse” in the process. He’s right to be incredulous, of course. The warden effectively keeps Andy from getting a retrial that could have him released from prison. Obtuse is the least of it.

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Andy is more hopeful than many of the inmates at Shawshank. Even he gets drained on occasion, though. As the protagonist of the film, it’s not surprising that Andy has to really go through some serious struggles and dark moments before he can rise toward triumph. This memorable line helps elaborate on that.

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We started with Andy’s most-quoted line, and this is Red’s. This is Red summing up, eloquently, what Andy has done in his escape from prison. It’s a moment of triumph not just for Andy, but for all the inmates at Shawshank, particularly his friend Red.

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These are the final lines of the film. Red is narrating one last time. He’s free, and he’s on his way to see Andy. It is fitting that the final line is “I hope.” Red had once found hope to be a dangerous thing. Now, he happily has it.