Memento Quotes from Leonard
I can’t remember to forget you.
Leonard Shelby
OK, so what am I doing? Oh, I’m chasing this guy. No…he’s chasing me.
Leonard Shelby
I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world’s still there. Do I believe the world’s still there? Is it still out there? Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I’m no different.
Leonard Shelby
I’m not a killer. I’m just someone who wanted to make things right. Can’t I just let myself forget what you’ve told me? Can’t I just let myself forget what you’ve made me do. You think I just want another puzzle to solve? Another John G. to look for? You’re John G. So you can be my John G. Will I lie to myself to be happy? In your case Teddy, yes I will.
Leonard Shelby
Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretation, they’re not a record, and they’re irrelevant if you have the facts.
Leonard Shelby
My wife deserves vengeance. Doesn’t make any difference whether I know about it. Just because there are things I don’t remember doesn’t make my actions meaningless. The world doesn’t just disappear when you close your eyes, does it?
Leonard Shelby
We all lie to ourselves to be happy.
Leonard Shelby
Memory’s not perfect. It’s not even that good. Ask the police. Eyewitness testimony is unreliable. The cops don’t catch a killer by sitting around remembering stuff. They collect facts, they make notes and they draw conclusions. Facts, not memory.
Leonard Shelby
If we talk for too long, I’ll forget how we started. Next time I see you, I’m not gonna remember this conversation. I don’t even know if I’ve met you before…I’ve told you this before, haven’t I?
Leonard Shelby
You can just feel the details. The bits and pieces you never bothered to put into words. And you can feel these extreme moments, even if you don’t want to. You put these together, and you get the feel of a person. Enough to know how much you miss them…and how much you hate the person who took them away.
Leonard Shelby
So where are you? You’re in some motel room. You just wake up and you’re in a motel room. There’s the key. It feels like maybe it’s just the first time you’ve been here, but perhaps you’ve been there for a week, three months. It’s kind of hard to say. I don’t know.
Leonard Shelby
It’s just an anonymous room. There’s nothing in the drawers. But you look anyway. Nothing except the Gideon bible, which I, of course, read religiously.
Leonard Shelby
I know what that’s going to sound like when I knock on it. I know what that’s going to feel like when I pick it up. See? Certainties. It’s the kind of memory that you take for granted.
Leonard Shelby
I always thought the pleasure of a book is not knowing what happens next.
Leonard Shelby
I don’t want to wake up in the morning, thinking she’s still here. I lie here not knowing how long I’ve been alone. So how…how can I heal? How am I supposed to heal if I can’t feel time?
Leonard Shelby
I was an investigator. I’d investigate the claims to see which ones were phony. I had to see through people’s bullshit. It was a useful experience, ’cause now it’s my life.
Leonard Shelby
She’s gone. And the present is trivia, which I scribble down as f*cking notes.
Leonard Shelby
He killed my wife. He took away my f*cking memory. He destroyed my ability to live.
Leonard Shelby
I want my f*cking life back!
Leonard Shelby
When I looked into his eyes I thought I saw recognition. Now I know. You fake it. If you think you’re supposed to recognize somebody you, you just pretend. You bluff it to get a pat on the head from the doctors. You bluff it to seem less like a freak.
Leonard Shelby
If we can’t make memories, we can’t heal.
Leonard Shelby
I was the only guy who disagreed with the cops, and I had brain damage.
Leonard Shelby
Now…where was I?
Leonard Shelby
I have this condition.
Leonard Shelby
Sammy Jankis wrote himself endless notes. But he’d get mixed up. I’ve got a more graceful solution to the memory problem. I’m disciplined and organized. I use habit and routine to make my life possible. Sammy had no drive. No reason to make it work.
Leonard Shelby
Awake. Where am I?
Leonard Shelby
Memento Quotes from Teddy
You don’t want the truth. You make up your own truth.
Teddy
But when you killed him I, I was so convinced that you’d remember. But it didn’t stick…like nothin’ ever sticks, like this won’t stick.
Teddy
I guess I can only make you remember the things you want to be true.
When she offers to help, it’ll be for her own reasons. I’m not lying. Take my pen, write this down. Do not trust her.
Teddy
You know, I’ve had more rewarding friendships than this one. Although I do get to keep telling the same jokes.
Teddy
You don’t know who you are anymore.
Teddy
So you lie to yourself to be happy. There’s nothing wrong with that, we all do it.
Teddy
That’s who you were. Maybe it’s time you started investigating yourself.
Teddy
It’s beer o’clock, and I’m buying.
Teddy
Someone has to pay, Lenny. Somebody always pays.
Teddy
Memento Quotes from Natalie
Is that what your little note says? It must be hard living your life off a couple of scraps of paper. You mix your laundry list with your grocery list, you’ll end up eating your underwear for breakfast.
Natalie
You sad, sad freak. I can say whatever the f*ck I want, and you won’t remember. We’ll still be best friends. Or maybe even lovers.
Natalie
Have any other favorite Memento quotes you’d add? Let me know in the comments!
Note: Memento is part of our list of “Movies That Make You Question Reality.”
You might also enjoy one of our other movie quote collections:
Originally Published: September 22, 2020
