Memorable quotes for
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

advertisement

Fred Gailey: Look Doris, someday you're going to find that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn't work. And when you do, don't overlook those lovely intangibles. You'll discover those are the only things that are worthwhile.

---

Doris: Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don't you see? It's not just Kris that's on trial, it's everything he stands for. It's kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles.

---

Charles Halloran: All right, you go back and tell them that the New York State Supreme Court rules there's no Santa Claus. It's all over the papers. The kids read it and they don't hang up their stockings. Now what happens to all the toys that are supposed to be in those stockings? Nobody buys them. The toy manufacturers are going to like that; so they have to lay off a lot of their employees, union employees. Now you got the CIO and the AF of L against you and they're going to adore you for it and they're going to say it with votes. Oh, and the department stores are going to love you too and the Christmas card makers and the candy companies. Ho ho. Henry, you're going to be an awful popular fella. And what about the Salvation Army? Why, they got a Santa Claus on every corner, and they're taking a fortune. But you go ahead Henry, you do it your way. You go on back in there and tell them that you rule there is no Santy Claus. Go on. But if you do, remember this: you can count on getting just two votes, your own and that district attorney's out there.
Judge Henry X. Harper: The District Attorney's a Republican.

---

Fred Gailey: Is it true that you're the owner of one of the biggest department stores in New York City?
Mr. R. H. Macy: THE biggest!

---

Mrs. Mara: Sometimes I wish I married a butcher or a plumber.
District Attorney: My dear, if I lose this hearing, you may very well get your wish.

---

Doris: Would you please tell her that you're not really Santa Claus, that actually is no such person?
Kris Kringle: Well, I hate to disagree with you, but not only IS there such a person, but here I am to prove it.

---

Fred: That baseball player sure looks like a giant to me.
Susan: Sometimes people grow very large, but that's abnormal.
Fred: I'll bet your mother told you that, too.

---

Susan: I believe... I believe... It's silly, but I believe.

---

District Attorney: What is your name?
Kris Kringle: Kris Kringle.
District Attorney: Where do you live?
Kris Kringle: That's what this hearing will decide.
Judge Henry X. Harper: A very sound answer, Mister Kringle.
District Attorney: Do you really believe that you're Santa Claus?
Kris Kringle: Of course.
District Attorney: [long pause] The state rests, your honor.

---

[Doris is trying to convince Susan there is no Santa Claus]
Susan Walker: But when he spoke Dutch to that girl...
Doris Walker: Susan, I speak French, but that doesn't make me Joan of Arc.

---

Kris Kringle: You see, Mrs. Walker, this is quite an opportunity for me. For the past 50 years or so I've been getting more and more worried about Christmas. Seems we're all so busy trying to beat the other fellow in making things go faster and look shinier and cost less that Christmas and I are sort of getting lost in the shuffle.

---

Kris Kringle: You know what the imagination is?
Susan Walker: Oh, sure. That's when you see things, but they're not really there.
Kris Kringle: Well, that can be caused by other things, too.

---

Susan Walker: If you're really Santa Claus, you can get it for me. And if you can't, you're only a nice man with a white beard like mother says.

---

Fred Gailey: All my life I've wondered something, and now's my chance to find out. I'm going to find the answer to a question that's puzzled the world for centuries. Does Santa Claus sleep with his whiskers outside or in?
Kris Kringle: Always sleep with them out. Cold air makes them grow.

---

Kris Kringle: Now wait a minute, Susie. Just because every child can't get his wish that doesn't mean there isn't a Santa Claus.

---

Kris Kringle: No, but don't you see, dear? Some children wish for things they couldn't possibly use like real locomotives or B-29s.

---

Mr. Shellhammer: But... but maybe he's only a little crazy like painters or composers or... or some of those men in Washington.

---

Alfred, Macy janitor: Yeah, there's a lot of bad 'isms' floatin' around this world, but one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it's the same - don't care what Christmas stands for, just make a buck, make a buck.

---

Kris Kringle: Oh, Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind... and that's what's been changing. That's why I'm glad I'm here, maybe I can do something about it.

---

Doris Walker: I was wrong when I told you that, Susie. You must believe in Mr. Kringle and keep right on doing it. You must have faith in him.

---

Susan Walker: You mean it's like, 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.'
Doris Walker: Yes.
Susan Walker: I thought so.

---

Fred Gailey: Your Honor, every one of these letters is addressed to Santa Claus. The Post Office has delivered them. Therefore the Post Office Department, a branch of the Federal Governent, recognizes this man Kris Kringle to be the one and only Santa Claus.
Judge Henry X. Harper: Uh, since the United States Government declares this man to be Santa Claus, this court will not dispute it. Case dismissed.

---

Susan Walker: There's no such thing as giants.
Fred Gailey: What about the one Jack killed?
Susan Walker: Jack? Jack who?
Fred Gailey: Jack from "Jack and the Beanstalk".
Susan Walker: I never heard of that.
Fred Gailey: Sure you have. You must have forgotten. It's a fairy tale.
Susan Walker: Oh... one of those. I don't know any of those. My mother thinks they're silly.

---

Kris Kringle: To market, to market, to buy a fat pig! Home again, home again, jiggety-jig. To market, to market, to buy a fat hog! Home again, home again, jiggety-...

---

Kris Kringle: If that's normal, I don't want it!

---

Kris Kringle: [smells other Santa's breath] You've been drinking.
Drunken Santa Claus: Well, it's cold outside. A man's gotta do something to keep warm.

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot keywords	Amazon.com summary
User comments	Trivia	Goofs
Main details	IMDb quotes browser	Search quotes section
Browse titles with quotes by letter    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other