Blanche: What I was referring to was a relationship I had in high school with a young man named Benjamin. You have to understand that in those days in the South, a lot of things were still taboo. Certain people were not to mix. So Benjamin and I had to meet in secret. We knew if any of the bigots in town found out about us, there'd be a terrible scandal. And then one day, I had to make a decision. Benjamin invited me to our senior prom. I didn't know what to do. Should I go out with this boy I really cared for, or should I bow to the pressures of an unjust society?
Dorothy: So, what did you do?
Blanche: I walked into that gymnasium on Benjamin's arm. Heads turned, jaws dropped. Why, the room was buzzing all evening. I didn't care. I had followed my heart. And I've never regretted it.
Rose: Oh, Blanche, that's a beautiful story. Oh, that must have taken real courage for both of you!
Dorothy: And it's terrible to think that the two of you were almost kept apart just because Benjamin was black.
Blanche: Black? Benjamin wasn't black. He was from New Jersey. I went to my senior prom with a Yankee!
Dorothy: A Yankee, a Yankee? That is incredible! And to think they made a movie about that deadbeat Gandhi, when there's a story like this that hasn't been told.

Blanche: I can't wait to meet Dr. Newman. He was fascinating on the phone. He analyzed my dream!
Dorothy: What dream?
Blanche: Oh, that recurring dream I have where I'm running naked through a train that keeps going through tunnel after tunnel, while a sweaty bodybuilder chases me. He said he thinks it's sexual.
Dorothy: He thinks? For God's sake, Blanche, you smoke a cigarette after that dream.
Blanche: Not all my dreams are sexual. I also dream about food. 'Course, I'm usually naked while I'm eating the food. You know, maybe all my dreams are sexual. Lucky me!

Blanche: Dorothy, I've just discovered a great new way to meet more men!
Sophia: More men? You're gonna need a turnstile in your bedroom.
Blanche: I enrolled in a CPR class. For six consecutive hours, I was on my back while dozens of eligible men pressed their lips to mine and breathed air into my limp little body!
Dorothy: So what? You did the same thing at McSorley's Bar Super Bowl weekend.

Blanche: [opens door] Oh, no, thank you, little boy, we already take the Miami Herald. [closes door]
Dorothy: Who was that?
Blanche: One of the Donaldson boys trying to sell us a newspaper subscription again. [doorbell rings]
Dorothy: Oh, those Donaldson kids won't take no for an answer.
Blanche: Neither would their father at our Fourth of July barbecue.
Dr. Jonathan Newman: Hello, I'm Dr. Jonathan Newman.
Dorothy: Are you absolutely sure?
Dr. Jonathan Newman: Yes, may I come in?
Dorothy: Oh, please, please. Please, come right in. May I take your height? Hat!
Dr. Jonathan Newman: You must be Dorothy. Rose has told me all about you.
Dorothy: I wish I could say the same.

Rose: Hi, Jonathan.
Dr. Jonathan Newman: Hello, Rose, you're looking lovely this evening.
Blanche: Oh, wait a minute! Rose Nyland, you devil, you! I just figured out what's going on here!
Dorothy: Blanche.
Blanche: You were sore at me for inviting your friend without asking you, so you hired this guy to come over and teach me a lesson! [laughs] You! You- [cries] God, I wish I was dead.

Blanche: Oh, I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life! I made a fool of myself, didn't I?
Dorothy: Yes!
Blanche: Oh, I feel awful, just awful!
Dorothy: Listen, if you don't want tonight to turn into a total disaster, you have to stop being so self-conscious.
Blanche: Oh, well, you're right, of course. Dr. Newman is a guest in our home. If I'm self-conscious, he'll be ill at ease. I can't allow that to happen. It would be unsouthern.
Dorothy: That's a good belle.
Blanche: [carrying a tray of h'orsdourves] Dorothy, get the door. [walking into the living room] Shrimp? [walks right back out]
Dr. Jonathan Newman: She's pretty uptight. I'm gonna have fun teasing her tonight.

Rose: Sophia!
Dorothy: [stammering] Oh, um, uh, Ma, this is Rose's friend, Dr. Jonathan Newman. Dr. Newman, this is my mother, Sophia.
Dr. Jonathan Newman: Nice to meet you, Sophia.
Sophia: Nice to meet you too. I hope this doesn't sound rude... but I've just gotten back from a long trip and I'm very tired. If you'll excuse me.
Dr. Jonathan Newman: Of course. Nice to have met you.
Sophia: Likewise. Dorothy, can I see you for a minute?
Dorothy: Yes, Ma, what is it?
Sophia: That guy over there, is he a midget?
Dorothy: Yes.
Sophia: Thank God. I thought I was having another stroke.

Sophia: What's going on?
Blanche: Oh, Rose has decided to keep on seeing Jonathan.
Sophia: Fine. We're all adults here. Let the man out of the pillowcase. We don't mind if he sleeps over.

Rose: How do I look?
Dorothy: Ooh. Oh, terrific!
Blanche: I'll say! To the untrained eye, that polyester could almost pass for silk!
Rose: It is silk.
Blanche: Oh, sure, Rose, and Cheryl Tiegs really buys her clothes at Sears.

Blanche: All right, spill it. Who is he?
Rose: His name is Dr. Jonathan Newman. He's a psychiatrist at the grief center.
Blanche: So Rose, you're seeing a psychiatrist?
Sophia: It's about time! The woman gives names to her gingerbread men!