Dorothy: You know, Ma, this reminds me of the time the heat went out in our old apartment back in Brooklyn. I was about, oh, seven years old, 'cause I was still sleeping with my rag doll Mrs Doolittle. I remember I woke up in the night with my teeth chattering. I got out of bed and tiptoed to your bedroom door. I opened it a crack and I whispered, "Mommy, Mrs. Doolittle is cold." "Mommy, Mrs Doolittle-"
Sophia: Dorothy?
Dorothy: Yes, Ma.
Sophia: Cut the crap, I'm not in the mood.

Rose: Darn, I forgot something.
Blanche: Go in your pyjamas.
Rose: No, it's not that. I forgot to say my prayers.
Dorothy: Oh, Rose, God wouldn't mind if you skipped a night. He's very busy these days. Most of his free time is spent talking to Pat Robertson.

Rose: Hello, God, it's me. Rose Nylund. I'm sorry to getting in touch so late tonight. I hope I didn't wake you.
Blanche: Oh, God.
Rose: One at a time, Blanche. Anyway, I just wanted to say I think you're still doing a terrific job.
Course, there's some things I don't understand. Like poverty. And the spokesmodel category on Star Search. But then again, you work your wonders in mysterious ways. A couple of years ago, on a night like this, I'd have frozen to death 'cause I was by myself. And now I have Dorothy and Blanche and Sophia to keep me warm. Not just on a cold winter's night, but all year long. Take care of them, God. If anything happened, I just-
Dorothy: [even deeper voice] Rose, thanks for the lovely prayer. Now shut up and get into bed.
Rose: Amen.

[After Dorothy's booming voice got Rose to wrap up her nighttime prayer]
Blanche: Nice work, Dorothy.
Dorothy: Wasn't me.
Blanche: Sweet Jesus, am I in trouble. Now I lay me down to sleep...

Blanche: You know, I'd almost forgotten about that night.
Dorothy: With all of us cramped into that bed, I had to sleep in positions I never thought possible.
Rose: Me too.
[Blanche is silent]

Rose: Tell me a story. It always worked when I was a little girl.
Blanche: I don't know any stories.
Rose: Make one up.
Blanche: Oh, all right. Once upon a time, there were three bears.
Rose: Not that one.
Blanche: Pigs.
Rose: No.
Blanche: Elephants and they lived with a girl named Rose.
Rose: The elephants lived in the house?
Blanche: They were elephant dolls. And every night when Rose went to bed, she'd take the elephants with her because they made her feel so safe and secure.
Rose: Elephant dolls?
Blanche: Right. Elephant dolls. Until finally one night, they got so sick and tired of Rose annoying them that they went to sleep someplace else. And two big, old escaped convicts snuck in through the window and murdered Rose in her sleep.

Dorothy: Ma, give me a break. I'll take my medicine later.
Sophia: You're a lousy patient, you know what?
Dorothy: What do you want from me? I'm sick.
Sophia: I don't know that? You think I've been sitting here for three nights just to look at you? Believe me, you're no oil painting. I've been sitting here because I thought you needed me. You needed me when you had the mumps, the chickenpox, whooping cough, rubella. Or was Rubella our cleaning lady? It doesn't matter. The point is, it hurts me to see my baby sick. But if I'm only being a nuisance, I'll be happy to leave you alone.

Sophia: I heard every word that you said. I wasn't asleep. I was just resting my eyes so you'd leave me alone. I used to do that with your father. It only worked about half of the time. Asleep, awake, it didn't matter to him. Men are built that way. No, it's a fact. I saw Dr. Art Ulene explain it on the Today Show with a plastic model.

Blanche: Well, it couldn't be any worse than trying to sleep on a hard, wooden bench in the middle of a railway station.
Sophia: Boy, you do it anyplace, don't you, Blanche?
Rose: Blanche is talking about coming back from Edna McCarthy's funeral.
Sophia: Edna McCarthy is dead? Oh, my God, that's terrible. I just sent her a chain letter. There's a dollar I'll never see.

Stationmaster: The 9:15 to Miami left at 8:45.
Dorothy: How could our train have left a half hour early?
Stationmaster: Oh, all the trains out of Apalapachoby leave early. That's what our town's famous for. Now, y'all may think this sounds kinda silly, but we actually printed "Our trains leave early" right on the town seal.
Rose: You have a town seal? Can he play a song on those little horns?
Stationmaster: No, but he'll balance a ball on his nose if you throw him a catfish first.
Blanche: This is like The Twilight Zone. Somehow we got on a train that ended up inside Rose's mind.