Mrs. Lindstrom: Thank you, Rosie. I think I will go to bed now.
Rose: Good night.
Dorothy: Good night, Alma.
Sophia: I'll go with ya. I'll bring the cards. Can I ask you a personal question, Alma? Did this Ben teach you how to gamble?
Mrs. Lindstrom: He taught me how to play cards and how to carve a pistol out of soap.

Rose: Why, look who's here! I want you all to meet my mother, Mrs. Lindstrom. (loudly) This is Blanche and this is Dorothy and Sophia.
Dorothy: (loudly) Very nice to meet you. Tell me, how was your trip?
Mrs. Lindstrom: (loudly) It was just fine. (normally) Which one of them is hard of hearing?
Rose: Oh, no one is, Mother. We just didn't want you to have to strain to hear us.
Mrs. Lindstrom: But there's nothing wrong with my ears!
Rose: Of course there isn't.

Rose: [entering] Hi, Blanche. You look terrific.
Blanche: Thanks! [exits]
Rose: Blanche looks terrible.
Dorothy: She looks terrible because all she eats is bee pollen.
Rose: I know! Isn't it ironic that the bees look so good?

Rose: Oh, Mother, are you all right?
Sophia: She's fine. I'm 50 bucks in the hole.
Mrs. Lindstrom: Look, Rose! I won $400! I told you she was all right.
Dorothy: Congratulations, Alma. Mom, I'll be in the living room in case you decide to explain where you got the $50 that you just lost.

Rose: You've had enough for one day. Sit down and I'll bring you a nice cup of tea.
Mrs. Lindstrom: I don't want a cup of tea, I want to go out and have fun!
Rose: Mother, you know how you get when you get tired. You're liable to lose your balance and break a hip. That's exactly how it happened the last time.
Mrs. Lindstrom: Rosie, I broke my hip ice skating!
Rose: Do you want to go back to the hospital? Did you have fun the last time?
Mrs. Lindstrom: I had more fun than I'm having here with you.
Rose: Mother!
Mrs. Lindstrom: Stop mothering me! You make me sorry I came!

Blanche: I do believe the man said "gorgeous." I'm gonna live forever!
Dorothy: Not outside of an institution.

Dorothy: Come on, Rose. You just checked the door two minutes ago.
Rose: I thought I heard something. I should never have let them go shopping. It's too dangerous.
Dorothy: Oh, what are you talking about?
Rose: Just this morning, I read where 1400 people were injured in a food riot in Calcutta.

Dirk: I really like being with you.
Blanche: Well, thank you, Dirk.
Dirk: I like the way you sound and the way you look.
Blanche: Why, thank you, Dirk.
Dirk: You remind me of my mother. She lives in Seattle and I haven't seen her in three years. But when I'm with you, I kind of feel like I'm home with Mom.
Blanche: ... Waiter! Eighty-six the watercress. I'll have the orange duck and a double Jack Daniel's on the rocks.

Mrs. Lindstrom: Personally, I don't see anything wrong with dating a younger man. The three years I had with Ben were some of the happiest of my life.
Rose: Mother!
Mrs. Lindstrom: After Daddy died and you kids moved out, there was just no way I could handle the place by myself. So I hired a farmhand. He was such a nice young man. He raved about my cooking. I guess they didn't feed him very well in prison. Anyway, we just loved being with each other. Of course, it was a particularly Ionely time for me and it was nice to have someone to talk to. And after awhile, he moved in. I don't think I could have gotten through those years without Ben. But when it was over, it was over. But we were both better off for having known each other.
Rose: Mother, how could you? A drifter? An ex-con? [off her mother's stern look] Oh, I'm sorry. I- I- You said he made you happy, that's what matters. Yeah, he was probably very nice for a drifting ex-con.

Rose: How can she talk to me like that? I'm only trying to take care of her.
Dorothy: Honey, can I talk to you as one daughter to another? Do you remember way back when we were teenagers? What was the one thing that we wanted most from our mothers?
Rose: A training bra?
Dorothy: Honey, the thing we wanted most was to be treated as adults. But then as we get older, we turn right around and start treating our mothers like little girls. All your mother wants to do is be treated like a woman. Is that asking too much?