Dorothy: Why can't we see her?
Nurse: I said family only.
Dorothy: Look, you have never met this woman's family. They live in a place called St. Olaf. They fight over whether it's macaroni and cheese, or cheese and macaroni. They have given cows the right to vote. A magician once pulled a rabbit out of a hat. They burned him as a witch. Don't look at me like that. I'm telling you the truth.

Blanche: Here, let me try, Sophia. Nurse, now we realize that the hospital has rules, and you have to try to uphold those rules. But you have to realize that this is a very special case. So I'm gonna quote from the Bible just to show you how determined we really are. Now the Good Book says, um Oh, "Neither rain, nor sleet, nor Nor dark of night, shall keepeth uth from our appointed rounds." Amen. I can see you are a non-believer.
Dorothy: I think it's nice that you're trying to quote the Bible. The only thing that's been in more hotel rooms than she has, and she can't remember a word of it.

Nurse: Look, I'm sure you're very close to Mrs. Nylund, and I know you feel like a family-
Sophia: Well, I am family. I'm her long lost Swedish mother.
Nurse: You're her Swedish mother?
Sophia: Ja. Ja. You bet yer sure. Oh, come on, let me in.

Blanche: Look, it's obvious they're not gonna let us see Rose, so I think the only thing we can do is pray. All right. Oh, please, God, hear our prayer. "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli."

Dorothy: Ma, please, no jokes.
Sophia: Pussycat, we all deal with this in our own way. Some people make nervous little jokes, some people cry. Remember how you went to the maternity ward?
Dorothy: Gee, I had forgotten that.
Blanche: What about the maternity ward?
Sophia: When Dorothy's father was sick in the hospital, she and I would go upstairs and visit the maternity ward. The night Sal died, I went looking for Dorothy and found her there. I remember because they were just putting a newborn in his bassinet and I thought, "That baby must have been born just as Sal died." He even looked like Sal. Of course, all babies look like Sal. Especially when he took out his teeth. Oh, God, I miss that man.
Dorothy: Me, too, Ma.

Blanche: Oh, God, Dorothy, look at her.
Dorothy: It's the surgery. Nobody looks good after surgery.
Sophia: Tell that to Cher.
Dorothy: Please, Ma, not now.
Sophia: No, Dorothy. You're wrong. I know Rose can hear us, and if we act like it's over, she will, too. Don't worry, kiddo. We're all here. You're gonna be fine. Dorothy is here. Blanche is here. She wants you to get out of the bed, so she can use it. There's a cute doctor she's got her eye on.

Sophia: And then the strangest thing happened. They put the baby's last name in the window and it was Rheingold.
Blanche: What was so strange about that?
Sophia: Rheingold. Rheingold was Sal's favorite beer. He was always walkin' around the apartment singing that damn jingle, "My beer is Rheingold the dry beer."
Blanche: Think of Rheingold whenever you buy beer
Dorothy: It's not bitter, not sweet
Both: It's the extra dry treat Won't you try extra dry Rheingold beer?

Dorothy: Well, Rose never takes anything for granted. She's never afraid to try something new.
Blanche: [laughing] You remember the time she took that playwriting course?
Dorothy: Oh, God. She turned "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into a musical.
Sophia: Don't laugh. Blanche was terrific as Mary. And I made a pretty good lamb, even though my knees were killing me for weeks. And Dorothy's performance stole the show.
Dorothy: Come on, I mean how could you not with material like that? [sings] "I am the wolf Boom, boom The big bad wolf Boom, boom... Hello."

Dorothy: Oh, I still can't believe it. They're not gonna let us in to see Rose.
Sophia: I bought some food.
Dorothy: I mean, this is ridiculous.
Sophia: Tell me about it. $11.50 for coffee and donuts?
Dorothy: Ma, where did you get the money for this?
Sophia: I took it from your purse.
Blanche: Oh, Sophia, you know what the Bible says, "Thou shalt not steal."
Sophia: Hey, she got one!

Dorothy: Why does it always have to take something like this to make us realize how much we take life for granted?
Blanche: Amen to that. I used to, but not anymore.
Sophia: Hell, at my age, you can't take lunch for granted. I had a tuna fish sandwich. [sobbing] It was beautiful.