The Cider House Rules Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Dr. Wilbur Larch (played by Michael Caine) in the movie The Cider House Rules, directed by Lasse Hallström (1999).

Loosen your heartstrings, Shmoopers. Based on the novel by John Irving, The Cider House Rules tells the story of an orphan named Homer (Tobey Maguire) who grows up in the orphanage of Dr. Wilbur Larch. The doc is a guy who likes to help out expecting mothers—at least mothers who don't want their babies. If they want to give birth, he takes their babies into his orphanage. If they don't want to give birth, he gives them an abortion. And then, to deal with his messed-up life, he gives himself lots of morphine.

The Doc is usually a little distant from his pack of orphans, except his surrogate son Homer. Despite this, he reads them a story every night and always signs off by telling them that they're princes and kings. As this clip confirms, they dig it.

Where you've heard it

If you're into edgy cartoons, you might've heard the line in American Dad, The Venture Bothers, or Futurama. If you're into edgy sitcoms, you might remember the episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where the gang finds a copy of the movie on laserdisc. (And, if you were born in the '90s, well… you probably don't know what a laserdisc is.)

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

It sounds a little highfalutin, but we see no reason to rank it too high on the pretentiousness scale. So, goodnight, you princes of Shmoop...