Duck Soup Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Rufus T. Firefly (played by Groucho Marx) in the movie Duck Soup, directed by Leo McCary (1933).

Though it didn't make as big of a splash as most Marx Brothers movies back in the day, Duck Soup is now considered one of their best—probably because it's a zany comedy that skewers a dead-serious subject: war.

In the story, Rufus T. Firefly becomes the leader of a nation called Freedonia, which is drawn into a silly war with a neighboring country called Sylvania. This is all for the honor of a dumpy lady named Miss Tisdale (Margaret Dumont).

Firefly fires this zinger at Tisdale while revving up his troops for battle. The line is typical of the insults that Groucho often lobbed at characters played by Dumont in almost every Marx Brother movie. Poor Margaret—what a way to make a living.

Why settle for a clip? You can dig in and watch the whole movie here.

Where you've heard it

We can't find a specific reference to this quote, but other lines like "Of course you know that this means war" lived on—most notably as taglines for Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.

And now for your viewing pleasure: the bunny himself.

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.

You might earn a few pretentious points by quoting an old Marx Brothers movie, but you earn cool points with us. It offsets, we think.