How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Forrest Gump.
Quote #1
JENNY: Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you're going to be?
To Forrest, this question is as meaningless as asking what he thinks of Zayn Malik's new haircut. He doesn't understand the question, and he won't respond to it. To him, life happens in the present; people are who they are, and life is what it is. Only Jenny can dream big enough to imagine a future in which she's someone else. Fat lot of good it does her.
Quote #2
FORREST: Who I'm going to be? Aren't I going to be me?
Forrest must get his talent for folksy sayings from his momma because this is worthy of Mrs. Gump. He's always going to be himself, whether that's in the jungles of Vietnam or on the prow of a shrimping boat. To Forrest, that stability feels safe; to Jenny, it feels like a trap.
Quote #3
BUBBA: I'm going into the shrimping business myself after I get out of the Army.
Even Bubba has more of a dream than Forrest: he wants to own a shrimping boat. Unfortunately, he—like everyone else in the movie, except Forrest—doesn't get to fulfill his dream. That's okay! Forrest lives it for him. (If you're getting the sense that this movie is massively unfair to most of its characters, we'd have to say we think you're right.)