How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Out of Africa.
Quote #4
DENYS: I'm with you because I choose to be with you. I don't want to live someone else's idea of how to live. Don't ask me to do that. I don't want to find out one day that I'm at the end of someone else's life. I'm willing to pay for mine. To be lonely sometimes. To die alone, if I have to. I think that's fair.
KAREN: Not quite. You want me to pay for it as well.
DENYS: No, you have a choice, and you're not willing to do the same for me. I won't be closer to you, and I won't love you more because of a piece of paper.
Denys and his commitment issues strike again—the old "just a piece of paper" line. What's truly interesting is that Karen writes something similar in her memoirs about being uncomfortable with a lot of romantic conventions. In her writing she's the one ready to accept being lonely forever. But the film reverses those roles for dramatic effect.
Quote #5
KAREN: If she's not important, why won't you give it up? I have learned a thing that you haven't. There are some things worth having, but they come at a price, and I want to be one of them. I won't allow it.
DENYS: You have no idea the effect that language has on me.
Karen's putting her foot down on Denys' little trip with Felicity. Apparently, Meryl Streep had a real problem delivering this line. She didn't think the character would say that, while Sydney Pollack needed it to give the conflict between the lovers some oomph.
Quote #6
KAMANTE: I think that you had better get up. I think that God is coming.
This is an actual line that Kamante said to Karen, according to her memoir. Kamante refers to the destructive force of the fire as God approaching. Maybe if you think of your home burning down as a sign from God, then it's easier to accept.