“The Shawshank Redemption (1994)“, by Sergio Kato, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Released in 1994, The Shawshank Redemption is a drama movie inspired by the 1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The movie is based on the story of a banker, Andy Dufresne, who is serving a life sentence at the Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murders of his wife and her lover. While in prison, Andy befriends contraband smuggler Ellis Redding, simply known as ‘Red’.  The two are then involved in a money-laundering operation with the help of prison wardens. The popular movie has won at least 21 awards and received 43 nominations. 

The Shawshank Redemption is a story of hope, friendship, persistence, courage, respect, and more. These quotes from The Shawshank Redemption will give you an idea of what this movie is all about. If you’ve already watched the movie (we hope you have), our collection of Shawshank Redemption movie quotes portrays a deeper meaning of life and all other themes depicted in this top-rated drama film. In the end, you will discover that the brilliant acting aside, there are some critical life lessons to learn from this movie.

Shawshank Redemption Quotes

“I guess it comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living or get busy dying.”

Andy Dufrense

“They send you here for life, that’s exactly what they’re taking.”

Red

“Bad luck, I guess. It floats around. It’s got to land on somebody. It was my turn, that’s all.”

Andy Dufrense

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

“A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.”

Red

“These walls are funny. First you hate ’em. Then you get used to ’em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That’s institutionalized.”

Red

“They say The Pacific has no memory. That’s where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory.”

Andy Dufrense

“I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

“I find I’m so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.”

Red

“We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men.”

Red

“I was in the path of the tornado… I just didn’t expect the storm would last as long as it has.”

Andy Dufrense

“Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”

“Geology is the study of pressure and time. That’s all it takes, really. Pressure and time.”

Red

“Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”

Red

“I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can’t.”

Red

“The funny thing is, on the outside, I was an honest man. Straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.”

“I wish I could tell you Andy fought the good fight. I wish I could tell you that… But prison is no fairy tale world.”

Red

“In prison, a man’ll do most anything to keep his mind occupied.”

Red

“All I want is to be back where things make sense. Where I won’t have to be afraid all the time.”

Red

“Terrible thing, to live in fear.”

The lessons we can all learn from The Shawshank Redemption quotes are invaluable. This is one of those movies that will live and remain relevant for generations to come.

If you loved reading about these quotes from Shawshank Redemption, you’d also love reading these 40 Classic Forrest Gump Quotes On Life & Happiness!