“My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.”
This is one of Forrest's first lines in the film, which he says to a stranger sitting on the bench at the bus stop beside him. Forrest gets a lot of his earthy wisdom from his mother, who taught him to take life as it comes and never to lose confidence in himself.
“You ain’t got no legs, Lieutenant Dan.”
Forrest says this to his Lieutenant in the army hospital after he saves his life in Vietnam. Dan is very upset because not only did he get to die in glory like his ancestors, but he is also now without legs. Forrest states the obvious, noting Dan's new disability.
“Stupid is as stupid does.”
This is more advice from Mrs. Gump, which Forrest spouts at many moments. Whenever a character asks him if he's stupid, he says this, a defense against the label. Stupid, according to this aphorism, is an action, not an identity, and Forrest refuses to be categorized in such a way.
"Run, Forrest, run!"
This is one of the most famous lines in the film, and also in recent film history. When Forrest and Jenny get visited by some school bullies, Jenny advises Forrest to run in order to get away from them. Jenny is one of Forrest's champions, and doesn't want to see him get hurt, but she knows that he is better off running than fighting back.
"Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There’s shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That, that’s about it."
Bubba is Forrest's best friend in the army, and the two of them are brought together by the fact that they are both literalists with one track minds. Bubba is obsessed with shrimping, and spends most of his time telling Forrest about it, listing all the different kinds of shrimp and the different ways to prepare it.
"That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I’d just run across the great state of Alabama. And that’s what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going."
After Jenny leaves him in Greenbow, Forrest is so overcome with emotion that he begins to run. Because he doesn't know what else to do, he runs and runs, and ends up running all the way from one end of the country to the other.
"Listen, you promise me something, OK? Just if you’re ever in trouble, don’t be brave. You just run, OK? Just run away."
After Forrest tells Jenny he is going away to fight in Vietnam, Jenny echoes her advice from childhood, telling him that if he ever finds himself in trouble, he should just run. Even though they have gone their separate ways, Jenny still feels very protective of Forrest.
"I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floatin’ around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it’s both."
At the end of the film, Forrest visits Jenny's grave and ruminates on the meaning of life. His mother always said that everyone has a destiny, but he has his doubts, and wonders if people are just floating around on the breeze. In a moment of wisdom, Forrest suggests that both the idea of destiny and chance are equally relevant to our sense of meaning in the world.
"Dear God, make me a bird. So I could fly far. Far far away from here."
When she is a young girl, Jenny is sexually abused by her own father. In the middle of a cornfield, she makes Forrest pray with her, and she prays to turn into a bird so that she can get away from Greenbow once and for all.
"Remember what I told you, Forrest. You’re the same as everybody else. Do you hear what I said, Forrest. You’re the same as everybody else. You are no different."
When Forrest is a child, his mother says this to him, and it sets the tone for his whole life. Even though many people try and make him feel inferior because of his limitations, he trusts that he is just as good and worthy as everybody else.
