50 Best Breakfast At Tiffany's Quotes From The Novel And Movie

'Breakfast At Tiffany's' created some of the most notable trends in fashion and jewelry.

Tiffany's was a known brand of jewelry then too, but ‘Breakfast At Tiffany's’ gave it the cult status, that it enjoys to date. It is based on a novella by Truman Capote by the same name.

‘Breakfast At Tiffany's’ is a light-hearted romantic comedy based on a small-town girl who runs away to New York in search of a better life. Holly Golightly takes up the role of a café socialite who attends parties and events with rich single men as arm candy.

She intends to marry one such man and live a life of luxury. It may seem like an act of frivolity and greed, but she has her heart in the right place and wants to save money for her brother, who is in the army.

In her apartment building, she meets a struggling writer named Paul Varjak, played on screen by George Peppard.

They strike an unlikely friendship with an undertone of love too. Fate has other plans for Holly Golightly.

For fans of 'Breakfast At Tiffany's, jewelry, Audrey Hepburn and more, check out these 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' movie quotes, plus 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' book quotes, plus some George Peppard quotes, too! In addition to ‘Breakfast at Tiffany's’ quotes, you can also read Truman Capote quotes and New York quotes.
 

Best Quotes From ‘Breakfast At Tiffany's’

Audrey Hepburn will always be remembered for her portrayal of the wacky heroine, who was eccentric, happy, and very stylish. Some would say that living beyond her means, Hepburn added sensitivity to her very bubbly exterior.

This iconic movie has some of the best visuals of New York city from the era gone by.

With amazing costumes for Audrey Hepburn by Givenchy, which are still remembered as classics, this movie started the Little Black Dress trend and pearls along with the oversized sunglasses and hat that Hepburn wears often. Here are some famous 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' quotes.

1. "It may be normal, darling, but I'd rather be natural."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

2. "Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

3. "It's better to look at the sky than live there. Such an empty place; so vague. Just a country where the thunder goes."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

4. "It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits, and that lovely smell of silver and alligator wallets.

If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany's, then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

5. "Reading dreams. That's what started her walking down the road. Every day she'd walk a little further: a mile, and come home. Two miles, and come home. One day she just kept on."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

6. "You're wrong. She is a phony. But on the other hand you're right. She isn't a phony because she's a real phony. She believes all this crap she believes. You can't talk her out of it."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

7. "I loved her enough to forget myself."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

8. "That was Doc's mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg.

But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree...Then a taller tree...Then the sky. That's how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing...You'll end up looking at the sky."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

9. "My yardstick is how somebody treats me."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

10. "Everybody has to feel superior to somebody," she said. "But it's customary to present a little proof before you take the privilege."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

11. "If I do feel guilty, I guess it's because I let him go on dreaming when I wasn't dreaming a bit."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

12. "You can love somebody without it being like that. You keep them a stranger, a stranger who's a friend."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

13. "I loved her enough to forget myself, my self-pitying despair, and be content that something she thought was happy was going to happen."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

14. "I'll never get used to anything. Anybody that does, they might as well be dead."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

15. "I don't want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I'm not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It's like Tiffany's."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

16. "Hand me my purse, will you, darling? A girl can't read that sort of thing…with…without her lipstick."

- Holly Golightly, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

17. "No matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

18. "I'm like cat here, a no-name slob. We belong to nobody, and nobody belongs to us. We don't even belong to each other."

- Holly Golightly, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

19. "You can always tell what kind of a person a man thinks you are by the earrings he gives you. I must say — the mind reels."

- Holly Golightly, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

Holly Golightly Quotes

The film's opening scene has the heroine climb out of a New York cab in a little black dress and oversized sunglasses in front of Tiffany's jewelry shop, with a coffee and a doughnut. And she walks up to the shop's display windows to check the jewels while having her breakfast.

This is one of the most memorable opening sequences in the movie and, therefore, the name, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

20. "Holly Golightly: How do I look?

Paul Varjak: Very good. I must say, I'm amazed."

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

21. "Holly Golightly: He's all right! Aren't you, cat? Poor cat! Poor slob! Poor slob without a name!

The way I see it I haven't got the right to give him one. We don't belong to each other. We just took up one day by the river.

I don't want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I'm not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It's like Tiffany's.

Paul Varjak: Tiffany's? You mean the jewelry store.

Holly Golightly: That's right. I'm just crazy about Tiffany's!"

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

22. "I've got to do something about the way I look. I mean a girl just can't go to Sing with a green face."

- Holly Golightly, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

23. "You know what's wrong with you, miss Whoever-you-are?

You're chicken, you've got no guts. You're afraid to stick out your chin and say, 'Okay, life's a fact, people do fall in love, people do belong to each other, because that's the only chance anybody's got for real happiness.' You call yourself a free spirit, a 'wild thing,' and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage.

Well baby, you're already in that cage...You built it yourself...And it's not bounded in the west by Tulip, Texas, or in the east by Somali-land. It's wherever you go.

- Paul Varjak, 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.

24. "People do fall in Love. People do belong to each other, because that's the only chance that anyone's got for true happiness."

- Paul Varjak, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

25. "O.J. Berman: Hey, Fred-baby!

Paul Varjak: No, no. It's Paul-baby."

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

26. "Paul Varjak: [about Holly and Jose] So you're getting married, then?

Holly Golightly: Well, he hasn't really asked me, not in so many words.

Paul Varjak: Four you mean?

Holly Golightly: Huh?

Paul Varjak: Well that's how many it takes: will you marry me?"

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

27. "Holly Golightly: Did I tell you how divinely and utterly happy I am?

Paul Varjak: Yes."

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

28. "Holly Golightly: I'll tell you one thing, Fred, darling... I'd marry you for your money in a minute. Would you marry me for my money?

Paul Varjak: In a minute.

Holly Golightly: I guess it's pretty lucky neither of us is rich, huh?

Paul Varjak: Yeah."

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

29. "Promise me one thing: don't take me home until I'm drunk...Very drunk indeed."

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

30. "You stay right where you are. You must be absolutely exhausted. I mean, it's very late, and you were sound asleep and everything. I suppose you think I'm very brazen or tres fou or something."

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

31. "I certainly had him pegged wrong, didn't I? I thought he was just a rat, but he was a super rat all along - a super rat in rat's clothing."

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

32. "We don't belong to each other: he's an independent, and so am I."

- Holly Golightly, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

33. "Be anything but a coward."

- Holly Golightly, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

34. "Love should be allowed. I'm all for it. Now that I've got a pretty good idea what it is."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

35. "What I've found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany's."

- Holly Golightly, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

36. "I'm very scared, Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing what's yours until you've thrown it away."

- Turman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

37. "But it's Sunday, Mr. Bell. Clocks are slow on Sundays."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

38. "If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany's, then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

39. "After all, how do I know where I'll be living tomorrow? So I told them to put Traveling."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

40. "Never love a wild thing."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

41. "I'm still stealing turkey eggs and running through a brier patch. Only now I call it having the mean reds."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

42. "Anyway, home is where you feel at home. I'm still looking."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

43. "Certain shades of limelight wreck a girl's complexion."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

44. "I don't mean I'd mind being rich and famous. That's very much on my schedule, and someday I'll try to get around to it; but if it happens, I'd like to have my ego tagging along. I want to still be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany's."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

45. "Holly Golighlty: But just look at the goodies she brought with her.

Paul Varjak - He's all right, I suppose, if you like dark, handsome, rich-looking men with passionate natures and too many teeth."

- 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

46.  "I don't think I've ever drunk champagne before breakfast before. With breakfast on several occasions, but never before, before."

- Paul Varjak, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

47.  "We're alike, me and cat. A couple of poor nameless slobs."

- Holly Golightly, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

48. "Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

49. "Don't wanna sleep, don't wanna die, just wanna go a-travellin' through the pastures of the sky."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

50. "I loved her enough to forget myself, my self pitying despairs, and be content that something she thought happy was going to happen."

- Truman Capote, 'Breakfast At Tiffany's'.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' quotes, then why not take a look at Katherine Hepburn quotes, or Bette Davis quotes.

main image credit: Ralf Liebhold / Shutterstock.com
second image credit: SariMe / Shutterstock.com