Maurice Minnifield quotes from Northern Exposure

Maurice

When I heard we had a crack at a Jew doctor from New York City.. well, I don't have to tell you I jumped. You boys do outstanding work.

Maurice

"She's Actin' Single, I'm Drinkin' Double"..."I'm The Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised"? Chris, you play this crap at 6:00 in the morning, you're gonna be lookin' down so many barrels you'll think you've landed in an N.R.A. convention. And I'll be leading the pack!

Maurice

You know, sometimes when you look back on a situation, you realize it wasn't all you thought it was. A beautiful girl walked into your life. You fell in love. Or did you? Perhaps, it was only a childish infatuation, or maybe just a brief moment of vanity.

Maurice

A man should not leave this earth with unfinished business. He should live each day as if it was a pre-flight check. He should ask each morning, am I prepared to lift-off?

Maurice

The orchid, the aristocrat of the flower family. The most sophisticated plant on earth. Clearly a cut above. But, it's got petals like everybody else. The lowly daisy, the cheap carnation, half-baked azelia. Like these, the orchid needs warmth. It needs care and kindness to get by. These flowers need you people. No, I need you.

Maurice

Barbara, I owe you an apology. I've been trying to turn you into something you're not. You're no gentle lady. You're a warrior. That's what attracted me. That's what attracts me now.

Maurice

You don't know your own patients?

Joel

He wasn't my patient, yet. And I have an assistant, here, who thinks it's unnecessary to take names. She'd rather run my office like a delicatessen.

Marilyn

He's number nine.

Joel

Hold it, hold it, hold it! This is ridiculous! Hey, we play to a very sophisticated television audience. They know Maurice is not going to kill Nikolai, and they definitely know that Nikolai is not going to kill Maurice.

Maggie

Wait a minute, Fleischman. You can't just take it upon yourself to step out of character. Nobody yelled 'cut'.

Shelly

Joel's right. The duel is stupid.

Joel

Can we just stick to the matter at hand?

Ruth-Anne

How about the fifth revision? Where Nikolai's abscessed tooth starts acting up, and, well, he just cancels.

Shelly

Glib and textually unwarranted.

What if Maurice trips and kills someone else by mistake?

Maurice

Oh, great, so I'm a klutz now, huh?

Maggie

Look, if there's not a duel, then what is the point of this whole story?

Chris

What's the point? The point is - man's tendency to war, but Joel here is asking us to step outside of certain events and say enough. Am I right?

Shelly

Listen, whatever, it's getting cold out here.

Marilyn

Why don't we go on to the next scene? It's a pretty good one.

Maurice

[Maurice catches Ed talking to his statue] Look, Ed. If you've got something to say, you say it to me. You got that?

Ed

Okay, Maurice. But, uh -

Maurice

But what?

Ed

Well, it's just that he's a little easier to talk to.

Maurice

The statue?

Ed

Well, he doesn't throw my thoughts off like you do sometimes.

Maurice

I don't throw your thoughts off, son! What are you talking about?

Ed

Well, kind of like now, Maurice.

Maurice

I'm not in the business of throwing people's thoughts off! Is that clear?

Holling

A new hat... fun for awhile.. a little variety, change you know, something different. For a good fit, and a comfortable feeling there is nothing like an old hat. You know what I mean?

Maurice

I know that you mean.

Holling

Well then?

Maurice

Well.