Tess quotes from Touched by an Angel

Tess

You know a lot of people think its the imperfections that make things beautiful.

Tess

Why you got that look on your face? You just been promoted, baby.

Monica

I just thought casework would be more than baby-sitting.

Tess

Oh, you'll be surprised. There always seems to be more to it. People are complicated things.

Monica

I know. That's what I love about them. How do they do it, Tess? They get up every morning and start all over again. Takes a lot of courage to do that. And they don't even know what we know.

Tess

God help 'em.

Tess

Did I tell you to think north? No, I distinctly remember telling you to get on the bus and go north. Go north. Now, you get your little angel butt back to the city, and take care of business.

Monica

But I am. I'm helping David.

Tess

You were told to stay close to David. That's what he needs.

Monica

What David needs is his mother, and all of a sudden my instincts were kicking in, and...

Tess

Wait just a minute. Let me see if I understand you correctly. You want me to go back to the Creator of the Universe, the Alpha, the Omega, the Great I Am and explain that the words of the Almighty were disobeyed because Monica's instincts kicked in?

Monica

It worked. Thank God it worked.

Tess

What'd you do?

Monica

I did something really radical, Tess. I prayed.

Tess

Now you know that's dangerous. But if you think that gets you out of that little mess of yours, you got another thing coming.

Monica

Oh, c'mon! Admit it. I pulled it off.

Tess

You and who else?

Monica

[while practicing baseball] Are you sure this is how it's done?

Tess

You are speaking to the angel who told the Babe which way to point. And you know who kept Kirk Gibson in that locker room 'til he was ready to hit that home run?

Tess

He's got a temper the size of Montana, this coach. But the wind is changing. A mighty storm is rising. And the rains are about to fall hard on that man. And he's going to need an angel to hold the umbrella.

Monica

Me.

Monica

It seems to me that encouragement goes a lot farther with a person than yelling.

Coach Earl

Losers get encouragement. Winners get coached. [To his team] C'mon, guys.

Monica

That's funny. I thought you caught a lot more fleas with honey.

Tess

[whispers] Flies.

Monica

Flies.

Earl

You gotta drink what you toast or it doesn't work.

Monica

[Holding a bottle of Tabasco sauce] Coach, don't tell me you're superstitious.

Tess

Malicious is more like it.

Tess

I told you he needed an umbrella but I didn't tell you to hit him on the head with it.

Monica

I know. I got angry.

Tess

Well, anger's not so bad. You just gotta be careful where you put it. So now you're sitting out here contemplating the infinite, huh?

Monica

And what it takes to run it. [sigh] I can't see the plan, Tess. I know I'm supposed to be doing something but I don't know what. He said so many awful things.

Tess

You see, that anger's clouding his brain. Forget what he said. What did you hear?

Monica

I heard fear. Fear that his life has been a waste. He knows that he's dying. And he knows that he's dying by himself.

Tess

Oh, honey, we all die by ourselves. It's living by ourselves that hurts. What is he leaving behind that will last?

Monica

I don't know.

Tess

Some of our best living is done by the people we leave behind.

Monica

[the day of the big game] Tess, any last minute pointers?

Tess

Well, same thing I told the Babe. Hit far and run fast.

Monica

That's it?

Tess

Well, I never got any complaints outta him.

Monica

[Sniffing coffee] Wow! This smells incredible, Tess.

Tess

Honey, will you wake up and stop smelling the coffee? Sooner or later, you gotta drink it. It's like life. You never really know how good it is until you taste it. And all coffee doesn't taste the same.

Monica

What's espresso? I always hear about espresso.

Tess

Strong and bitter. Some people like it like that: straight ahead, rich, undiluted. There's another side to an espresso kind of life. Heartburn. That's the price you pay for all that flavor.

Monica

You make it sound so dangerous.

Tess

Well, I've had my flings with danger. But my favorite is a good ol' cup of Joe: straight ahead, honest, no camouflage. 'Cause when you try to hide what's underneath, you end up feeling miserable.

Monica

Why didn't you tell me from the start?

Tess

Well, when you met Elizabeth, you made friends with a very strong and talented and interesting woman. If you had known then what you know today, you might have just seen the alcoholic and not the woman. And that's who we love and that's who we wanna help.

Monica

But she doesn't want any help.

Tess

Then it's up to you to help her want it.

Tess

Any marimba playing going on in there?

Monica

Beautiful music, Tess. Beautiful music.

Tess

That's gonna be some kind of interesting book of memoirs she's gonna write.

Monica

Right. It'll be worth waiting for.

Tess

It always is, baby. It always is.

Monica

I'm afraid of the water.

Tess

Say that again?

Monica

I never had to work near lakes and oceans. I always asked to be excused from those and I was. Bad memories of the Flood, I guess.

Tess

This is ridiculous! What is the first thing an angel says? "Fear not. Be not afraid. Except for large bodies of water." Is that it?

Monica

I know there's nothing to be afraid of. I know it doesn't make any sense.

Tess

Well, actually, it makes good sense now. The thing you're terrified of is something she loves.

Monica

Who?

Tess

Your next assignment, Angela Evans. She's fighting a terrible fear. The kind that comes in the night and whispers in your ear 'til dawn and then sends you running to the sea just to get the voices to quit for a little while. But Angela's voices won't quit. Not until her own voice drowns them out.

Monica

Something's happening to me, Tess. I'm afraid.

Tess

Like being afraid of the sea? Sometimes we're afraid of what we can't control. But Angela is going to make her decision to let her secret free or to bury it deeper.

Monica

I wish I could make that decision for her.

Tess

That's not what love does.

Monica

I've never had a friend before.

Tess

And what am I? Chopped liver?

Monica

You know what I mean. The more I get to know about human beings, the more I get to know about myself.