A Clockwork Orange Quotes

Context

This line was spoken by Alex DeLarge (played by Malcolm McDowell) in the film A Clockwork Orange, directed by Stanley Kubrick (1971).

Alex DeLarge is a terrible person. His favorite pastime is "ultraviolence," and even though he's a teen, he has committed every crime in the book. But he likes Beethoven and milk so that's something.

About halfway through the movie A Clockwork Orange, Alex finally gets busted by the police. He gets sent to prison where he studies the Bible and is forced to watch violent scenes (like the Nazis doing gruesome things in concentration camps) without blinking. After a while, the prison warden declares him "cured" of his evil behavior, and he's free to go.

However, there are side effects to his "treatment." Alex can't defend himself from the violent thugs that he used to run with and feels sick every time Beethoven's Ninth Symphony comes on. By the end of the movie, he ends up in the hospital and gets a nice government job because they feel bad for him.

But the joke's on them because Alex is back to his ultraviolent self, and his imagination is filled with violent fantasies as A Clockwork Orange ends on this darkly sarcastic one-liner.

Where you've heard it

One of your friends, who is a big Stanley Kubrick fan, may have quoted this while they were dressed up as a hopefully peaceful "droog" for Halloween.

Additional Notable References:

• This article looks at the differences between the ending of the film and the original novel. In the book, Alex was actually cured.
• A Clockwork Orange has had a huge influence on modern pop culture and is referenced in everything from The Simpsons to Guns N' Roses and Eminem songs.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Sociopathy isn't cool, folks.