Brokeback Mountain Quotes

Context

This famous line is spoken by Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (directed by Ang Lee, 2005).

Jack and Ennis are not your typical lovebirds. They're both cowboys, and they live in the repressive world of the midcentury American West. The odds of their happiness are pretty dang low.

They both realize it would be easier if they didn't have the feelings for each other that they do, which is why Jack—after verbally laying into Ennis—turns his back and mutters, "I wish I knew how to quit you."

Well, those can be some hard words to hear. Which is why the Joker—er, Ennis—starts tearing up.

Where you've heard it

Because of the initial source, the line is often used as a rallying cry by the LGBT community. But think of how applicable it can be to anyone's life. We all have our secret obsessions, or things we feel passionately about that...we maybe wish we didn't. And, of course, there's an obvious parallel for anyone who's trying to quit smoking or drinking or continuing any similar sort of nasty habit.

But often it won't be used in reference to anything nearly so dark. It could just be about a person who's addicted to a particular city, or someone who cannot. stop. playing. Candy. Crush.

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.

 

When a quote has no words over four letters, it's always a promising sign that its pretentious factor will be on the low side. Also, Brokeback Mountain is seriously one of the most romantic movies ever.