How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from A Beautiful Mind.
Quote #1
JOHN: It's a problem. That's all it is. It's a problem with no solution. And that's what I do, I solve problems. That's what I do best.
DR. ROSEN: This isn't math. You can't come up with a formula to change the way you experience the world.
JOHN: All I have to do is apply my mind.
DR. ROSEN: There's no theorem, no proof. You can't reason your way out of this.
John might be seriously ill, but he's still uber confident in his own smarts. In fact, he thinks he's so smart he can solve his own mental health issues. This is a guy who's never really had difficulty solving problems, so why shouldn't he be able to solve his own? Well, Dr. Rosen points out the flaws in this plan, but John has pretty much made up his mind.
Quote #2
JOHN: Is there any chance that you could ignore what I just did?
HANSEN: Of course, what are old friends for?
Unfortunately, when John goes to get Hansen's help in getting back into the academic swing of things, he has trouble ignoring his hallucinations. However, he manages to fight them off, ultimately.
Quote #3
JOHN: Alicia and I think that…that fitting in, being part of a community, might do me some good. That a certain level of attachment, familiar places, familiar people, might help me elbow out these certain delusions that I have.
With Alicia's help, John finds coping mechanisms for dealing with his illness and the delusions that come with them. One of his strategies is making sure he's not isolated. Seems reasonable enough, no?
Quote #4
CHARLES: John, now, you can't ignore me forever.
JOHN: Charles, you've been a very good friend to me. The best. But I won't talk to you again. I just can't. Same goes for you, baby girl. Good-bye.
This is a pretty heartbreaking scene, because we see John shutting his "friends" Charles and Charles' niece, Marcee, out of his life.
Sure, they aren't real, but John didn't know that for a long time, and Charles was a huge part of his life. Imagine having a best friend and then finding out the person just didn't exist.
Quote #5
TOBY KELLY: Did you just solve Reimann?
JOHN: Well, what do you think?
When John gets back to work, he starts getting attention from some of the other scholars/students in the library—and here, it looks like he's come close to solving a previously unsolved problem. Baby, he's back.
Quote #6
JOHN: I was thinking that I might teach.
HANSEN: A classroom with fifty students can be daunting for anyone, John. Besides, you're a terrible teacher.
JOHN: I'm an acquired taste, Martin. I was hoping there still might be something I could contribute.
HANSEN: What about the, um…well, you know. Are they gone?
JOHN: No, they're not gone, and maybe they never will be. But I've gotten used to ignoring them, and I think as a result, they've kind of given up on me.
Yeah, yeah, we know—after seeing how much disdain John had for teaching at the beginning of his career, it's spit-take worthy that he ends up wanting to go back to it later in life. But apparently, after all he's been through (and after Alicia taught him a little bit more about playing nicely with others), John has decided he's ready to tackle that challenge once again. Pretty impressive, eh?
Quote #7
JOHN: Oh, I see, so you came here to find out if I was crazy? Find out if I would screw everything up if I actually won? Dance around the podium, strip naked and squawk like a chicken, things of this nature?
THOMAS: Something like that, yes.
JOHN: Would I embarrass you? Yes, it is possible. You see, I am crazy. I take the newer medications, but I still see things that are not here. I just choose not to acknowledge them. Like a diet of the mind, I choose not to indulge certain appetites.
John hasn't completely won the war or become "cured," but he's definitely made progress in coping and preventing the hallucinations from taking over the way they used to.
Quote #8
PROFESSOR 1: Professor Nash. It's good to have you here, John.
JOHN: Thank you.
PROFESSOR 2: It's an honor, sir.
JOHN: Thank you very much.
At the end of the film, when John and the dude from the Nobel committee discuss the possibility of giving John the award, they have tea in the faculty lounge. While they're sitting there, a bunch of professors come up to John and carry out this ritual of giving him their pens, which is how these guys honor colleagues for a lifetime of achievements. It's a pretty big moment that shows just how much John has been able to do with his life, despite crazy difficult odds.