Good Will Hunting Coming of Age Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Good Will Hunting.

Quote #1

MAGUIRE: You're just a kid. You don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about.

Maguire knows that Will is smart, so smart that it takes him (Will) less than a minute to find Maguire's biggest vulnerability—his dead wife—and start pressing on it. But even though this get to Maguire at first, Maguire presses back and reminds Will that being smart doesn't mean that he's lived a full life. And that's the kind of thing Maguire wants to help him with.

Quote #2

MAGUIRE: So, if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo.

Maguire knows that Will has lived his entire life through books. But reading books is not the same thing as experiencing life firsthand. One of Will's biggest problems is that he's scared to experience things firsthand. In books, he can control everything. But in real life, there's a lot of uncertainty and Will finds this really scary.

Quote #3

MAGUIRE: But I bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling.

Once again, Maguire brings up an example of something he's experienced firsthand that Will hasn't. Of course, he's not saying he's better than Will because he's traveled. His point is that he's willing to go out and experience things, while Will is only comfortable in situations he controls completely. This is a comfort zone that Maguire will try to get him out of.