How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from It's a Wonderful Life.
Quote #1
FRANKLIN: Yes, Clarence. A man down on Earth needs our help.
CLARENCE: Splendid! Is he sick?
FRANKLIN: No, worse. He's discouraged. At exactly 10:45 p.m. tonight, Earth time, that man will be thinking seriously of throwing away God's greatest gift.
CLARENCE: Oh, dear, dear! His life! Then I've only got an hour to dress. What are they wearing now?
This is our first inkling of how bad things are going for George. This goes way beyond dissatisfaction.
Quote #2
GEORGE: I couldn't face being cooped up for the rest of my life in a shabby little office. Oh, I'm sorry, Pop, I didn't mean that, but this business of nickels and dimes and spending all your life trying to figure out how to save 3 cents on a length of pipe ... I'd go crazy. I want to do something big and something important.
PA BAILEY: You know, George, I feel that in a small way, we are doing something important. Satisfying a fundamental urge. It's deep in the race for a man to want his own roof and walls and fireplace, and we're helping him get those things in our shabby little office.
There's some foreshadowing in the language here: George "couldn't face" staying in Bedford Falls; he'd "go crazy." This exchange also sets up the film's conflict between George's dreams and how his life actually turns out.
Quote #3
MARY: What'd you wish, George?
GEORGE: Well, not just one wish. A whole hatful, Mary. I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and the year after that. I'm shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet, and I'm going to see the world. Italy, Greece, the Parthenon, the Colosseum. Then, I'm coming back here and go to college and see what they know. And then, I'm going to build things. I'm gonna build airfields. I'm gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high. I'm gonna build bridges a mile long.
Those are some pretty high aspirations; George wants to have it all. He's oblivious to the fact that Mary is standing next to him, wanting something totally different—a life with George in Bedford Falls. We bet his big dreams are what make her love him, though.