How we cite our quotes: All quotes are from The Sixth Sense.
Quote #1
ANNA: Finally, someone is recognizing the sacrifices you've made—that you have put everything second, including me, for those families that they're talking about.
Seems like Anna's making a dig here, since we (and Malcolm) assume she means that Malcolm has put her second in order to help other families. But really, it doesn't look like she's holding it against him too much, since things start getting romantic between them right after.
Quote #2
[Written in Malcolm's writing in Vincent's chart: Parental status: divorced.]
[Written in Malcolm's writing in Cole's chart: Parental status: divorced.]
These two scenes show us two things: that Malcolm sees the cases of Vincent and Cole as similar, and that a kid being from a divorced family is something that is worth noting. As it turns out, Malcolm erroneously attributed Vincent's emotional problems to his parents' divorce.
Quote #3
MALCOLM: I'm not supposed to talk about stuff like that. Once upon a time, there was this person named Malcolm. He worked with children. He loved it. He loved it more than anything else. And then one night, he found out that he made a mistake with one of them. He couldn't help that one. And he can't stop thinking about it. He can't forget. Ever since then, things have been different. He's not the same person that he used to be, and his wife doesn't like the person that he's become. They barely speak anymore—they're like strangers.
Cole has turned the tables on Malcolm and is asking him personal questions about why he seems out of sorts. Malcolm acknowledges that he shouldn't be talking about stuff like that with a patient, but he does anyway by telling Cole a "story." He's extremely upset about how his relationship with his wife has deteriorated since the incident with Vincent, but he's unclear on how to move forward. The distance between Malcolm and his wife mirrors that between Cole and his Mom. Except for the inconvenient fact that Malcolm is dead.
Quote #4
DOCTOR: There's some cuts and bruises on your son that are concerning me.
MALCOLM: Oh, man.
LYNN: Yeah, those are from sports. You think I hurt my child? You think I'm a bad mother?
When Cole ends up in the hospital after a bullying incident, his mother has to have a conversation with the doctor about Cole's injuries. Cole's ghostly visitors have apparently been causing them, but the hospital doesn't know that and is legally obligated to look into potential domestic violence. As a psychologist who has to report abuse, Malcolm sure knows what a family nightmare that can be. It's another example about how lack of family communication can complicate everything.
Quote #5
LYNN: Hi, this is Lynn Sear, Cole's mom. Yeah, I'd like to talk to you about your boy and his friends keeping their goddamn hands off my son.
After they get home from the hospital and Lynn gets a good look at the cuts, she calls the parents of one of the bullies and lays into them. Apparently, she thinks that these bullies are responsible for her son's wounds. She's a protective mama bear with her vulnerable kid.
Quote #6
LYNN: God, I am so tired, Cole. I'm tired in my body, I'm tired in my mind, I'm tired in my heart. I need some help. You know, I don't know if you noticed, but our little family isn't doing so good. I mean, I've been praying, but I must not be praying right. Looks like we're just going to have to answer each other's prayers. If we can't talk to each other, we're not going to make it.
Lynn ends up frustrated with Cole when he refuses to cop to stealing her bumblebee pendant. Of course, it's the ghost of Cole's grandma who's been doing it, but he can't admit that so he just continues to play dumb about it. In trying to get him to talk, Lynn reveals just how hard things have been for her lately while trying to keep their collective family's "head" above water.
Quote #7
MALCOLM: I want to be able to talk to my wife again. The way we used to talk to each other. Like there was no one else in the world except us.
COLE: How are you going do that?
MALCOLM: I can't be your doctor anymore. I haven't paid enough attention to my family. Bad things happen when you do that. Do you understand?
When Malcolm realizes that his wife is getting close to another man (Sean), he decides he needs to stop focusing on work so much and get busy fixing his relationship. Um, you're going to need a lot more than a career change, my friend.
Quote #8
COLE: I got an idea how you can talk to your wife. Wait till she's asleep. Then she'll listen to you and she won't even know it.
Cole and Malcolm do continue working together, and they're ultimately both able to help each other out with their individual problems. Since Cole knows that Malcolm is dead, and Malcolm doesn't, he has some special insight into the topic. He's taken Malcolm's advice and thrown it right back at him.
Quote #9
COLE: Grandma comes to visit me sometimes.
LYNN: Cole, that's very wrong. Grandma's gone, you know that.
COLE: I know. She wanted me to tell you...
LYNN: Cole, please stop.
COLE: She wanted me to tell you she saw you dance. She said when you were little, you and her had a fight, right before your dance recital. You thought she didn't come to see you dance. She did. She hid in the back so you wouldn't see. She said you were like an angel. She said you came to the place where they buried her, asked her a question. She said the answer is "Every day." What did you ask?
LYNN: Do I make her proud?
Now we're back in some ancient family drama. Apparently, a fight and missed dance recital caused some serious angst with her mama that Lynn still painfully remembers to this day. By being able to relay some information from said ghostly mama, however, Cole's helping to heal some of those old family wounds. Lynn cries with relief to hear that her mother was proud of her. She was just as scared of her mother's disapproval as Cole is of hers.
Quote #10
MALCOLM: I needed to tell you something. You were never second.
When Malcolm takes Cole's advice and talks to Anna in her sleep, he definitely gets to wrap up some important business. One thing he wanted to drive home: Anna was always the most important thing to him, despite what she may have thought. He never got to correct that perception on the night he died, so he does it here.