The Breakfast Club Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Breakfast Club.

Quote #1

BENDER: You get along with your parents?

ANDREW: Well if I say yes, I'm an idiot, right?

BENDER: You're an idiot anyway... but if you say you get along with your parents well you're a liar too!

Actually, as Andrew reveals later on, he doesn't get along with his parents—or to be more accurate, he gets along with his dad on the surface, but is discontent under the surface. Right now, he's still not ready to reveal this much about himself, which is why he implies that he does get along with them.

Quote #2

BENDER: Ah. Here's my impression of life at Big Bri's house: "Son?" "Yeah, Dad?" "How was your day, pal?" "Great, Dad! How's yours?" "Super! Say, how would like to go fishing this weekend?" "Great, Dad! But I got homework to do." "That's okay, son! You can do it on the boat!" "Gee!" "Dear, isn't our son swell?" "Yes, dear. Isn't life swell?"

ANDREW: All right, what about your family?

BENDER: My family? Oh, that's easy. "Stupid, worthless, no good, goddamned, free loading son-of-a-bitch!" "Retarded, big mouth, know-it-all asshole jerk!" "You forgot ugly, lazy, and disrespectful!" "Shut up, bitch! Go fix me a turkey pot pie!" "What about you, Dad?" "Fuck you!" "No, Dad, what about you?" "Fuck you!" "No, Dad, what about you?!" "Fuck you!"

Bender claims that this is what his family life really looks like—an abusive, profane, obnoxious dad (the "turkey pot pie" bit is particularly memorable). Andrew doesn't believe him, but Bender tries to prove it with the cigar burn his dad apparently gave him on the arm. This all provides a good psychological explanation for Bender's behavior—he constantly makes inappropriate and aggressive jokes in order to fight back against his dad and against the world, both of which he thinks are against him.

Quote #3

BENDER: Do you believe this? Huh? It's about the size of a cigar. Do I stutter? You see, this is what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage. See, I don't think that I need to sit here with you f***in' dildos anymore!

Bender doesn't think anyone else around him has suffered the way he's suffered, which is why he doesn't want to hang out with them anymore. He doesn't realize that Brian's nearly attempted suicide, and that Andrew's deeply conflicted about his own dad's competitive, athletic obsession. The cigar burn's a way worse example of physical abuse, but some of the other characters have still undergone serious mental, inner travails.