70 Casablanca Quotes From The Classic Movie

Casablanca is a tale of war, intrigue, and love. The movie was made in 1942 and was directed by Michael Curtiz. It starred Hollywood heartthrob Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, who was often viewed as “the ideal of American womanhood,” along with Paul Henreid. These Casablanca quotes clearly show the love the characters felt for one another, and the stresses of life during the war.

Is Casablanca based on a true story?

Well, the film is set during World War II, and was released the same week Roosevelt and Churchill met to demand the Axis powers surrender. The romantic drama focuses on Rick (Bogart), an American expatriate who owns a cafe.

Rick must choose between the feelings he has for his former lover Ilsa (Bergman) who reappears in Casablanca with her husband Victor (Henreid). Laszlo is a Czech resistance leader, and the couple needs to escape from Casablanca to continue his mission to fight the Germans. The love story itself might not be based on one specific love story, but the movie encompasses the feelings of many refugees and victims of the war.

Don’t forget to also check out these famous movie quotes from your favorite characters.

Casablanca quotes that show the love between Rick and Ilsa

1. “We’ll always have Paris.” — Rick Blaine

2. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” — Rick Blaine

3. “Kiss me as if it were the last time.” — Ilsa Lund

4. Ilsa Lund: “That was the day the Germans marched into Paris.”

Rick Blaine: “Not an easy day to forget. I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.”

Ilsa Lund: “Yes. I put that dress away. When the Germans march out, I’ll wear it again.”

5. “I can’t fight it anymore. I ran away from you once. I can’t do it again. I don’t know what’s right any longer. You have to think for both of us. For all of us. I wish I didn’t love you so much.” — Ilsa Lund

6. “It’s funny about your voice, how it hasn’t changed. I can still hear it. “Richard, dear, I’ll go with you anyplace. We’ll get on a train together and never stop.” — Rick Blaine

7. “I love you so much. And I hate this war so much.” — Ilsa Lund

8. Ilsa Lund: [on the verge of tears] “I didn’t count the days.”

Rick Blaine: “Well, I did. Every one of ’em. Mostly I remember the last one. The wow finish. A guy standing on a station platform in the rain with a comical look in his face because his insides have been kicked out.”

9. “With the whole world crumbling, we pick this time to fall in love.” — Ilsa Lund

10. Ilsa Lund: “I said I would never leave you.”

Rick Blaine: “And you never will. But I’ve got a job to do, too. Where I’m going, you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of.”

11. “Richard, we loved each other once. If those days meant anything at all to you…” — Ilsa Lund

12. “She isn’t just ‘any woman.’” — Rick Blaine

13. “We both know you belong with Victor. You’re part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.” — Rick Blaine

The best of Rick Blaine from these Casablanca quotes

14. “I’m the only cause I’m interested in.” — Rick Blaine

15. Yvonne: “Where were you last night?”

Rick Blaine: “That’s so long ago, I don’t remember.”

Yvonne: “Will I see you tonight?”

Rick Blaine: “I never make plans that far ahead.”

16. “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.” — Rick Blaine

17. “Louis, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” — Rick Blaine

18. Ugarte: “You despise me, don’t you?”

Rick Blaine: “If I gave you any thought, I probably would.”

19. “Where I’m going, you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of. Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that.” — Rick Blaine

20. “Go ahead and shoot. You’ll be doing me a favor.” — Rick Blaine

21. Captain Louis Renault: “I’ve often speculated why you don’t return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Runoff with a senator’s wife? I like to think you killed a man. It’s the romantic in me.”

Rick Blaine: “It was a combination of all three.”

22. “You have any idea what you’d have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten, we’d both wind up in a concentration camp.” — Rick Blaine

23. “I stick my neck out for nobody.” — Rick Blaine

24. “Are my eyes really brown?” — Rick Blaine

25. “When it comes to women, you’re a true democrat.” — Rick Blaine

26. “Well, there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn’t advise you to try to invade.” — Rick Blaine

27. “I don’t mind a parasite. I object to a cut-rate one.” — Rick Blaine

28. “We all try. You succeed.” — Rick Blaine

Casablanca quotes about life in Casablanca

29. “As the leader of all illegal activities in Casablanca, I am an influential and respected man.” — Signor Ferrari

30. “I’m going to miss you. Apparently, you’re the only one in Casablanca with less scruples than I.” — Captain Louis Renault

31. “You overestimate the influence of the Gestapo. I don’t interfere with them and they don’t interfere with me. In Casablanca, I am master of my fate!” — Captain Louis Renault

32. “I have many friends in Casablanca, but somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust.” — Ugarte

33. “Well everybody in Casablanca has problems. Yours may work out.” — Rick Blaine

34. Captain Louis Renault: “What in heaven’s name brought you to Casablanca?”

Rick Blaine: “My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.”

Captain Louis Renault: “The waters? What waters? We’re in the desert!”

Rick Blaine: “I was misinformed.”

35. Rick Blaine: “I don’t buy or sell human beings.”

Ferrari: “Too bad. That’s Casablanca’s leading commodity. In refugees alone, we could make a fortune, if you work with me through the black market.”

Rick Blaine: “Suppose you run your business and let me run mine.”

36. “Might as well be frank, monsieur. It would take a miracle to get you out of Casablanca, and the Germans have outlawed miracles.” — Ferrari

Witty Casablanca quotes

37. Berger: “We read five times that you were killed, in five different places.”

Victor Laszlo: “As you can see, it was true every single time.”

38. Rick Blaine: “Remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart.”

Captain Louis Renault: “That is my least vulnerable spot.”

39. “You might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we’ll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.” — Victor Laszlo

40. Captain Louis Renault: “If Rick has the letters, he’s much too smart to let you find them there.”

Major Strasser: “You give him credit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he’s just another blundering American.”

Captain Louis Renault: “You mustn’t underestimate American blundering. I was with them when they “blundered” into Berlin in 1918.”

41. Captain Louis Renault: “Rick, there are many exit visas sold in this café, but we know that you’ve never sold one. That is the reason we permit you to remain open.”

Rick Blaine: “Oh? I thought it was because I let you win at roulette.”

Captain Louis Renault: “That is another reason.”

42. “Each of us has a destiny – for good or for evil.” — Victor Laszlo

Funny Casablanca quotes

43. “Rick is the kind of man that… if I were a woman, and I were not around, I should be in love with Rick. But what a fool I am talking to a beautiful woman about another man.” — Captain Louis Renault

44. Rick Blaine: “You know what I want to hear.”

Sam: [lying] “No, I don’t.”

Rick Blaine: “You played it for her, you can play it for me!”

Sam: [lying] “Well, I don’t think I can remember…”

Rick Blaine: “ If she can stand it, I can! Play it!”

45. Captain Louis Renault: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]

Croupier: “Your winnings, sir.”

Captain Louis Renault: “Oh, thank you very much.”

46. Major Strasser: “What is your nationality?”

Rick Blaine: “I’m a drunkard.”

Captain Louis Renault: “That makes Rick a citizen of the world.”

47. Captain Louis Renault: “In 1935, you ran guns to Ethiopia. In 1936, you fought in Spain, on the Loyalist side.”

Rick Blaine: “I got well paid for it on both occasions.”

Captain Louis Renault: “The winning side would have paid you much better.”

48. Ilsa Lund: “A franc for your thoughts.”

Rick Blaine: “In America, they’d bring only a penny, and, huh, I guess that’s about all they’re worth.”

49. Rick Blaine: “I just paid out twenty. I’d like to get it back.”

Captain Louis Renault: “Make it ten. I’m only a poor corrupt official.”

50. “If he ever gets a word in, it’ll be a major Italian victory.” — Captain Louis Renault

Classic Casablanca quotes

51. “Play it once, Sam.  For old times’ sake.” –Ilsa

52. “Round up the usual suspects.”  –Renault

53. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”  –Rick

54. “I died young, of lung cancer.”  –Rick

55. Renault: Have you lost your mind?

Rick: I have. Sit down!

Renault: Put that gun down!

Rick: I don’t want to shoot you, but I will if you take one more step!

Renault: Under the circumstances, I will sit down. 

56. Customer: Are you sure this place is honest?

Carl: Honest as the day is long!

57. “Why did you have to come to Casablanca? There are other places.” -Rick

58. “Tell me, who was it you left me for? Was it Lazlo, or were there others in between or… aren’t you the kind that tells?” –Rick

59. “I’m on their blacklist – their roll of honor!” –Rick

60. “Either lay off politics or get out.”  –Rick

Short Casablanca quotes

61. “You despise me don’t you?” — Ugarte

62. “I died young, of lung cancer.” — Rick Blaine

63. “When I said I would never leave you.” — Ilsa 

64. “You’re saying this only to make me go.” — Ilsa

65. “Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time.” — Ilsa

66. “Oh, what makes you think I haven’t?” — Rick Blaine

67. “That is my “least” vulnerable spot.” — Capt. Louis Renault

68. “I’m afraid Major Strasser would insist.” — Capt. Louis Renault

69. “Well if I gave you any thought I probably would.” — Rick Blaine

70. “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” — Rick Blaine

Which of these Casablanca quotes is your favorite?

The screenplay is based on an unproduced stage play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison called Everybody Comes to Rick’s. Warner Bros. producer Hal B. Wallis purchased the film rights to the play in January 1942 at the insistence of story editor Irene Diamond.

Casablanca exceeded studio expectations and ended up winning an Academy Award for Best Picture. The film also earned director Michael Curtiz, an award for Best Director. The writers also scooped up the award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Beyond the acclaim the film received, memorable lines, like ‘Here’s looking at you, kid,” turned the film into an icon of movie culture. It is arguably one of the greatest films in history, ranking in the top films lists consistently.

The film used real exiles and refugees as extras or minor cast members which added to the emotional sense of the film. They were able to convey an authentic sense of the desperation refugees felt.

Have you seen Casablanca? Which of these Casablanca quotes and lines is your favorite? Share your favorite scene or movie fun fact in the comment section below.