There are few books that have impacted Black culture like Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Color Purple,” a story about the power of love and finding strength in the darkest moments. This is a story that will leave you with all of the feels. And whether you’ve read the book, watched the 1985 movie, seen the musical, or all of the above, odds are you have more than a few favorite lines.
As we anxiously await the premiere of the 2023 reboot on December 25, we had to look back at some of the most memorable lines from The Color Purple.
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“I’m poor, Black, I may even be ugly, but dear God, I’m here! I’m here!”
It’s hard to choose a favorite line in the film, but this one comes pretty close. Celie is finally getting away from Albert after years of abuse. And as the scene closes, Celie lets Albert know that she’s still standing.
“Everything you’ve done to me, already done to you.”
In another great one-liner from the same scene, Celie puts her hand up to Albert as he tries to hit her and lets him know once and for all that she’s no longer allowing herself to be controlled by him.
“The jail you planned for me is the one you’re gonna rot in.”
As Celie leaves Albert’s house for the last time, she declares that all the misery he inflicted on her will come back on him.
“Until you do right by me, everything you think about is going to crumble.”
Who could forget the dinner scene when Celie tells Albert she’s leaving for good? She listened quietly as he hurled insults at her. But his condescending answer to her question about keeping letters from Nettie from her was the last straw, forcing Celie to utter some pretty haunting words – while holding a knife to his neck.
“You told Harpo to beat me.”
Here, Sofia confronts Celie for advising her husband, Harpo, to beat her when she refuses to obey him. Although jealousy was Celie’s ultimate motivation for giving the bad advice, Sofia is here to let everyone know she is not the one to be messed with.
“You see Daddy?” “Sinners have soul too.”
In this scene, which has one of the film’s best musical numbers, Shug and her father share a hug as she finally earns his approval.
“Folks don’t like nobody being too proud or too free.”
While overhearing a conversation between Mr. and Old Mister where they insult Shug, Celie mutters to herself that they’re only bad-mouthing her because they have a problem with her independence.
“All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my uncles. I had to fight my brothers. A girl child ain’t safe in a family of men, but I ain’t never thought I’d have to fight in my own house!”
Ok, so technically this way more than one line, but this scene is just one of many that solidified Oprah Winfrey’s Best Supporting Actress nomination in 1985. Here, her character Sofia lets Celie know that she refuses to allow her husband Harpo to abuse her.
“Girl, you oughta bash Mister’s head open and think about heaven later.”
Here, Celie tells Sofia that thinking about the afterlife helps her deal with the pain of her reality. Unconvinced, Sofia tells Celie she’d rather fight back than wait to get to Heaven.
“I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice it.”
In this touching scene, Shug advises Celie to take time to appreciate all that beautiful around her.
“You sho’ is ugly.”
Over the course of the story, free spirited jazz singer Shug Avery becomes Celie’s companion, source of strength and the object of her affection. But as we see in this classic scene, Shug’s first words to Celie were not so nice.
“You a low down dirty dog, that’s what’s wrong. Time for me to get away from you, and enter into creation. And your dead body’d be just the welcome mat I need.”
This scene is really the gift that keeps on giving. When Celie leaves to start a new life with Shug, you can’t help but root for her as she finally gets to unload on Albert after years of abuse.
“Nothing but death can keep me from it.”
Who could forget the heart wrenching scene in which Albert separates sisters Celie and Nettie? As they realize this could be the last time they see one another, Celie tells Nettie to write letters, to which Nettie replies, “Nothing but death can keep me from it.”
“I loves Harpo, God knows I do. But I’ll kill him dead ‘fo I let him beat me.”
In one of the best one-liners of the film, Sofia is here to let Celie know that Harpo’s abuse could cost him his life.
Straight From 
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