- Mary Adler: Is there a God?
- Frank Adler: I don't know.
- Mary Adler: Just tell me.
- Frank Adler: I would if I could. But I don't know. Neither does anybody else.
- Mary Adler: Roberta knows.
- Frank Adler: No. Roberta has faith... And that's the great thing to have. But faith's about what you think, feel. Not what you know.
- Mary Adler: What about Jesus?
- Frank Adler: Love that guy. Do what he says.
- Mary Adler: But, is he God?
- Frank Adler: I don't know. I have an opinion. But that's my opinion and I could be wrong. So why would I screw up yours? Use your head. But don't be afraid to believe in things either.
- Mary Adler: Huh. There was a guy on TV who said there was *no* God.
- Frank Adler: The only difference between the atheists on TV and Roberta is, Roberta loves you. She trying to help. Tell you what though. One way or another we all end up back together in the end. That's what you're asking, right?
- Mary Adler: Yep.
- Frank Adler: Okay. Find something else to worry about, will ya?
- Mary Adler: All right.
- Frank Adler: We've discussed this ad nauseum.
- Mary Adler: What's ad nauseum?
- Frank Adler: Oh, you don't know? Well, looks like someone needs school.
- Seymore Shankland: Mary, you knew that the problem was incorrect, why didn't you say anything?
- Mary Adler: Frank says I'm not supposed to correct older people. Nobody like a smart-ass.
- Frank Adler: This is gonna be fun. You're gonna meet kids today you can borrow money from the rest of your life.
- Man: [emerging from the delivery room] It's a boy.
- Grandfather: [jumping up] Way to go!
- Frank Adler: [observing] That's exactly how it was when you were born.
- Mary Adler: This happy?
- Frank Adler: This happy.
- Mary Adler: Who came out and told everybody?
- Frank Adler: I did.
- Mary Adler: Can we stay for another?
- Roberta Taylor: And I'm supposed to believe you know what you're doing. You couldn't even find a white lawyer.
- Frank Adler: Diane instructed me very clearly... that I was only to publish it postmortem.
- Evelyn: She died six years ago.
- Frank Adler: It wasn't her death she was talking about.
- Frank Adler: Miss Davis, if we separate our leaders - if we segregate them from people like you and me - you get "congressmen." So I'm sorry. I wish I can take your offer, but Mary stays. Unless you kick her out.
- Gloria Davis: This is a mistake. We'll never be able to raise this child to the level of scholarship she deserves.
- Frank Adler: Well...
- [sarcastically]
- Frank Adler: just dumb her down to a decent human being. Everybody wins.
- Bonnie Stevenson: [classroom] Can you tell me... What 57 multiplied by 135 is?
- [after waiting several seconds]
- Bonnie Stevenson: Okay. Who can tell me what four...
- Mary Adler: Seven thousand and six hundred and ninty five.
- Bonnie Stevenson: I don't think anyone can do that.
- Mary Adler: The square root is 87.7. And change. Now - what does ad nauseam mean?
- Frank Adler: Let me guess. our lovely principal, Miss Stable.
- Evelyn: Never get on the bad side of small-minded people who have a little authority. I thought I told you that.
- Evelyn: [testifying in court about Mary's mother] Diane was not like regular people. She was extraordinary. And extraordinary people come with singular issues and needs. You have no idea the capability she possessed. One in a billion. And you would say: "Fine, let's throw that away, so the boy who cuts our yard can make a sexual conquest." Well, maybe before you make that decision, you stand in my shoes. I had responsibilities, which are beyond the mother-daughter relationship. The greatest discoveries, which have improved life on this planet, have come from minds rarer than radium. Without them, we'd still be crawling in mud. And, for your information, Counselor, a year after this incident with this boy, Diane thanked me for my intervention. She realized she'd made a mistake and thanked me. You see, Diane understood she was accountable for the gift she'd been given. And she didn't shy from it. And I think, if she were here today, Mr. Attorney, she would refute your baseless insinuations that she would give up her brilliant future and take her own life just because Mommy didn't giver her a little red wagon.
- Roberta Taylor: I'm so worried.
- Frank Adler: Come on, Roberta. If you start crying, I will have to pretend to start crying.
- Mary Adler: Is there a God?
- Frank Adler: I don't know.
- Mary Adler: Just tell me.
- Frank Adler: I would if I could. But I don't know. Neither does anybody else.
- Mary Adler: Roberta knows.
- Frank Adler: No. Roberta has faith. And that's a great thing to have. But faith's about what you think, feel; not what you know.
- Mary Adler: What about Jesus?
- Frank Adler: Love that guy. Do what he says. I tell you what though - one way or the other we all end up back together in the end.
- [first lines]
- Frank Adler: [through the door] Hey! Hey, come on. Let's move!
- Mary Adler: No!
- Frank Adler: Let me see.
- Mary Adler: No.
- Frank Adler: Come on, I made you special breakfast.
- Mary Adler: You can't cook.
- Frank Adler: Hey, Mary, open up.
- [as she emerges]
- Frank Adler: You look beautiful.
- Mary Adler: I look like Disney character...
- Frank Adler: Look, I am...
- Bonnie Stevenson: Oh, you know what? I'm actually incapable of having this conversation right now.
- Frank Adler: Good. Good. 'Coz I have no idea what I was gonna say.
- Frank Adler: This family has a history with those schools. And I think the last thing that little girl needs is reinforcement that she's different. Trust me, she knows. So... I think Mary. I think she's gotta be here. Today's a bad ending, you can't hit people. But a 12 year old bullies a 7 year old and she stands up? Do you know how important that is to me that she did that? You know how proud I am of her? Aren't you?
- Gloria Davis: Mr. Adler, your daughter shattered a young boy's...
- Frank Adler: I know. You can't hit people. That will be made very clear. I get that. But Miss Davis, if we seperate our leaders... If we segregate them from people like you and me... you get congressman.
- Mary Adler: Please, Frank. Why are you leaving me?
- Frank Adler: Because the court said I had to. You know this. We've discussed this ad naus... We've discussed this.
- Mary Adler: [opening a present from Evelyn] An Apple? Whoa.
- Evelyn: It's a Macbook, darling. Top of the line, with the retina display.
- Frank Adler: Hey, you know who else has a retina display?
- Mary Adler: Fred!
- Evelyn: Mary, I understand you like mathematics. So, on there, you'll find a great out-of-print book by Charles Zimmer called "Transitions in Advanced Algebra."
- Mary Adler: Yeah. Love that book.
- Evelyn: You're saying you've read it?
- Mary Adler: Yeah, I've kind of moved on to differential equations now.
- Frank Adler: Don't forget your manners. Thank your grandma.
- Mary Adler: Thank you, Grandma.
- Evelyn: Grandmother or Evelyn will do just fine. There's so much more on there. Things I know you'll find really challenging.
- Frank Adler: Yes, but sadly it's a school night, and there's homework to do. What a surprise, though, right? Say good night to Grandmother or Evelyn.
- Mary Adler: Good night.
- Mary Adler: [in her counseling session] My best friend, other than Frank and Fred, is Roberta who lives a couple houses away.
- Pat Golding: Really? What's she like?
- Mary Adler: She's nice and funny. And I love her.
- Pat Golding: That's nice. Is Roberta your only friend your age?
- Mary Adler: Roberta's not my age. She's like 40, 50... 30-something. Roberta's grown woman? People my age are boring. Roberta's cool.
- Evelyn: Midlife crisis, apparently.
- Frank Adler: He's 70.
- Evelyn: I know. Must have been on time delay or something.
- Bonnie Stevenson: [Bonnie comes out of bathroom in a towel. Sees Mary. Exhales] Oh! Oh my God!
- Mary Adler: [Gradually smiles] Good morning, Miss Stevenson!
- [Like the morning ritual of her first grade class]
- Bonnie Stevenson: [Exhales again] Hi.
- [Exits, nervously]
- Frank Adler: Look, just don't worry, okay?
- Roberta Taylor: Don't tell me that. There's nothing you can say that's gonna make me feel good because I have no say in any of this, Frank. I'm not a blood relative! I'm not a legal guardian! I'm nothing! Just a lady who lives next door whose opinions mean nothing, whose feelings mean nothing! Would I like to have Mary tonight? I'd like to have Mary every night.
- Evelyn: While I was waiting, a cockroach this big tried to steal my shoe.
- Frank Adler: Yeah. He'll take a shoe.
- Frank Adler: Her lawyer has a nice suit.
- Greg Cullen: Relax Frank! More weight's put on the talent competition.
- Frank Adler: You're going to take that girl, you're going to bury her in tutors and you're going to loan her out to some think tank where she can talk about non-trivial zeroes with a bunch of old Russian guys for the rest of her life.
- Frank Adler: I don't know which mistake is worse, designing a water pump that leaks, or putting it somewhere no human can reach. How do you design something you know is gonna fail? Gotta be devious or clueless, right?
- Evelyn: I've been thinking a lot about the word "compromise." On one hand good challenging school, on the other, foster people. They can watch sitcoms with her, take her to Olive Garden, teach her to say "irregardless." The only saving grace, I suppose, is that she's better off than she was. Well... Goodbye, Frank.
- Mary Adler: There's a lady standing in front of our door.
- Frank Adler: Who is it?
- Mary Adler: How should I know? I'm seven.
- Frank Adler: That would be your grandmother.
- Mary Adler: Holy shit!