Star Wars: 9 Greatest Quotes of the Original Trilogy

Greatest Quotes: #5

Luke: How will i know the good side from the bad?

Yoda: You will know when you are calm. at peace. passive. A Jedi uses the force for knowledge and defense. never for attack.

The Empire Strikes Back

Let’s face it. Every time Yoda opens his mouth it’s going to be a quotable moment. I needed to simplify Empire into a couple choice phrases. To me this quote represents what we need more of. Too often we make choices in the heat of the moment. Our emotions send us down paths we regret after we calm down. A native american tribe (forget which) used to have a practice where teh group would meet and talk out an issue, but the elders would not decide on it until the next day, AFTER emotions simmered down.

When we calm ourselves and think instead of riding our emotions, we can see more clearly where the better path lies. It is this reason that makes it easier to help others than when we are mired in the problem. When we take our time and breathe the Dark Side becomes much more clear.

Greatest Quotes of the Original Trilogy: #6

Luke: What’s in there?

Yoda: Only what you take with you.

The Empire Strikes Back

Empire is almost all Yoda-isms, but if we listen and really think about what he tries to teach Luke, we really can apply them to ourselves. Luke is about to enter a cave strong with the dark side of the force. The fear creeps in and he grabs his weapons belt. Yoda says Luke won’t need them. Yoda then tells Luke the only thing in there is what he takes with him. He does not mean the weapons of course. He means what is inside Luke.

Any time we enter a ‘dark time’ or a time of trial, we face it with what we take with us, our pains, our hurts, our personal experiences. As Kirk tells Sybok in Star Trek V: “Its the things we carry with us that make us who we are…I don’t want my pain taken away. I need my pain.” These can be both good and bad things, but which we focus on will determine how we handle the situation. Thsi of course leads to one of the most popular quotes coming up later.

Greatest Quotes of the Original Trilogy: #7

Yoda: So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say.

Luke: Master moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different.

Yoda: No! No different. Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.

Luke: Okay ill give it a try.

Yoda: Try not. Do or do not there is no try.

The Empire Strikes Back

Probably the most well known and quoted section of all of Star Wars, but there is a reason for that. We learn things. We see things, but they do not always register. They are blown off as fluff until we reach a certain point in our life where, for the first time, we truly understand what was meant. At that point we unlearn what we have learned.

Too often we see a thing and ignore what we have been taught. At that point we see something as impossible, but when we trust our teachings and put our full weight into something, the impossible becomes accomplished. If we ‘try’ our hearts may not truly be behind the act.

Greatest Quotes of the Original Trilogy: #8

Luke: I don’t…I don’t believe it.

Yoda: That is why you fail.

The Empire Strikes Back

Naturally this one ties in closely with the last quote (end of the same scene-duh), but it epitomizes so much in its simplicity. Too often we make up our minds about something either happening or not happening that the outcome is predetermined. Of course Luke does not understand the power of the force yet. He knows he can do some cool things with it, but he has never experienced its full power. It is not until Yoda levitates the X-wing out of the water that Luke sees what can happen. I imagine his training advanced much faster after that.

Backing up in time, Confucius said: “He who says he can and he who says he can’t are both usually right.” The great example would be if someone asks you to do a hand stand – on your thumbs! Naturally, our first impulse comes out ‘that’s impossible’, yet certain Asian monks devote their lives to physical perfection and can do exactly that! It rarely comes down to possible. It comes down to training, discipline and BELIEF!

Greatest Quotes of the Original Trilogy: #9

Ben: So what I told you was true – from a certain point of view….Luke, you are going to find many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

Return of the Jedi

And at last we come to perhaps the second most well known quote of the original trilogy. This quote not only defines a character, but a, well, point of view. People who love ‘half truths’ love this one.

Politics, race, religion, beliefs – Ben’s half truths to Luke permeate every aspect of our lives. Something happens. The facts can be set, but HOW people experience an event can be radically different. Our experiences and ‘pains’ greatly influence how we interpret events. One person’s hero is another person’s villain. Sometimes understanding these ‘points of view’ can help us understand our opponents, both for good or ill.

The great Star Wars example of this is the prophecy of the Chosen One. Jedi wanted to believe theirs was the greater power, so all they saw was one who would wipe out the Sith. Sadly that was not balance. Qui-Gonn began to understand these truths with his views on ‘the living force’.

Greatest Quotes of the Original Trilogy: Final Thoughts

Of course the Original trilogy will have way more quotes that stand out as it taught our beloved characters the most. If Yoda opens his mouth, there will be a quote worth remembering. Teachers have it easy that way.

One of the many reasons Star Wars endured these many decades comes not only from the cinema side of things, but the way its teachings resonate within us. With all the problems in today’s world, one can find many answers in the Star Wars movies. We must simply watch with an open ear and unlearn what we have learned.