Matthew Harrison Brady: We must not abandon faith! Faith is the most important thing!
Henry Drummond: Then why did God plague us with the capacity to think? Mr. Brady, why do you deny the one thing that sets above the other animals? What other merit have we? The elephant is larger, the horse stronger and swifter, the butterfly more beautiful, the mosquito more prolific, even the sponge is more durable. Or does a sponge think?
Matthew Harrison Brady: I don't know. I'm a man, not a sponge!
Henry Drummond: Do you think a sponge thinks?
Matthew Harrison Brady: If the Lord wishes a sponge to think, it thinks!
Henry Drummond: Does a man have the same privilege as a sponge?
Matthew Harrison Brady: Of course!
Henry Drummond: [Gesturing towards the defendant, Bertram Cates] Then this man wishes to have the same privilege of a sponge, he wishes to think!


--Spencer Tracy (as Henry Drummond) in Inherit the Wind

Matthew Harrison Brady: Why is it, my old friend, that you've moved so far away from me?
Henry Drummond: All motion is relative, Matt. Maybe it's you who've moved away by standing still.


--Spencer Tracy (as Henry Drummond) in Inherit the Wind

Mary Blake: I'm going to stay.
Father Mullin: That's right. You're in probably the wickedest, most corrupt city, most Godless city in America. Sometimes it frightens me. I wonder what the end's going to be. But nothing can harm you if you don't allow it to because nothing in the world, no one in the world, is all bad.


--Spencer Tracy (as Father Mullin) in San Francisco

Ben Els: I keep worryin' about Bunt. I guess I won't get a wink of sleep tonight.
Thomas A. Edison: Ah, Mr. Els, you shouldn't try to do two things at once. If you're gonna sleep, sleep. If you're gonna worry, why stay awake and make a good job of it.


--Spencer Tracy (as ) in Edison, the Man

Peggy Warren: I was born in the Virgin Islands.
Murray Golden: You must have left there when you were quite young.


--Spencer Tracy (as Murray Golden) in Now I'll Tell

Van Cleve: I now ask you, sir, do you remember the names Charlie Monger, Red Dog Johnson or Carlos Rameriez?
Matt Devereaux: No.
Van Cleve: The incident may be too trivial to recall. But isn't it true that you summarily hanged three of these men on the afternoon of June 4th?
Matt Devereaux: They were stealing my cattle!
Van Cleve: I thought you didn't remember them.
Matt Devereaux: I didn't ask their names!
Van Cleve: You just hanged 'em?
Matt Devereaux: By the neck until they were dead. They were thieves!


--Spencer Tracy (as Matt Devereaux) in Broken Lance

Mr. Taggart: We've no guarantee that these theories of yours are workable.
Thomas A. Edison: Well, most electricity is theory yet.
Mr. Taggart: That's the trouble. Beyond a point what good is electricity anyway?
Thomas A. Edison: What good is a newborn baby?


--Spencer Tracy (as ) in Edison, the Man

Fay Wilson: Tommy!
[runs to him and kisses him]
Fay Wilson: Darling. Are you okay?
Tommy Connors: Yeah, sure. Gee, it's swell to see ya. How are you? Alright?
Fay Wilson: Yeah. Oh, darling, I'm glad to see ya. Are you okay?
Tommy Connors: Sure.


--Spencer Tracy (as Tommy Connors) in 20,000 Years in Sing Sing

Jose Maria Corcoran: What's the matter with him? Is he crazy?
Pilon: They say that a little love is like a little wine. Too much of either makes a man sick.


--Spencer Tracy (as Pilon) in Tortilla Flat

Mr. Azae: You don't care whether you impress people or not, do you?
Richard Sumner: You wait until you get my bill. You'll be impressed.


--Spencer Tracy (as Richard Sumner) in Desk Set