Sarah quotes from The Accidental Tourist (1988)

Macon

People who lose a child often feel this way. It puts a terrible strain on a marriage, but it doesn't have to tear us apart. Listen, I've been thinking...have you considered having another baby?

Sarah

Oh, Macon.

Macon

I know we can't replace Ethan, but...

Sarah

No, I'm sorry. It would never work.

Macon

All right, forget that. It was a crazy idea, right? Crazy notion, but...All I'm saying is, we can start over.

Sarah

Macon, ever since Ethan died, I've had to admit that people are basically bad. Evil, Macon. They're so evil they'd take our 12-year-old boy and shoot him through the skull for no reason. There have been times I haven't been sure I...Haven't been sure I could live in this kind of world anymore.

Macon

It's true what you say about human beings. I'm not trying to argue.Tell me, Sarah, why would that cause you to leave me?

Sarah

Because I knew you wouldn't try and argue. You believed all along they were evil. This whole past year I've felt myself withdrawing from people just like you do, Macon. I've felt myself becoming a Leary.

Macon

Well, there are worse disasters than that, I guess.

Sarah

Not for me. Macon, I know you loved Ethan. And I know you mourn him, but there's something so...What do you call it? Muffled about the way you experience things. It's like you're trying to slip through life unchanged.

Macon

Sarah, I'm not muffled. I endure. I'm holding steady.

Sarah

I know you think that, but I think you're fooling yourself. It's not by chance you write books telling people how to make trips without a jolt so they can travel to wonderful, exotic places and never be touched by them. Never feel they've left home. That traveling armchair isn't just your logo. It's you.

Sarah

The trouble with you is, you don't believe in people opening up. You think everyone should stay in their own little sealed package.

Macon

Okay. Let's say that that's true. Let's say for now that you do know what the trouble with me is, that nothing that I might feel could surprise you. And that the reason I don't want to hear about this thing is that I can't open up! If we agree on all that, can we drop it?!

Macon

Sarah, I'm going back to Muriel.

Sarah

I knew what you were going to say.

Macon

I'm sorry, Sarah. I tried, but I can't make this work. You were right about me, I haven't taken steps very often. But maybe it's not too late for me to start.

Sarah

I thought this might happen.

Macon

I don't know why it's no good for us anymore. I'm beginning to think it's not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you're with them.

Sarah

Was it a mistake to try again?

Macon

No. It's wrong to think we can plan everything. As though it were a business trip. I don't believe that anymore. Things just happen. I don't regret a minute I've spent with you, Sarah. When I saw you at Rose's wedding I knew that somehow you'd recovered, that you'd gone on with your life after Ethan. Well, I'd tried, but I couldn't do it on my own. This woman, this odd woman, helped me. She's given me another chance to decide who I am. To step out of the Leary groove and stay out. You don't need me anymore. We both know that. But I need her.