From: Forrest Gump
Genre: Movies
Who said it?: Forrest Gump
The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the very quotable film from 1994 film, Forrest Gump. Based on the book of the same name, Forrest Gump is a person of low IQ but, despite his apparent handicap, he proceeds to go on different new adventures and meet people who would go on to make history, making his life one of the most fulfilling ones ever.
The quote comes from the middle of the film. Forrest (played by Tom Hanks) gets a visit from his childhood friend and longtime crush Jenny (played by Robin Wright). Jenny seems to be trying to get away from something painful so Forrest invites her to stay to live with her. After watching TV, Jenny tells Forrest she’s going to bed. Before she makes it up the stairs, Forrest abruptly proposes to Jenny but she declines because she won’t be good for him. This leaves Forrest confused as he instinctively knows of Jenny’s true feelings. This is about when he delivers the quote before leaving the house.
Geek wisdom: There are actually two meanings for this week’s quote. The first one deals with knowing what love is. Love is nothing we can really “learn.” It’s something we feel deep in our gut and we know about this feeling through pure instinct. And anyone can actually fall in love; there is no prerequisite to getting it.
The second piece of Geek Wisdom we can get from the quote has to deal with Jenny’s true feelings for Forrest. Although she does love him, she feels like she doesn’t deserve him. We sometimes deny ourselves of love because we feel we don’t deserve it like Jenny does. But that’s not true. We’re all deserving of love in our life. We just have to be willing to accept it.
My Geek Wisdom 