These Almost Famous quotes will make any rock fan’s heart race with excitement!
Almost Famous is a captivating movie that captures the spirit of the 1970s through the music, set, and excellent characters. It defines the many complex feelings of adolescence and one’s journey into adulthood. Through it, we’re transported to when we were just starting to go places and learn our responsibilities.
Its plot revolves around William Miller, who lives with his overbearing mother and rebellious older sister. William valued the emotions of her mother—a lot. But, his intense love for music pushed him into the arms of legendary writer, Lester Bangs.
He begins to find himself part of the inner circle of the band he idolizes, although he struggles to fit in. Later in the movie, he discovers why people must be careful about who they trust.
Read through this list we’ve compiled and get a better understanding of each character. We’re confident it’ll leave you wanting to watch Almost Famous again!
Start here.
And don’t forget to check out these Cry-Baby quotes and Pitch Perfect quotes.
Best Almost Famous Quotes
1. “I always tell the girls, never take it seriously. If you never take it seriously, you never get hurt. If you never get hurt, you always have fun. And if you ever get lonely, you can just go to the record store and visit your friends.” – Penny Lane
2. “The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.” – Lester Bangs
3. “Music, you know, true music—not just rock and roll—it chooses you. It lives in your car or alone listening to your headphones, you know, with the cast scenic bridges and angelic choirs in your brain. It’s a place apart from the vast, benign lap of America.” – Lester Bangs
4. “Listen to Tommy with a candle burning, and you will see your entire future.” – Anita Miller
5. “I work just as hard or harder than anybody on that stage. You know what I do? I connect. I get people off. I look for the guy who isn’t getting off, and I make him get off.” – Jeff Bebe
6. “They don’t even know what it is to be a fan. You know? To truly love some silly little piece of music or some band, so much that it hurts.” – Sapphire
7. Lester Bangs: “Are you like the star of your school?”
William Miller: “They hate me.”
Lester Bangs: “You’ll meet them all again on their long journey to the middle.”
8. “I didn’t invent the rainy day, man. I just own the best umbrella.” – Dennis Hope
9. William Miller: “So Russell, what do you love about music?”
Russell Hammond: “To begin with, everything.”
10. William Miller: “I have to go home.”
Penny Lane: “You are home.”
Almost Famous Quotes to Remember Your Favorite Scenes
11. “Adolescence is a marketing tool.” – Elaine Miller
12. “One day, you’ll be cool. Look under your bed. It will set you free.” – Anita Miller
13. “It’s okay! I’m easy to forget! Just leave me behind! I’m only the fucking lead singer!” – Jeff Bebe
14. “Look at this—an entire generation of Cinderellas, and there’s no glass slipper.” – Elaine Miller
15. “I am telling secrets to the one guy you don’t tell secrets to.” – Russel Hammond
16. “I am a golden god!” – Russel Hammond
17. “It’s all happening.” – Penny Lane
18. “And you can tell Rolling Stone magazine that my last words were, ‘I’m on drugs!’” – Russel Hammond
Almost Famous Quotes That You Need to Read Today
19. “You wanna be a true friend to them? Be honest, and unmerciful.” – Lester Bangs
20. “Don’t let those swill merchants rewrite you.” – Lester Bangs
21. “Show me any guy who ever said he didn’t want to be popular, and I’ll show you a scared guy.” – Jeff Bebe
22. “If you think Mick Jagger will be out there trying to be a rock star at age 50, you are sadly, sadly mistaken.” – Dennis Hope
23. “This song explains why I’m leaving home to become a stewardess.” – Anita Miller
24. Penny Lane: “If I ever met a man in the real world who looked at me the way you just looked at me.”
William Miller: “When and where does this ‘real world’ occur? I mean, I am really confused here.”
25. Penny Lane: “Call me if you need a rescue; we live in the same city.”
William Miller: “Sometimes, I think I live in a different world.”
Also read: High School Musical Quotes
Almost Famous Quotes That’ll Give You Words of Wisdom
26. “You, Aaron, are what it’s all about. You’re real. Your room is real. Your friends are real. Real, man, real. You know? Real. You’re more important than all the silly machinery. Silly machinery. And you know it! In 11 years, it’s going to be 1984, man. Think about that!” – Russell Hammond
27. “Yeah, great art is about conflict and pain and guilt and longing. And love disguised as sex, and sex disguised as love—and let’s face it, you got a big head start.” – Lester Bangs
28. “Honey, you want to rebel against knowledge. I’m trying to give you the cliff notes on how to live life in this world.” – Elaine Miller
29. “In Carl Jung’s opinion, we all have a sixth sense—intuition. When you meet someone, and you suddenly feel like you can’t live without them. This could be the memory of a past love from the collective unconscious. Or it could just be hormones.” – Elaine Miller
30. “That’s because we’re uncool. And while women will always be a problem for us, most of the great art in the world is about that very same problem. Good-looking people don’t have any spine. Their art never lasts. They get the girls, but we’re smarter.” – Lester Bangs
Almost Famous Quotes to Remind You That You Need to Pick Your Circle Wisely
31. “You cannot make friends with the rock stars. That’s what’s important if you’re a rock journalist. First, you will never get paid much. But you will get free records from the record company. And they’ll buy you drinks, you’ll meet girls, they’ll try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs—I know. It sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it.” – Lester Bangs
32. “Aw, man. You made friends with them. See, friendship is the booze they feed you. They want you to get drunk on feeling like you belong.” – Lester Bangs
33. “From here on out, I am only interested in what is real. Real people, real feelings, that’s it. That’s all I’m interested in.” – Russell Hammond
34. William Miller: “Don’t you have any regular friends?”
Penny Lane: “Famous people are just more interesting.”
Almost Famous Quotes to Show the Characters’ Burning Passion for Music
35. “It doesn’t sound like music anymore, you know, it sounds like—lifestyle maintenance, or something.” – Russell Hammond
36. “We are not groupies. Groupies sleep with rock stars because they want to be near someone famous. We are here because of the music, we inspire the music. We are band-aids.” – Penny Lane
37. “Do you have to be depressed to write a sad song? Do you have to be in love to write a love song? Is a song better when it really happened to you? Like ‘Love thing,’ where did you write that and who was it about?” – William Miller
Almost Famous Quotes That’ll Highlight Elaine’s Love as a Mother
38. “I didn’t ask for this role, but I’ll play it. Now go do your best. Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid. Goethe said that. It’s not too late for you to become a person of substance, Russell. Please get my son home safely. You know, I’m glad we spoke.” – Elaine Miller
39. “If you break his spirit, harm him in any way. Keep him from his chosen profession, which is law—something you may not value, but I do. You will meet the voice on the other end of this telephone, and it will not be pretty. Do we understand each other?” – Elaine Miller
40. Elaine Miller: “Keep the small bills on the outside and call me if anyone gets drunk.”
William Miller: “I will call you if anyone, anywhere, gets drunk.”
41. Elaine Miller: “Your dad was so proud of you. He knew you were a predominantly accelerated child.”
Anita Miller: “What about me?”
Elaine Miller: “You are rebellious and ungrateful of my love.”
42. “This is not some apron-wearing mother you’re speaking with. I know all about your Valhalla of decadence, and I shouldn’t have let him go. He’s not ready for your world of compromised values and diminished brain cells that you throw away like confetti. Am I speaking to you clearly?” – Elaine Miller
Funny Almost Famous Quotes for a Day Full of Laughter
43. Jeff Bebe: “We have got to control what’s happening! There’s a responsibility here.”
Russell Hammond: “Excuse me, but didn’t we all get into this to avoid responsibility?”
44. William Miller: “What about your mom?”
Penny Lane: “She always said, ‘Marry up. Marry someone grand.’ And that’s why she named me Lady.”
William Miller: “She named you, ‘Lady?’”
Penny Lane: “Lady Goodman.”
45. “Don’t worry, no one’s getting hurt here. She knows Leslie’s coming to New York tomorrow. This is the circus, everybody’s trying not to go home.” – Russell Hammond
46. Anita Miller: “Feck you!”
Elaine Miller: “Hey!”
Anita Miller: “This is a house of lies!”
Elaine Miller: “Well, there it is, your sister used the “F” word.”
William Miller: “I think she said, ‘feck.’”
Elaine Miller: “What’s the difference?”
William Miller: “The letter ‘u.’”
47. Dick Roswell: “He’s your guardian angel, alright?”
Dick Roswell: “Don’t worry, he only means half of what he says.”
William Miller: “Which half?”
William Miller: “Russell, think about your last words wisely.”
Russell Hammond: “Okay. Um, I dig music, and I’m on drugs!”
More Almost Famous Quotes for Rock Movie Fans
48. “Here’s the thing about Russell. He’s my last project. I only do this for a very few people, and I think we should do it together. Because all the guys are good, but he could be great.” – Penny Lane
49. Lester Bangs: “They made you feel cool. And hey, I met you. You are not cool.”
William Miller: “I know. Even when I thought I was, I knew I wasn’t. I’m glad you were home.”
Lester Bangs: “I’m always home. I’m uncool.”
50. “That groupie? She was a band-aid! All she did was love your band. And you used her, all of you! You used her and threw her away! She almost died last night while you were with Bob Dylan. You guys, you’re always talking about the fans, the fans, the fans. She was your biggest fan, and you threw her away! And if you can’t see that, that’s your biggest problem. And I love her! I love her!” – William Miller
Did These Quotes Make You Realize How You’ll Succeed in This World?
Almost Famous makes us realize that when we achieve greatness in our lives, not all people will be happy for us. Sometimes, even your closest friends will think you are stepping on their egos when you are at the top. Sad as it is, this will then result in insecurities and misunderstandings.
The journey William Miller had in the movie wasn’t easy. But, every time he was on the verge of giving up, he shook off those thoughts and found reasons to keep going. This is what makes him so inspiring—he never gave up on his dreams until he reached what success meant for him.
Despite all the disappointments, William Miller’s passion kept burning. He was betrayed by the people he thought were loyal, but instead of wallowing in it, he pushed further and onward.
Betrayal, insecurity, and even failure will come your way. But, you should always choose to overcome them. Not everyone in this world would truly want you to succeed, so remember to pick your circle wisely and be careful about who you trust!
Hopefully, this collection was able to give you lessons about friendship, betrayal, and success. Always remember that challenges are a natural part of our life, but your will to overcome them is all that matters!
