20 Brokeback Mountain Quotes on Love, Criticism, and Regret

Read these top 20 Brokeback Mountain quotes that’ll open your eyes to the different kinds of love in this world!

Everyone wants to experience love. Thus, watching romantic movies is common to us while growing up. But, how will you react if you encounter an unusual type of love story?

Brokeback Mountain is incredibly unique as it tackles a unique form of love. The movie focuses on two cowboys, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, who fall in love. Of course, they deny and resist their feelings to avoid shame and unacceptance from society.

They decided to part ways and attempted to start separate, conventional lives, marrying women and having children. However, their decision to fit into society’s standards doesn’t lead them to happiness.

Their lives were filled with regret when they realized that being together was no longer possible. So, if you’re curious about Ennis and Jack’s love, trials, and relationship, read on!

Continue scrolling below.

And don’t forget to check out these There Will Be Blood quotes and Tombstone quotes.

Best Brokeback Mountain Quotes

1. Ennis Del Mar: “We can get together once in a while, way the hell out in the middle of nowhere, but—.”

Jack Twist: “Once in a while? Every four f*cking years?”

Ennis Del Mar: “If you can’t fix it, Jack, you gotta stand it.”

Jack Twist: “For how long?”

Ennis Del Mar: “For as long as we can ride it. There ain’t no reins on this one.”

2. “Don’t try and fool me no more, Ennis. I know what it means. Jack Twist? Jack Nasty!” – Alma Del Mar

3. Jack Twist: “That’s more words than you’ve spoke in the past two weeks.”

Ennis Del Mar: “Hell, that’s the most I’ve spoke in a year.”

4. Jack Twist: “Is there anything interesting up there in heaven?”

Ennis Del Mar: “I was just sending up a prayer of thanks.”

Jack Twist: “For what?”

Ennis Del Mar: “For you forgetting to bring that harmonica. I’m enjoying the peace and quiet.”

Jack Twist: “You know it could be like this, just like this, always.”

5. Ennis Del Mar: “You got your wife and your baby in Texas and, you know, I got my life in Riverton.”

Jack Twist: “Is it so? You and Alma, that’s life.”

Ennis Del Mar: “Now you shut up about Alma. This ain’t her fault. The bottom line is we’re around each other and this thing grabs hold of us again in the wrong place, at the wrong time—we’re dead.”

6. Ennis Del Mar: “This is a one-shot thing we got going on here.”

Jack Twist: “It’s nobody’s business but ours.”

Ennis Del Mar: “You know I ain’t queer.”

Jack Twist: “Me neither.”

7. Ennis Del Mar: “I’m gonna tell you this one time, Jack f*cking Twist, I ain’t fooling. What I don’t know—all the things I don’t know could get you killed if I come to know them. I ain’t joking.”

Jack Twist: “Yeah well try this one, and I’ll say it just once!”

Ennis Del Mar: “Go ahead!”

Jack Twist: “Tell you what, we could have a good life together, f*cking real good life! Had us a place of our own. But you didn’t want it, Ennis! So what we got now is Brokeback Mountain! Everything’s built on that, that’s all we got boy, f*cking all. So I hope you know that if you don’t even know the rest! You count the damn few times we have been together in nearly 20 years and you measure the short f*cking leash you keep me on, and then you ask me about Mexico and tell me you’ll kill me for needing something I don’t hardly never get. You have no idea how bad it gets! I’m not you, I can’t make it on a coupla high-altitude f*cks once or twice a year! You are too much for me Ennis, you son of a whoreson b*tch. I wish I knew how to quit you.”

Ennis Del Mar: “Well why don’t you? Why don’t you just let me be, huh? Because of you, Jack, that I’m like this. I’m nothing and nowhere.”

Jack Twist: “Ennis—.”

Ennis Del Mar: “Get the f*ck off me!”

Jack Twist: “Sorry, it’s all right. Damn you, Ennis!”

Ennis Del Mar: “I can’t stand it anymore, Jack!”

8. “You boys sure found a way to make the time pass up there. Twist, you guys weren’t getting paid to leave the dogs babysitting the sheep while you stem the rose.” – Joe Aguirre

Brokeback Mountain Quotes and One-Liners for Fans of the Movie

9. “Jack, I swear.” – Ennis Del Mar

10. “Brokeback got us good, don’t it?” – Jack Twist

11. “If you got nothin’, you don’t need nothin’.” – Ennis Del Mar

12. “Sometimes I miss you so much, I can hardly stand it.” – Jack Twist

13. “There ain’t never enough time.” – Jack Twist

14. “You didn’t go up there to fish.” – Alma Del Mar

15. “You don’t say much but you get your point across.” – Cassie Cartwright

More Brokeback Mountain Quotes That You Should Keep In Your Heart

16. Lureen Twist: “You don’t think I’m too fast, do you? Maybe we should put the brakes on?”

Jack Twist: “Fast or slow, I just like the direction you’re going.”

17. Jack Twist: “The Pentecost, I don’t know what the Pentecost is. I guess it means the world ends and guys like you and me march off to hell.”

Ennis Del Mar: “Speak for yourself. You may be a sinner, but I ain’t yet had the opportunity.”

18. Lureen Twist: “He always said he wanted his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain, but I wasn’t sure where that was. I thought Brokeback Mountain might be around where he grew up. Knowing Jack, it might be some pretend place where bluebirds sing and there’s a whiskey spring.”

Ennis Del Mar: “No ma’am we were herding sheep on Brokeback one summer, back in ’63.”

Lureen Twist: “Well, he said it was his favorite place.”

19. Ennis Del Mar: “Was probably no fun anyway, was I?”

Cassie Cartwright: “Ennis, girls don’t fall in love with fun!”

20. Jack Twist: “You know what, friend? This is a g*dd*mn b*tch of an unsatisfactory situation. You used to come down so easy, now it’s like seeing the Pope.”

Ennis Del Mar: “Jack, I gotta work. I mean in the earlier days I just quit the job. You forget what it’s like being broke all the time. You ever hear of child support? I’ll tell you this, I can’t quit this one, and I can’t get the time off. It’s hard enough getting this one. The trade-off is August. You got a better idea?”

Do You Believe in the Kind of Love That Ennis and Jack Had?

Brokeback Mountain is a masterpiece that reminds us that different and extraordinary love exists. However, society is still not wholly accepting of this kind of relationship.

That is why Jack and Ennis are forced to separate despite their great love for each other. Because of fear, they let go of happiness and contentment that might have been possible should they have followed their hearts. 

Take their mistakes as a motivation to fight for what will make you happy, even if it goes against the status quo. Be fierce, and don’t let society and its criticism impact your decision in life. If you love someone, take the risk and stop worrying about the reaction of other people; after all, you are the only one who knows what’s inside your heart.

Remember that judgment from others is nothing compared to a life full of regrets. Love—in any form—is your ultimate key to happiness in this world.

Hopefully, this collection of Brokeback Mountain quotes was able to provide you with meaningful insights and lessons you can use in life. Never let criticism force you to choose things that you’ll eventually regret!

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Karen Danao

Hi, I’m Karen, a content curator and writer for Quote Ambition; I’m also a marketing and advertising professional. Beyond the keyboard and the screen, I’m someone who’s out to enjoy every bit that life has to offer!

Poetry, philosophy, history, and movies are all topics I love writing about! However, my true passion is in traveling, photography, and finding common ground to which everyone from different cultures can relate.

With the many places I’ve been to, I found that love, inspiration, and happiness are some things that bring people together. No matter how different we are on the outside, I’m a true believer that our emotions don’t lie; if you dig deep into our psyche, we’re all the same inside.

This belief was further amplified when I joined Quote Ambition. Through the quotes I’ve read, collected, organized, and written about, I found that humans are resilient, creative, and compassionate.

We take from each others’ hearts and courage, and it’s through our individual experiences that we learn how to rise above our challenges and pain. In so many ways, Quote Ambition is a platform that allows people from all over the world to gain the inspiration they need anytime, anywhere!

You can find me on MuckRack and LinkedIn.