History Main / QuoteToQuoteCombat

* Chapter 8.4 of the ''Fanfic/DokiDokiLiteratureClubLoops'' has VitriolicBestBuds Natsuki and Yuri hurl VolleyingInsults at each other using the quotes of Creator/WilliamShakespeare. Yuri wins, Natsuki collapses, and Monika, Sayori, and [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Blake]] are impressed at the show.

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Film/TheRock'', the antagonist General Hummel justifies his actions to John Mason, one of the protagonists:
-->'''Hummel:''' "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson.
-->'''Mason:''' "Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious," according to Creator/OscarWilde.
-->(''[[IResembleThatRemark Hummel clubs Mason with a rifle.]]'')
-->'''Mason:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Thank you for proving my point.]]
* In ''{{Film/Porkys}} II: The Next Day'' the school Creator/{{Shakespeare}} production is being shut down by a group of hyper-conservative religious nuts who think Shakespeare is immoral. They quote [[QuoteMining out of context]] dirty Shakespeare passages (of which there are many) to support their cause. But the school principal, who supports the show, goes quote-for-quote against them using Literature/TheBible as his source of smutty sayings.

* Done twice in ''Film/AFewGoodMen'' between Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Creator/TomCruise) and Luther, the newsstand attendant. It appears to be part of their daily routine, a friendly verbal quote competition. Here's the first one:
-->'''Kaffee''':How's it goin', Luther?\\
'''Luther''': Another day, another dollar, captain.\\
'''Kaffee''': You gotta play 'em as they lay, Luther.\\
'''Luther''': What comes around, goes around, you know what I'm sayin'.\\
'''Kaffee''': If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.\\
'''Luther''': Hey, if you've got your health, you got everything.\\
'''Kaffee''': Love makes the world go round. I'll see you tomorrow, Luther.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarshipTroopersInvasion''.
-->'''Kharon:''' [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent.]]
-->'''Holy Man:''' Are atheists the only philosophers you can quote?
-->'''Kharon:''' I find that believers such as you see so few things worth writing down.
-->'''Holy Man:''' And I found that he who looks so forward to the abyss, is simply afraid of the light. I'm gonna go get you a pen.
-->'''Kharon:''' Wait, did you just make that up? No, I'm not writing that down!
* ''Film/TheBlackHole'': A brief example between Charlie and V.I.N.CENT (who tends to talk in quotes):
-->'''Charlie''': You know what they say about "all work and no play".\\
'''V.I.N.CENT''': "All sunshine makes a desert." So the Arabs say.
* ''Film/DayOfDefense'': The Mormon missionaries engage in this during the trial with their accusers regarding their church's beliefs vs. mainstream Christianity (the issue being whether they're Christian or not).

* In ''Film/TheManWhoCameBack'', Paxton and the preacher exchange Bible quotations during Paxton's KangarooCourt: Paxton trying to get the preacher to tell the truth and admit his part in the lynching, and the preacher justifying his perjury and mistreatment of the former slaves.

* ''Literature/VampireHigh'': The school principal disapproves of Cody mingling with the jenti, quoting Creator/RobertFrost's "Mending Wall" at him: "Good fences make good neighbors." Cody retorts by pointing out that the poem also says, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall".

* A couple examples early in ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale''. The Gilead regime is a far-right Christian fundamentalist [[TheTheocracy theocracy]] that governs based on {{quote mine}}d Literature/{{Bible}} verses, and Aunt Lydia often uses the line "Blessed are the meek" to chastise recalcitrant [[BreedingSlave Handmaids]]. In the pilot, protagonist Offred (who was Catholic before the Gilead takeover) remarks in her InternalMonologue that "they always leave out the 'for they shall inherit the Earth' part". The second instance is in the episode "Late", when Offred is being interrogated by Lydia and a member of the SecretPolice.
-->'''Lydia:''' Blessed are the meek, dear.\\
'''Offred:''' "And blessed are those who suffer in the cause of righteousness, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven."\\
'''Lydia:''' ''(gets enraged and [[AppealToForce starts torturing her with a cattle prod]])''
* A friendly quote contest takes place in ''Series/BarneyMiller'', when Wojo and Dietrich look at the fog outside the precinct window:
-->'''Dietrich''': [[Theatre/{{Macbeth}} "Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."]] [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Bill Shakespeare.]]\\
'''Wojo''': "The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on." Creator/CarlSandburg.\\
'''Dietrich''': "I got smog in my noggin." Ed "Kooky" Burns.\\
''(Harris enters)''\\
'''Wojo''': What do you think of the fog?\\
'''Harris''': Thick as pea soup.\\
'''Wojo'''''(to Dietrich)'': Well we did better than that.
* Happens occasionally on ''Series/HomeImprovement'', generally between Wilson and whichever Taylor had gone to him to discuss their problem in a particular episode. Illustrated particularly well between Wilson and Tim when Tim is in trouble for never having told an ex-girlfriend that the relationship was over (twenty years earlier).
-->'''Wilson:''' Creator/RobertLouisStevenson said, "The cruelest lies are often told in silence."\\
'''Tim:''' Hmm. But, didn't UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge say, "Nothing I never said ever did me any harm?"\\
'''Wilson:''' Very good! Thomas Mann once said, "A harmful truth is better than a useful lie."\\
'''Tim:''' Not bad! But wait, wait, wait! Turkish proverbs was, "He who tells the truth will be chased out of nine villages."\\
'''Wilson:''' Excellent! But I believe the final word would be Heywood Broun: "For truth, there is no deadline."\\
'''Tim:''' ''[grunting]'' Oooh, that's three to two, you beat me, Wilson.

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': People love quoting from the [[BigBookOfWar Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries]] to settle a point, often while applying liberal amounts of violence. Sometimes they get a back and forth going that invokes this trope (the Maxims are extensive and quotable). One notable example included three different parties all getting in on the action: http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-03-08
* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2243 #2243]] features an idiom battle between Marten and Tai.

* The ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode [[HalloweenEpisode "Hilloween"]] parodies this when this conversation happens between Hank and an overzealous priest:
-->'''Judy Harper:''' "The complacency of fools will destroy them." Proverbs.\\
'''Hank:''' "Get out of my house!" Exodus.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': In the episode "I Am The Night", Batman meets Dr. Leslie Thompkins during his annual vigil at the site of his parents' murder.
-->'''Leslie Thompkins''': You seem quieter than usual tonight.\\
'''Batman''': Every year I come here, I wonder if it should be the last time... If I should put the past behind me... Try to lead a normal life.\\
'''Leslie''': Santayana says that "those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it".\\
'''Batman''': He also said "a fanatic is someone who redoubles his efforts while losing sight of his goal."

* A couple examples early in ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale''. The Gilead regime is a [[StrawDystopia far-right Christian fundamentalist]] [[TheTheocracy theocracy]] that governs based on {{quote mine}}d Literature/{{Bible}} verses, and Aunt Lydia often uses the line "Blessed are the meek" to chastise recalcitrant [[BreedingSlave Handmaids]]. In the pilot, protagonist Offred (who was Catholic before the Gilead takeover) remarks in her InternalMonologue that "they always leave out the 'for they shall inherit the Earth' part". The second instance is in the episode "Late", when Offred is being interrogated by Lydia and a member of the SecretPolice.

* In one episode of ''Series/HouseMD'', House snidely refuses to follow Cuddy's instructions by quoting Music/MickJagger at her: "Like the philosopher Jagger once said, '[[Music/TheRollingStones You can’t always get what you want.]]'" Later in the episode, after she has one-upped him, Cuddy fires it right back at him, with the rest of the lyric: "Oh, I looked into that philosopher you quoted, Jagger, and you’re right, 'You can’t always get what you want,' but, as it turns out, 'If you try sometimes, you get what you need.'"

* ''Literature/UnderHeaven'': Given that poetry is almost a national pastime, and writing (and quoting) poems is part of the national Civil Service exam, most of the characters end up [[QuoteMine quoting lines]] at each other in various situations, usually as part of an argument to make a point. At one point, Shen Tai is in an argument with someone in service to the emperor's favorite consort about the disposition of Tai's horse... and aims an actual poet at him: Sima Zian, the "Bannished Immortal", with a reputation for being repeatedly ''kicked out of Heaven''. The servant's reaction to Sima's presence almost makes it worthwhile.

* Chapter 8.4 of the ''Fabfic/DokiDokiLiteratureClubLoops'' has VitriolicBestBuds Natsuki and Yuri hurl VolleyingInsults at each other using the quotes of Creator/WilliamShakespeare. Yuri wins, Natsuki collapses, and Monika, Sayori, and [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Blake]] are impressed at the show.

-->''"Oh, I know Hamlet. And what he might say with irony, I say with conviction: 'What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form, in moving, how express and admirable! In action, how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a god!'"''

'''Daisy:''' That's a song.\\

* Literature/TheScream: Rachel has a battle of Bible quotes with Weissman.

-->'''Mason:''' "Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.", according to Creator/OscarWilde.
-->(''[[IResembleThatRemark Then, Hummel clubs Mason.]]'')

-->'''Mason:''' "Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious.", according to Creator/OscarWilde.

* A couple examples early in ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale''. The Gilead regime is a far-right Christian fundamentalist [[TheTheocracy theocracy]] that governs based on {{quote mine}}d Literature/{{Bible}} verses, and Aunt Lydia often uses the line "Blessed are the meek" to chastise recalcitrant [[BreedingSlave Handmaids]]. In the pilot, protagonist Offred (who was Catholic before the Gilead takeover) remarks in her InternalMonologue that "they always leave out the 'for they shall inherit the Earth' part". The second instance is in the episode "Late", when Offred is being interrogated by Lydia and a member of the SecretPolice.

-->'''Sam:''' "Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven." - Creator/JohnMilton\\

'''Tim:''' Do you believe in life after love?\\

'''[=McCracken=]''': Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend.\\

* Literature/TheScream : Rachel has a battle of Bible quotes with Weissman.

* ''Film/TheBlackHole'': A brief example between Charlie and V.I.N.CENT(who tends to talk in quotes):

* A couple examples early in ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale''. The Gilead regime is a far-right Christian fundamentalist {{theocracy}} that governs based on {{quote mine}}d Literature/{{Bible}} verses, and Aunt Lydia often uses the line "Blessed are the meek" to chastise recalcitrant [[BreedingSlave Handmaids]]. In the pilot, protagonist Offred (who was Catholic before the Gilead takeover) remarks in her InternalMonologue that "they always leave out the 'for they shall inherit the Earth' part". The second instance is in the episode "Late", when Offred is being interrogated by Lydia and a member of the SecretPolice.