Serendipity (2001)

Jeremy Piven: Dean Kansky

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Quotes 

• Dean : You know the Greeks didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: "Did he have passion?".

• Dean : Jonathan Trager, prominent television producer for ESPN, died last night from complications of losing his soul mate and his fiancee. He was 35 years old. Soft-spoken and obsessive, Trager never looked the part of a hopeless romantic. But, in the final days of his life, he revealed an unknown side of his psyche. This hidden quasi-Jungian persona surfaced during the Agatha Christie-like pursuit of his long reputed soul mate, a woman whom he only spent a few precious hours with. Sadly, the protracted search ended late Saturday night in complete and utter failure. Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Trager secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences. Uh-uh. But rather, its a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan. Asked about the loss of his dear friend, Dean Kansky, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and executive editor of the New York Times, described Jonathan as a changed man in the last days of his life. "Things were clearer for him," Kansky noted. Ultimately Jonathan concluded that if we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call "fatum", what we currently refer to as destiny.

• Dean : Do you remember the philosopher Epictetus? You remember what he said? He said, "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."

• Dean : [Lying on the grass with Jonathan, outside Sara's house]  Maybe we're lying here because you don't wanna be standing somewhere else.

• Jonathan : Forget about privacy laws. You know what privacy laws do?

  Leasing Office Temp : No.

  Jonathan : They protect millionaires. You know who those millionaires are?

  Leasing Office Temp : Who?

  Jonathan : Tell him who they are. Tell him.

  Dean : Kids your age. Pimple-faced college drop outs who have made unhealthy sums of money forming internet companies that create no concrete products, provide no viable services, and still manage to generate profits for all of its lazy day-trading son-of-a bitch shareholders. Meanwhile, as a tortured member of the disenfranchised proletariat, you find some altruistic need to protect these digital plantation-owners?

  Jonathan : [reacting to Dean's speech]  Wow!

  [to Temp] 

  Jonathan : Come on.

• Jonathan : Maybe I am just getting cold feet.

  Dean : I'm telling you right now British women do not age well. Eight years ago she was a luscious treat, you know, she probably looked like, you know, Baby Spice, now she could look like...

  Jonathan : Old Spice.

• Dean : What's wrong? You all right?

  Jonathan : Her name's Sara Thomas.

  [Jonathan hands Dean the book] 

  Dean : How?

  Jonathan : Halley gave it to me as a wedding present.

• Jonathan : It's like Halley is "The Godfather Part 2".

  Dean : She's what?

  Jonathan : "The Godfather Part 2"! That was an incredible movie. Might be better than the original, alright? But don't matter how much you love "The Godfather Part 2", you still have to see the original to understand and appreciate the sequel.

• Dean : I hate to break up a good thing, but we have half a dozen strippers waiting for us, we're late.

  Halley : You mean exotic dancers?

  Dean : No, I actually mean strippers.

• Dean : You're the shit!

  [man next to him on plane looks over at him thinking he's talking to him] 

  Jonathan : [to the guy]  That would be me, the shit.

• Bloomingdale's Salesman : So... you write for the obituary?

  Dean : Absolutely.

  Bloomingdale's Salesman : Hmm. You must be very proud.

  Dean : Uh-huh. I'm the one with the last word.

  Bloomingdale's Salesman : Not tonight.

  Dean : Yes, I am.

  Bloomingdale's Salesman : Don't think so.

  Dean : Absolutely.

  Bloomingdale's Salesman : Fat chance.

  Dean : Still talking!

  Bloomingdale's Salesman : Last line!

• Dean : Contrary to popular New York myth the Times is not omniscient.

• Dean : [commenting on Jonathan's craziness]  They should make pills for this stuff.