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15 Quotes From 'Howl's Moving Castle' That Could Break Any Curse
Howl's Moving Castle is a beautiful movie that's combines a young woman's coming of age with the horrors of war and the emotional development of an extremely extra wizard. With a story like that, one expects good quotes, and this Studio Ghibli film delivers.
We've assembled some of the best Howl's Moving Castle quotes that you'll remember long after the movie is over. Some are funny, like Calcifer's bacon-based curse. Others, such as Howl's realization that he wants to protect Sophie even though he's been focusing on himself for years now, are deeply moving.
Which quote sparks your imagination?
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1'They Say That The Best Blaze Burns Brightest When Circumstances Are At Their Worst.'
Who Says It?: Sophie
Sophie wants Calcifer to move the castle so that they can be safe from the falling bombs and so that Howl can stop trying to protect them and get to safety himself. But this is no easy task; Calcifer can't do much in the way of magic without Howl around, and he can't use fire effectively when it's rainy and damp. Sophie gives him a pep talk to try and get him going. He claims that she's wrong, but he steps up anyway - that is after eating her braid and using it as a power-up.
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2'A Heart’s A Heavy Burden.'
Who Says It?: Sophie
Towards the end of the film, Sophie gets Calcifer - fused with Howl's heart - back from the Witch of the Waste, and places it back in Howl's chest. Calcifer is freed from their union, and Howl has his heart back. He says that he feels terrible - specifically, his chest feels like there's something heavy on it. While Howl probably means this literally, Sophie's reply about the heart being a heavy burden is metaphorical. Howl has spent his whole life running away, and how he'll have to care about things with his whole heart. Worth it, but painful nevertheless.
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3'I Don’t COOK! I’m A Scary And Powerful Fire Demon!'
Who Says It?: Calcifer
Quick to make herself at home in Howl's castle, Sophie decides to make breakfast. Usually, no one can cook unless Howl is around, since Calcifer is the only source of heat and he won't listen to anyone but Howl. But Sophie gets him to do exactly what she wants because she knows a secret that Calcifer wants to keep from Howl. Using blackmail, she gets her bacon and eggs.
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4'May All Your Bacon Burn.'
Who Says It?: Calcifer
Calcifer may have been bullied into helping Sophie make breakfast, but he isn't about to let it go without one more dig. He claims to be “cursing” Sophie to burn her bacon every time she tries to cook it. If this is a real curse, we'll never know, because Howl takes over the cooking and the bacon is just fine.
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5'She Likes My SPARK!!!'
Who Says It?: Calcifer
Calcifer and Sophie spend a lot of time sniping at each other, but when Sophie gives Calcifer a genuine compliment about his ability to fly the castle, he's so excited that he revs up the castle's speed. Sometimes all a powerful fire demon needs is a little encouragement.
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6'I Give Up. I See No Point In Living If I Can’t Be Beautiful.'
Who Says It?: Howl
Sophie's cleaning spree has an unintended consequence. Howl accidentally dyes his hair a brilliant shade of orange. He absolutely hates it and bursts into tears, proving himself to be pretty much the most dramatic person on the planet.
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7'There You Are Sweetheart, Sorry I’m Late, I Was Looking Everywhere For You.'
Who Says It?: Howl
A pair of soldiers are hitting on Sophie, and she's having trouble getting away. Howl decides to help her out by pretending to know her well enough to call her sweetheart. After that, he uses his magical abilities to send them packing. He undercuts his gallant act a little bit by claiming that the soldiers aren't so bad, but hey, that's well in line with Howl's contradictory personality. After that, he offers to escort her wherever she wants to go, but this gets her involved with the supernatural beings following him.
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8'It’s Not Easy Being Old.'
Who Says It?: Sophie
After being transformed into an old woman, Sophie has to contend with more than just her new appearance. Her body is also a lot less cooperative than it used to be. As she leaves her home to solve her new problem, she realizes that tasks that were once simple, like walking, are much more difficult than they used to be.
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9'I’ve Had Enough Of Running Away, Sophie. Now I’ve Got Something I Want To Protect. It's You.'
Who Says It?: Howl
Howl has spent most of his life trying to avoid his responsibilities. He wants to be left to his own devices to do his magic and stay safe, both mentally and physically. He definitely doesn't want to get conscripted into his nation's war. But when bombs are pouring from the sky onto their home, and the government is after him, he decides to stop running away and fight for his family's safety. Why? Because he finally cares enough about someone to put himself at risk.
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10'Howl! Calcifer! I Know How To Help You Now! Find Me In The Future!'
Who Says It?: Sophie
Sophie is transported into the past, where she witnesses a brief moment from Howl's childhood. She sees that he consumed a falling star, fusing it with his heart and giving him access to Calcifer's abilities. She realizes that in order to bring Howl back to life and back to his human form, she'll have to put Howl's heart back inside of his body. As the ground breaks around her and she's shunted back to her own time, she shouts that she now understands what to do, and that Howl should find her in the future so that she can help him.
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11'What A Tacky Little Hat Shop. I’ve Never Seen Such Tacky Little Hats. Yet You Are By Far The Tackiest Thing Here.'
Who Says It?: The Witch of the Waste
Irritated by Sophie's interaction with Howl, the Witch of the Waste heads to her hat shop and insults both the product and the employee. Sophie thinks that she's a customer at first, but once she realizes who she's dealing with she's alarmed. As she should be, because the Witch puts a curse on her that transforms her into an elderly woman.
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12'It Was A Pleasure Meeting You, Even If You Are My Least Favorite Vegetable! Take Care, Turniphead!'
Who Says It?: Sophie
While on her journey to undo the witch's curse, Sophie is having a hard time walking. She sees a stick that she thinks will be a good cane and tries to pick it up. The stick turns out to be a very helpful living scarecrow with a turnip for a head. Sophie, not liking turnips and not wanting to be bothered with more magic, wants the scarecrow to leave her alone. But it helps her retrieve lost items, gives her a much nicer cane, and leads her to Howl's castle. After all that, she can't help feeling some affection for him.
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13'He’s Calling The Spirits Of Darkness… I Saw Him Do This Once Before When A Girl Dumped Him!'
Who Says It?: Markl
When Howl gets upset, he makes it everyone else's problem. He's miserable because his hair color has, in his opinion, made him not beautiful, so he starts summoning the forces of darkness - which also means producing green slime.
Sophie isn't sympathetic. She believes that she's never been beautiful in her entire life, and that whatever small amount of beauty she did possess is gone because of her transformation into an old woman. Not wanting to deal with Howl's dramatic reaction to something so trivial, and feeling pretty miserable about her own situation, she runs out of the castle and cries. But it's not long before she takes charge in getting rid of the slime and calms Howl.
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14'I’d Appreciate It If You Wouldn’t Torment My Friend.'
Who Says It?: Howl
While in a cleaning frenzy, Sophie is far more interested in cleaning up the ashes in the fireplace than she is in making sure that Calcifer's flame doesn't go out. She nearly smothers him in the process. Howl appears and fixes the situation. He seems to take it in stride, but he also makes it clear that he'd appreciate her being a little bit more considerate.
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15'Don’t Deny An Old Witch Her Pleasures, Young Lady.'
Who Says It?: The Witch of the Waste
The Witch of the Waste has been going back and forth between senility and lucidity ever since she was stripped of her powers. But while she's smoking a cigar - which Sophie thinks is disgusting - she starts to act more like her original self, foreshadowing what she'll do a few scenes later.
Magical quote?
