97 Iconic Sound of Music Quotes You’ll Love Forever

Some movies stay in our hearts forever. “The Sound of Music” is one of those special films. Since 1965, people all over the world have smiled, cried, and sung along with Maria and the von Trapp family.

This movie tells the story of Maria, a young woman who wasn’t quite right for the convent. Instead, she became a governess for seven children who needed love and music in their lives.

Their father, Captain von Trapp, was strict and sad until Maria helped bring joy back to their home.

Set against beautiful mountains in Austria during a difficult time in history, the family found courage through their songs.

They even escaped from the Nazis, bringing their music and hope with them to a new life.

The words from this movie have become part of our lives. When we hear “the hills are alive” or “so long, farewell,” we can’t help but smile and remember.

These quotes remind us about being brave, finding love, and how music can change everything.

Here are the most beloved quotes from this timeless film – words that have been making people happy for nearly 60 years and will continue to do so for generations to come.

Memorable Quotes from The Sound of Music

Mary Evans/Everett Collection

“The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years. The hills fill my heart with the sound of music. My heart wants to sing every song it hears.” – “The Sound of Music,” the title track sung by Maria ((Julie Andrews)
“You brought music back into the house. I had forgotten.”
– Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), to Maria
“You know how Sister Berthe always makes me kiss the floor after we’ve had a disagreement? Well, lately I’ve taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time.” – Maria, before heading to the home of Captain von Trapp to be the governess to his seven children
“After all, the wool from the black sheep is just as warm.” – Sister Margaretta (Anna Lee), supporting Maria despite her free-spirited ways

“I need someone older and wiser, telling me what to do. You are seventeen going on eighteen. I’ll depend on you.” – “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” sung by Rolfe (Daniel Truhitte) and Liesl (Charmian Carr)
“Well, you can’t marry someone when you’re in love with someone else … can you?”- Captain von Trapp, professing his feelings for Maria after calling off his engagement to the Baroness
“When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad. I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.”- “My Favorite Things,” sung by Maria
“Only grown-up men are scared of women.”- Kurt (Duane Chase), the precocious 11-year-old von Trapp child
“When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything.”- “Do-Re-Mi,” sung by Maria and the children
“I’m Brigitta, she’s Louisa. She’s 13 years old, and you’re smart! I’m 10, and I think your dress is the ugliest one I ever saw!”— Brigitta (Angela Cartwright) to Maria
“You know how Sister Berthe always makes me kiss the floor after we’ve had a disagreement? Well, lately I’ve taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time.”— Maria
“After all, the wool from the black sheep is just as warm. ”— Sister Margaretta (Anna Lee)
“Fraulein, is it to be at every meal, or merely at dinnertime, that you intend on leading us all through this rare and wonderful new world of…indigestion?”— Captain Von Trapp
“Maria, these walls were not meant to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live.”— Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood)
“You are the twelfth in a long line of governesses who have come here to look after my children since their mother died. I trust you will be an improvement on the last one. She stayed only two hours.”— Captain von Trap to Maria
Maria: I can’t seem to stop singing wherever I am. And what’s worse, I can’t seem to stop saying things, anything and everything I think and feel.
Mother Abbess: Some people would call that honesty.
Maria: Oh, but it’s terrible, Reverend Mother.
Maria: Gretl, what happened to your finger?Gretl (Kym Karath): It got caught.Maria: Caught in what?Gretl: Friedrich’s teeth.
Captain von Trapp: Now, when I want you, this is what you will hear.[He blows a whistle.]
Maria: Oh, no, sir. I’m sorry, sir. I could never answer to a whistle. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals, but not for children and definitely not for me. It would be too…humiliating.
Captain von Trapp: Fraulein, were you this much trouble at the Abbey?Maria: Oh, much more, sir.
Captain von Trapp: Hmm.[He starts walking away. Maria blows her whistle and he turns around.]
Maria: Excuse me, sir. I don’t know your signal.

Max Detweiler: The Von Trapp Family Singers. Here are your names: Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Brigitta, Kurt, Marta and Gretl.Gretl: Why am I always last?Max Detweiler: Because you are the most important.
Friedrich: I’m Friedrich. I’m 14. I’m impossible!Maria: [laughing] Really? Who told you that, Friedrich?Friedrich: Fraulein Josephine, four governesses ago.

20thCentFox/Everett Collection

“Fond as I am of you, I really don’t think you’re the right man for me. You’re, um…you’re much too independent. And I…I need someone who needs me desperately, or at least needs my money desperately.”— The Baroness (Eleanor Parker)
Captain von Trapp: Fraulein Maria, did I or did I not say that bedtime is to be strictly observed in this household?
Maria: Yes, well, the children were scared of the thunderstorm and…You did, sir.
Captain von Trapp: And do you or do you not have trouble following these simple instructions?
Maria: Only during thunderstorms, sir.
“The Von Trapp children don’t play. They march.”— Frau Schmidt to Maria
“When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.”— “My Favorite Things,” sung by Maria
“Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, ’til you find your dream.”— “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” sung by Mother Abbess
Captain von Trapp: Is it possible, or could I have just imagined it—have my children by any chance been climbing trees today?
Maria: Yes, Captain.Captain von Trapp: I see. And where, may I ask, did they get these…ummm…
Maria: Play clothes.
Captain von Trapp: Oh, is that what you call them?
Maria: I made them. From the drapes that used to hang in my bedroom.Captain von Trapp: Drapes?
Maria: They still have plenty of wear left. The children have been everywhere in them.
Captain von Trapp: Do you mean to tell me that my children have been roaming about Salzburg dressed up in nothing but some old drapes?
Maria: Mmm-hmmm. And having a marvelous time!
“I like rich people. I like the way they live. I like the way I live when I’m with them.”— Max Detweiler
When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window. – Maria
You know how Sister Berthe always makes me kiss the floor after we’ve had a disagreement? Well, lately I’ve taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time. – Maria
Captain von Trapp: It’s the dress. You’ll have to put on another one before you meet the children.
Maria: But I don’t have another one. When we entered the abbey our worldly clothes were given to the poor.
Captain von Trapp: What about this one?
Maria: The poor didn’t want this one.
Maria: Why didn’t you children tell me you could dance?Kurt: We were afraid you’d make us all dance together. The von Trapp Family dancers.[spins]
Captain von Trapp: Fraulein, is it to be at every meal, or merely at dinnertime, that you intend on leading us all through this rare and wonderful new world of… indigestion?
Max: He’s got to at least *pretend* to work with these people. You must convince him.
Maria: I can’t ask him to be less than he is.
Max: Hold on. What’s so funny?Captain von Trapp: You are, Max. Expensive, but very funny.