The 27 Most Memorable Oscar Speeches of All Time

(Reuters)

"Call your mom, call your dad. If you’re lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet, call ‘em. Don’t text. Don’t email. Call them on the phone. Tell ‘em you love ‘em, and thank them, and listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you. Thank you. Thank you, Mom and Dad." (Reuters)

"To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America." (Reuters)

"I'd be lying if I hadn't made a version of this speech before, I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror. And this would've been a shampoo bottle. Well, it's not a shampoo bottle now!" (Reuters)

"Thank you. Thank you. You commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect this, but I, and I want it to be very clear, that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often." (Reuters)

"You rocked my life … Thank you life, thank you love, and it is true, there is some angels in this city." (Reuters)

"There's a lot of young guys coming along, but I'd like to say to the various financiers, don't forget the senior guys. The senior guys and gals are there, willing to do their best work for you." (Reuters)

"I don't have a sense of entitlement or that I deserve this. You'd be surprised at the lack of competition between nominees — I think a lot of it's imposed from the outside. Can I have my champagne now?" (Reuters)

"I don't know what I did in this life to deserve all of this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream." (Reuters)

"We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. We are against this war, Mr Bush. Shame on you. Shame on you!" (Reuters)

"This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me: Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox and it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened." (Reuters)

"For anybody who's on the down side of advantage and relying purely on courage, it's possible." (Reuters)

"I have a television so I'm going to spend some time here to tell you some things. And sir [to conductor], you are doing a great job, but you're so quick with that stick so why don't you sit? Because I may never be here again". (Reuters)

"When I was 16 years old, I tried to kill myself because I felt weird and I felt different and I felt like I did not belong. And now I’m standing here and, so, I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or she doesn’t fit in anywhere. Yes, you do. I promise you do. You do. Stay weird. Stay different. And then when it’s your turn and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along." (Reuters)

"I'm in shock. And I'm so in love with my brother right now, he just held me and said he loved me." (Reuters)

"I just said to Matt, losing would suck and winning would be really scary and it's really, really scary." (Reuters)

"I am not able to express all my gratitude because now, my body is in tumult because it is a colossal moment of joy … I would like to be Jupiter! And kidnap everybody and lie down in the firmament making love to everybody, because I don't know how to express. It's a question of love." (Reuters)

"I'm the king of the world!" (Reuters)

"Tom Cruise, I love you brother, I love you man … Everybody who was involved with this, I love you, I love you, I love you." (Reuters)

"Oh, wow. This is the best drink of water after the longest drought of my life." (Reuters)

"I would not be standing here if it weren't for two very important men in my life … my high school drama teacher, who taught me 'To act well the part, there all the glory lies,' and one of my classmates … Two of the finest gay Americans, two wonderful men that I had the good fortune to be associated with." (Reuters)

"When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid." (Reuters)

"I know you're only standing up because you feel bad that I fell." (Reuters)

"When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no. Oh come on. Her. Again. You know? But whatever." (Reuters)

"You're only two years older than me, darling. Where have you been all my life?" (Reuters)

"Roxy Sorkin, your father just won the Academy Award. I'm going to have to insist on some respect from your guinea pig." (Reuters)

"When I watched Kate [Winslet] win [the same award] two years ago, it looked so f*****g easy!" (Reuters)

"Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you all down?" (Reuters)