It may seem counter intuitive for a movie with no audible dialogue to be quotable but silent film fans know that title cards contain some of the snappiest writing around. So, in the name of Beanie Walker, let’s share some favorites!
Is it Theda Bara purring “Kiss me, my fool” in A Fool There Was? Some witticism from a comedy lot? (The header is from Haunted Spooks.) Or something else entirely?
I myself am quite partial to this bit of wisdom from The Cruise of the Jasper B.
Well, he’s not wrong.
Movies Silently 
Kiss me my fool, lol.
Damifino.
“This is a decent jail ~~ You can’t act here the way you do at home!” From, “Chicago” 1927.
Safety Last. “I’ll be right back as soon as I ditch the cop!”
My daughter & I use that one back & forth a lot…it makes us smile thinking of how much we love “Safety Last”.
I also use the tagline” I know it’s good I wrote it myself “from “Bumping into Broadway”.
Chico’s signature motto in ‘Seventh Heaven’ – ‘I’m a very remarkable fellow!’
My favorite quotation is this purple-prose-y gem from Douglas Fairbanks’ THE MARK OF ZORRO:
“If this could be —
The high Sierras I would level to your feet —
The wild waves on Capistrano’s shore should pay you homage —
I’d make the desert a million roses yield — to die in shame before your beauty —
If this could be!”
Try using that for your next sure-fire pick-up line.
On the Horror front:
“Some excellent judges think that I resemble Satan.” Blizzard, The Penalty.
On the Comedy Front:
“Could you spare a slice of buttered toast?” Stan Laurel, Habeas Corpus.
Feast your eyes,Glut your soul on my accursed ugliness.
I don’t usually like too witty style of writing. The best sentences fit to the story so well that they do not stand out.
Here is anyway one that supports the naivistic style of True Heart Susie:
Of course they don’t know what poor simple idiots they are – and we, who have never been so foolish, can hardly hope to understand – but –
“Tempted to gain wealth for his son by concocting a soft drink containing cocaine,” from FOR HIS SON (1912), by D.W. Griffith. A common temptation, then and now.
We need to add “As one does” right after the title 😉
“there is no love, only desire. There is no happiness, only the will to power”
– Dr. Mabuse
Jobyna Ralston when she asks Harold Lloyd increduously “you’ve had love affairs?” from Girl Shy!
Love that, especially when it’s followed by her amused look of ‘getting it’, when he explains about his new book ‘The Secret of Making love’!
Antony
From the Arbuckle-Keaton short Moonshine : “This is only a two-reeler, we don’t have time to build up to love scenes.”
Honorable mention, from the same film: “Wait until you’re married to start hitting him.”