9. I Am Sam (2001)

[Sam, a man with an intellectual disability, goes to court to fight for custody of his 7-year-old daughter.]

Lawyer Turner : So, who do you look up to? Who do you want to be like… as a father, when parenting Lucy? The head of the institution?  The Principal? The warden?

Sam Dawson : No. Not Mr. Whitehead. No. Not him.

Lawyer Turner : Then who? Who?

[Pause]

Sam Dawson : [Firmly] Myself, yeah I look up to myself as a father.

Lawyer Turner : Oh Mr. Dawson, you have the capacity of a 7-year-old. What makes you think you have the ability to be a father? Your background, your IQ...your friends who can't even testify for you? [His also retarded friends]

Lawyer Rita : [Objection, compound questions!]

Lawyer Turner : What makes you think you can raise a 7-year-old? A 10-year-old? A 13-year-old? You know what that means? Mr Dawson that means she'll be six years more advanced than you. What makes you think you can do that? What makes you think you can do that? What makes you think you can do that??

Sam Dawson : Yeah… yeah I...have had a lot of time, see, to...think about what it is, that makes somebody a good parent…

and it's about constancy...and it's about...patience and it's about listening...and it's about...and it's about pretending to listen...even when you can't listen anymore. And it's about love, like she said.

See, Billy has a home with me...and I made it the best I could, and it's not perfect…And I'm not a perfect parent...and sometimes I don't have enough patience and I forget she's just a little kid...

But we built a life together... and we love each other.

And if you destroy that...it'll be irre--irrep--Irreparable.

10. Patch Adams (1998) 

[After struggling with depression in a mental hospital, Hunter "Patch" Adams decides he wants to become a doctor. He enrolls at Virginia Medical University but is disillusioned by the school's clinical perspective on patient care. With the aid of a wealthy friend, Adams opens his own medical clinic for those without insurance. However, this brought him up before the Medical Review Board for practicing without a license.]

Board Chairman : You have been accused of practicing medicine without a license, it’s a very grave charge, son. Are you aware that it’s unlawful to practice medicine without a medical license? 

Patch Adams : Yes Sir, I am.

Board Chairman : Are you aware that running a medical clinic without the proper licensing can place both you and the public in a great deal of danger?

Patch Adams : Is a home a clinic, Sir?

Dean Walcott : [If you are admitting patients and treating them, physical location is irrelevant…]

Patch Adams : Sir, will you define treatment for me?

Board Chairman : Yes, treatment would be defined as the care for a patient seeking medical attention, have you been treating patients Mr. Adams?

Patch Adams : Well sir, I live with several people, they come and go as they please and I offer them whatever help I can.

Board Chairman : Mr. Adams, have you or have you not been treating patients at your ranch?

Patch Adams : [Pause] Everyone who comes to the ranch is a patient, yes.

[People Chattering] And every person who comes to the ranch is also a doctor. 

Board Chairman : I’m sorry?

Patch Adams : Every person who comes to the ranch is in need of some form of physical or mental help. They are patients. But also, every person who comes to the ranch is in charge of taking care of someone else, whether it’s cooking for them, cleaning them or even as simple a task as listening. That makes them doctors.