Script of SEIZE THE DAY

The students quickly quiet down as Keating emerges from the other room,
whistling the 1812 Overture. He walks up the length of the classroom and
out the door without a word. The students look around at one another,
uncertain of what to do. Keating pokes his head back in the doorway.

    KEATING
  Well come on.

He gestures them to follow and the students, after some hesitation, grab
their books and follow Keating out into the main entranceway. 

INT. ENTRANCEWAY - DAY

Keating stands before the school's trophy cabinets and waits until all
the boys arrive.

    KEATING
  "Oh Captain, My Captain" who knows where
  that comes from?

Todd looks up as if he knows the answer, but says nothing. Spaz blows his
nose a little too close to Meeks for his liking.

    KEATING
  Not a clue? It's from a poem by Walt
  Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now in
  this class you can call me Mr. Keating. Or,
  if you're slightly more daring, Oh Captain,
  My Captain.

The students laugh slightly.

    KEATING
  Now let me dispel a few rumors so they
  don't fester into facts. Yes, I too
  attended Hell-ton and survived. And no,
  at that time I was not the mental giant
  you see before you. I was the intellectual
  equivalent of a ninety-eight pound
  weakling. I would go to the beach and
  people would kick copies of Byron in my
  face.

The boys laugh once again, while Cameron, obviously trying to write all
this down, looks around confusedly. Keating looks down at papers in his
hand.

    KEATING
  Now, Mr… Pitts. That's a rather
  unfortunate name. Mr. Pitts, where are
  you?

Pitts raises his hand while everyone around him snickers.

    KEATING
Mr. Pitts, would you open your hymnal to page 542 and read the first
stanza of the poem you find there?

    PITTS
  "To the virgins, to make much of time"?

    KEATING
  Yes, that's the one. Somewhat appropriate,
  isn't it.

    PITTS
  "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old
  time is still a flying, and this same
  flower that smiles today, tomorrow will
  be dying."

    KEATING
  Thank you Mr. Pitts. "Gather ye rosebuds
  while ye may." The Latin term for that
  sentiment is Carpe Diem. Now who knows
  what that means?

Meeks immediately puts his hand up.

    MEEKS
  Carpe Diem. That's "seize the day."

    KEATING
  Very good, Mr.-

    MEEKS
  Meeks.

    KEATING
  Meeks. Another unusual name. Seize the
  day. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.
  Why does the writer use these lines?

    CHARLIE
  Because he's in a hurry.

    KEATING
  No, ding!

Keating slams his hand down on an imaginary buzzer.

    KEATING
  Thank you for playing anyway. Because we
  are food for worms lads. Because, believe
  it or not, each and every one of us in
  this room is one day going to stop
  breathing, turn cold, and die. 

Keating turns towards the trophy cases, filled with trophies, footballs,
and team pictures.

    KEATING
  Now I would like you to step forward over
  here and peruse some of the faces from
  the past. You've walked past them many
  times. I don't think you've really looked
  at them.

The students slowly gather round the cases and Keating moves behind them.

    KEATING
  They're not that different from you, are
  they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones,
  just like you. Invincible, just like you
  feel. The world is their oyster. They
  believe they're destined for great things,
  just like many of you. Their eyes are full
  of hope, just like you. Did they wait until
  it was too late to make from their lives
  even one iota of what they were capable?
  Because you see gentlmen, these boys are
  now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen
  real close, you can hear them whisper their
  legacy to you. Go on, lean in.

The boys lean in and Keating hovers over Cameron's shoulder.

    KEATING
       (whispering in a gruff voice)
  Carpe.

Cameron looks over his shoulder with an aggravated expression on his face. 

    KEATING
  Hear it?
       (whispering again)
  Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys,
  make your lives extraordinary.

The boys stare at the faces in the cabinet in silence.

EXT. SCHOOL STEPS - DAY