《海上鋼琴師》經典獨白：
“All that city. You just couldn't see the end to it. The end? Please? You please just show me where it ends? It was all very fine on that gangway. And I was grand too, in my overcoat. I cut quite a figure. And I was getting off. Guaranteed. There was no problem. It wasn't what I saw that stopped me, Max. It was what I didn't see. You understand that? What I didn't see. In all that sprawling city there was everything except an end. There was no end. What I did not see was where the whole thing came to an end. The end of the world... ”
　“Take a piano. The keys begin, the keys end. You know there are eightyeight of them, nobody can tell you any different.
　　They are not infinite. You are infinite. And on these keys the music that you can make is infinite. I like that. That I can live by. ”
You get me up on that gangway and you're rolling out in front of me a keyboard of millions of keys, millions and billions of keys that never end, and that's the truth, Max. That they never end. That keyboard is infinite. And if that keyboard is infinite, then on that keyboard there is no music you can play. You're sitting on the wrong bench. That's God's piano. ”
“Christ! Did, did you see the streets? Just the streets… There were thousands of them! And how do you do it down there？
　　How do you choose just one? One woman, one house, one piece of land to call your own, one landscape to look at, one way to die... ”
“All that world is weighing down on me, you don't even know where it comes to an end, and aren't you ever just scared of breaking apart at the thought of it? The enormity of living it? ”
　“I was born on this ship, and the world passed me by, but two thousand people at a time. And there were wishes here,
　　but never more than fit between prow and stern. You played out your happiness, but on a piano that was not infinite. I learned to live that way. ”
　“Land? Land is a ship too big for me. It's a woman too beautiful; it's a voyage too long, a perfume too strong. It's a music I don't know how to make. I could never get off this ship. At best, I can step off my life. After all, I don't exist for anyone.
　　You're an exception, Max, you're the only one who knows I'm here. You're a minority, and you better get used to it.
　　Forgive me, my friend, but I'm not getting off.”
“城市那麼大，看不到盡頭。在哪裏 ? 我能看到嗎 ? 就連街道都已經數不清了，找一個女人，蓋一間房子，買一塊地，開辟一道風景，然後一起走向死路。太多的選擇，太複雜的判斷了，難道你不怕精神崩潰嗎 ? 陸地，太大了，他像一艘大船，一個女人，一條長長的航線，我寧可舍棄自己的生命，也不願意在一個找不到盡頭的世界生活，反正，這個世界現在也沒有人知道我。我之所以走到一半停下來，不是因為我所能見，而是我所不能見。”
　　“鍵盤有始有終，你確切知道 88 個鍵就在那兒，錯不了。它並不是無限的，而音樂，才是無限的。你能在鍵盤上表現的音樂是無限的，我喜歡這樣，我能輕鬆應對，而你現在讓我走過跳板，走到城市裏，等著我的是一個沒有盡頭的鍵盤，我又怎能在這樣的鍵盤上彈奏呢 ? 那是上帝的鍵盤啊 ! ”
　“所有那些城市，你就是無法看見盡頭。盡頭？拜托！拜托你給我看它的盡頭在哪？當時，站在舷梯向外看還好。我那時穿著大衣，感覺也很棒，覺得自己前途無量，然後我就要下船去。放心！完全沒問題！可是，阻止了我的腳步的，並不是我所看見的東西，而是我所無法看見的那些東西。你明白麼？我看不見的那些。在那個無限蔓延的城市裏，什麼東西都有，可惟獨沒有盡頭。根本就沒有盡頭。我看不見的是這一切的盡頭，世界的盡頭。”
　“拿一部鋼琴來說，從琴鍵開始，又結束。你知道鋼琴隻有88個鍵，隨便什麼琴都沒差。它們不是無限的。你才是無限的，在琴鍵上製作出的音樂是無限的。我喜歡這樣，我活的慣。”
“你把我推到舷梯上然後扔給我一架有百萬琴鍵的鋼琴，百萬千萬的沒有盡頭的琴鍵，那是事實，max，它們沒有盡頭。那鍵盤是無限延伸的。然而如果琴鍵是無限的，那麼在那架琴上就沒有你能彈奏的音樂，你坐錯了地方，那是上帝的鋼琴。”
“天啊！你……你看過那些街道嗎？僅僅是街道，就有上千條！你下去該怎麼辦？你怎麼選擇其中一條來走？怎麼選擇“屬於你自己的”一個女人，一棟房子，一塊地，或者選擇一道風景欣賞，選擇一種方法死去。 ”
“我是在這艘船上出生的，整個世界跟我並肩而行，但是，行走一次隻攜帶兩千人。這裏也有欲望，但不會虛妄到超出船頭和船尾。你用鋼琴表達你的快樂，但音符不是無限的。我已經習慣這麼生活。”
“陸地？陸地對我來說是一艘太大的船，一個太漂亮的女人，一段太長的旅行，一瓶太刺鼻的香水，一種我不會創作的音樂。我永遠無法放棄這艘船，不過幸好，我可以放棄我的生命。反正沒人記得我存在過，而你是例外，max，你是唯一一個知道我在這裏的人。你是唯一一個，而且你最好習慣如此。原諒我，朋友，我不會下船的。”
　　我可以在有限的鋼琴鍵中創造出無限的旋律，但我無法在無限的城市中，無盡的街道間找到屬於我的空間。
　　這是個秘密，秘密是不應該被公開的。
　　令我恐懼的不是我所見，而是我所未見。