Context

This famous line is spoken by Scarlett O'Hara, played by Vivien Leigh, in Gone with the Wind (directed by Victor Fleming, 1938).

Scarlett O'Hara won't let something as small as the burning of the entire city of Atlanta get to her. She returns home anyway, finding her beloved plantation, Tara, in ruins. After doing her best Princess Peach impersonation and pulling up a tiny radish, she swears, "As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again."

But judging by how much everyone hates Scarlett, the sequel to Gone with the Wind, a lot of people wish she had.

Where you've heard it

You hear this whenever you're digging radishes from the dirt and eating them raw so as not to starve… or any time you come across a smorgasbord of food.

Additional Notable References

• The line was parodied in My Little Pony.
• It was also the title of a Gone with the Wind parody play.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

 

Did you miss the part about lie, steal, cheat, or kill? She pretty much ends up doing all these things to survive.