“I don't want any part of this, Dad.”
Why it's great
A lifetime of refusal is packed into one flat sentence that still feels final.
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Informal
Use it yourself
I don't want any part of that argument.
00:00 / 02:47
00:00 / 02:47
Tony Quits the Family Business, Explained
You Can't Take It with You · 1938
Chapter 25 of 27 · 2'47"
Tony walks into his father's office and says, "I'm quitting," handing in his resignation. A.P. Kirby, who has planned his son's whole career, cannot take it in: "You're quitting?" Tony explains he never wanted the business and will leave town instead.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:51–2:13
❝ Monologue · 7 lines Tony Resigns on the Spot
82s - 2:14–2:45
Tony Says Goodbye to His Father
31s
Tony Quits the Family Business, explained
What happens
Tony comes to his father's office to resign. He tells A.P. Kirby that he has handed in his resignation, that he only kept the job while waiting for things with Alice to be settled, and that he never wanted the business. He plans to go away, and maybe return to the college research he loved.
What's really going on
This is the film's quietest rebellion: a son refusing an inheritance. A.P. Kirby has spent years planning Tony's life, and his first response is disbelief — "You're quitting?" — followed by the appeal to duty: "You can't do this, after all the plans I made for you." Tony does not shout; he says simply, "I don't want any part of this, Dad. I never did," and admits the harder truth, that he was afraid to speak: "I just couldn't get it out." What he wants instead is the old college problem about how grass stores the sun's energy, the same research that connects him to the Sycamores' world of doing what you love. The scene is the mirror of Alice's story: both young people leave what was handed to them, choosing an uncertain freedom over a safe inheritance.
Key lines & what they mean
- “I don't want any part of this, Dad.”
- Tony's flat refusal of the family business, stated without apology or drama.
- “I've tried to talk to you many times about it, but I just couldn't get it out.”
- The admission behind the resignation: he was too afraid to say all this to his father before.
- “You can't do this, after all the plans I made for you...”
- A.P. Kirby's appeal, where his son's life is treated as a project already designed and owed to him.
- “I think this business is great. It's good for you because you like it.”
- Tony's fairness to his father: the business suits the father, and that is exactly why it does not suit the son.
Theme
- Family conflict — A son refuses the career his father built for him, and the father hears it as betrayal after all his plans.
- Identity — Tony chooses what he actually wants over the role he was handed, saying he never belonged in the business.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
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Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“I've tried to talk to you many times about it, but I just couldn't get it out.”
Why it's great
It names the exact ache of words that never came, which is sharper than blame.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
I've tried to tell her, but I just couldn't get it out.
“You can't do this, after all the plans I made for you...”
Why it's great
One protest pits a parent's sacrifice against a son's freedom.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
You can't quit now, after all the years you put in.
“I think this business is great. It's good for you because you like it.”
Why it's great
It honors the other man's love of the work while quietly bowing out.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
This club is great. It's good for you because you like it.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ Tony's farewell speech
I don't want any part of this, Dad. I never did. You can't do this, after all the plans I made for you... Dad, if I can just make you understand this. I think this business is great. It's good for you because you like it. I don't. And I never will. I've tried to talk to you many times about it, but I just couldn't get it out.
It falls from refusal to confession and finally says what years of silence held.
Up next · 26parting shotThe scene: Tony Asks Grandpa Where Alice IsTakeaways
What you walk away with- The resignation is a fact before it is an argument.
- A parent's plans meet a son's quiet refusal.
- Saying it out loud takes more courage than quitting.
- The old college project is a door back to himself.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does Tony quit the family business?
He never wanted it. He says plainly that he does not want any part of banking, and had only stayed while waiting for things with Alice to be settled.
How does A.P. Kirby react?
With disbelief and hurt: he repeats "You're quitting?" and argues that after all the plans he made for his son, Tony cannot simply refuse.
What does Tony plan to do instead?
He will go away for a while to get organized, and hopes to return to the college research about how grass stores the sun's energy.
Why did Tony keep the job so long?
He meant to hang on to it until the situation with Alice was straightened out, and once that ended there was no reason to wait any longer.
How does the scene mirror Alice's choice?
Both young people walk away from the life that was handed to them — Alice from a marriage she cannot fit into, Tony from an inheritance — for an uncertain freedom.