Secret messages. That's what I found in the recently released American Film Institute Top 100 Movie Quotes. It turns out these quotes were chosen not for their consequence in the historical landscape of film, but for their applicability to selling professional services.

That's right, hidden in the AFI's top 100 movie quotes list is advice to professionals on how to develop business for their professional services practice.

Without further adieu:

“I'm king of the world!”
#100, Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic, 1997
Secret message: If you don't have confidence when you're developing business, no one will buy from you.

“Snap out of it!”
#96, Cher in Moonstruck, 1987
Secret message: When you find yourself complaining that you don't have any leads, that you have to sell at all, or that the competition is really tough…snap out of it. Complaining and excuses don't help. There's no crying in baseball.

“Carpe Diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”

#95, Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, 1989
Secret message: No time like the present.

“Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the master champion. It looks like a mirac…IT'S IN THE HOLE! IT'S IN THE HOLE! IT'S IN THE HOLE!”
#92, Bill Murray in Caddyshack, 1980
Secret message: Don't let anyone count you out.

“Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't forget it. You're going to get back on that horse, and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and we're gonna go, go, go!”
#88, Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond, 1981
Secret message: Selling has lots of highs and lows. Get a coach and a cheerleader to help you through all times, good and bad. You'll sell more.

“Attica! Attica!”
#87, Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon, 1975
Secret message: Stay on the right side of the law.

“Striker: Surely you can't be serious.”
“Rumack: I am serious…and don't call me Shirley.”
#79, Robert Hays and Leslie Nielsen in Airplane!, 1980
Secret message: Don't take yourself too seriously.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet!”
#71, Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, 1927
Secret message: Don't get too excited and talk too much. (Author's note: since these were the first spoken words ever in talking cinema, I excuse Al from wanting to say a few more things. And everyone was listening.)

“Is it safe?”
#70, Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man, 1976
Secret message: No, it's not safe. Don't expect it to be.

“Elementary, my dear Watson.”
#65, Basil Rathbone in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1939
Secret message: The simplest solution is best. Don't get too complicated.

“Say ‘hello' to my little friend!”
#61, Al Pacino in Scarface, 1983
Secret message: Consider team selling.

“As God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again.”
#59, Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, 1939
Secret message: Don't forget to keep adding new deals to your pipeline.

“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know.”
#53, Groucho Marx in Animal Crackers, 1930
Secret message: None detected.

“You had me at hello.”
#52, Renee Zellweger in Jerry Maguire, 1996
Secret message: Once you've closed the deal, stop selling.

“You've got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?'”
#51, Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, 1971
Secret message: Don't let a confrontational buyer back you down. Stand your ground.

“We rob banks.”
#41, Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde, 1967
Secret message: Be able to state clearly what you do.

“If you build it, he will come.”
#39, Ray Liotta in Field of Dreams, 1989
Secret message: No, he won't. You have to work to generate leads.

“I'll have what she's having.”
#33, Estelle Reiner in When Harry Met Sally, 1989
Secret messages: Referrals work.

“Why don't you come up sometime and see me?”
#26, Mae West in She Done Him Wrong, 1933
Secret messages: Pay attention for buying signals.

“Show me the money!”
#25, Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Jerry Maguire, 1996
Secret message: Make sure your buyers are qualified. If they don't have a budget or can't find the cash, move on.

“Bond. James Bond.”
#22, Sean Connery in Dr. No, 1962
Secret message: Make sure people know who you are.

“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
#21, Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, 1991
Secret message: Choose the wrong clients and they'll eat you alive.

“E.T. phone home.”
#15, Joe Welsh (voice) in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, 1982
Secret message: The telephone is your best friend. Don't be afraid to pick it up and dial.

“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
#12, Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now, 1979
Secret message: Get in the game and start liking it. If you disdain business development, you'll never get good at it.

“What we've got here is failure to communicate.”
#11, Strother Martin in Cool Hand Luke, 1967
Secret message: Clear communication is a wonderful thing. Eschew obfuscation.

“I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.”
#2, Marlon Brando in The Godfather, 1972
Secret message: Make sure they know what, exactly, you're offering to do for (and not to) them.

And finally, while it's out of order (ranked #8)….

“May the Force be with you.”