Life [is] like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

The line is spoken in the 1994 film *Forrest Gump*, scripted by Eric Roth (adapted from Winston Groom’s 1986 novel). In the movie it is delivered by Forrest Gump as a piece of homespun wisdom he attributes to his mother, Mrs. Gump, and it frames Forrest’s narration about the unpredictability of his life. The quote appears early in the film as Forrest sits on a bench at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia, telling his story to strangers. It became one of the film’s signature lines and a widely repeated cultural catchphrase.

The metaphor compares life to an assorted box of chocolates: until you choose and bite into one, you cannot know its filling. The point is not simply that life is uncertain, but that its surprises can be sweet, disappointing, or strange—and that you often discover outcomes only by committing to a choice. In *Forrest Gump*, the line also underscores the film’s tension between chance and destiny: Forrest repeatedly stumbles into historic events, suggesting that contingency shapes lives as much as planning or merit. The plain, colloquial phrasing reinforces the character’s directness and the story’s folk-philosophical tone.

1) "My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." 2) "Life is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you're going to get."