- John Walton, Sr.: Always pay your debts, son. Don't take unfair advantage of any man, and don't let any man take unfair advantage of you. Find yourself a good woman. Remember, you're my son.
- Narrator: [narration as John 'John Boy' Walton, Jr. reading from his journal] The year 1936 was a momentous one in the history of the world. It was the year a king gave up his crown for the woman he loved. It was the year Adolf Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles, and it was the same year that Benito Mussolini, encouraged by Hitler's daring, overran Ethiopia. But none of these historic events was quite so important with our family as the struggle by one of us to attain an impossible dream.