Are we ever getting the ability to search quotes by words or phrases back?

@wilderbyfar Quote search has not been removed at all; the search has actually been enhanced with more filters and sorts by folding it into advanced title search.  

Please see the help at https://help.imdb.com/article/imdb/discover-watch/using-the-advanced-search-feature/GLUEUYWPQNPTEVPU# (under “Searching using topics” — the example given is for searching plots but quote searches operate similarly) and also see the announcement at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-advanced-search-redesign/654281ee477f6f20ed824a5f

One of the advantages of folding the topic search into Advanced Title Search (ATS) is that you can also restrict the matching titles by all of the other ATS criteria, whereas before those searches were general across all titles.  For example, you can now search for all movies which involve Arnold Schwarzenegger and the quote “I’ll Be Back” -> https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=feature&quotes=%E2%80%9Ci%E2%80%99ll%20be%20back%E2%80%9D&role=nm0000216

Hope this helps.