- Eddie: What am I, a fucking retard, man? Am I A FUCKING RETARD, HUH? I know what this is! Lou's trying to snuff me out because of his GREASY LITTLE NEPHEW being around! WELL, VIVE LA FUCKING FRANCE, MAN!
- Eddie: [holding a knife to the throat of a man who just tried to kill him] OK baby girl! Who sent ya? Who sent ya?
- Hitman: Sam... fucking... Peckinpah!
- Eddie: You filthy, double crossing, little fucking filthy, double crossing, filthy, fucking goddamn fucking filthy little RAT!
- Eddie: [hugging Diane very awkwardly in a car] Mom-ay, Mom-ay, we be home soon, Mom-ay, we be home soon.
- Morgan "Fats" Gripp: If there were a fat lady in here I thing she'd be clearing her throat - right - about - now.
- [takes his final billiard shot]
- Eddie: [to Joe Donan] Tell you what, if it's a high card, I'll tell you who I am. But if it's a low card, I'll tell you who you are. Is that a deal?
- [first lines]
- Joe Donan: Most people like to think they have some degree of control over their lives. The truth is we're subject to the influence of others. Those who appreciate this can make a lot of money from those who don't. But any small-time grifter who ever dealt off the bottom of a deck can tell you that. What I can tell you about is the price one pays for peddling confidence. How every mark you fleece takes away a piece of your soul, and what happens when you try to pick up the pieces.
- Joe Donan: When thing's fall apart is when people stagger to whatever is familiar. Same way a bull charges a red cape after being stabbed a dozen times or so.
- [last lines]
- Joe Donan: Most people never feel the strings that gently tug them day-in and day-out. Mine had been jerked every which way before I cut 'em loose and left the tangled mess going round in circles with my pop and all that cash I wanted no part of. It was a colorful world I was walking away from, but nothing in it was real. Not my pop, not the bastards who'd help dupe me. Not Diane who almost broke my heart. All I took from them were memories - images really. They're worth more than any take from any con. They keep me honest.