Quotes

Dialogue

Gray Baker: Aren't you afraid of dying? Roman Strauss: To die is different than what anyone supposes, and luckier. Gray Baker: Is that a line from your opera? Roman Strauss: It's Walt Whitman. I can't take credit for everything, Mr. Baker. Gray Baker: You really believe that you're lucky to die? Roman Strauss: What I believe, Mr Baker, is that this is all far from over.

Dialogue

Cozy Carlisle: Someone's either a smoker or a nonsmoker. There's no in-between. The trick is to find out which one you are and be that. Mike Church: Yeah, well, you know, I'm — I'm trying to quit. So... Cozy Carlisle: Don't tell me you're trying to quit. People who say they are trying to quit are basically pussies who cannot commit. Find out which one you are. Be that. That's it. If you're a nonsmoker, you'll know.

Dialogue

Cozy Carlisle: Hey, thumb-dick, I was a damn good shrink. In sixteen and a half years I worked with a lot of people through a lot of shit. Okay, I slept with a patient or two. It's not like I didn't care about 'em. Mike Church: Okay. Cozy Carlisle: I loved being a doctor. I used to not charge half my patients. Then the fuckin' state comes along, they send some bitch undercover, and I'm fucked. It ain't fair, is it?

Dialogue

Franklyn Madson: You were inside President Roosevelt's office? Mrs. Tupper: [under hypnosis, in a child's voice] Yes. Lots of times. My mommy was his cook. Yeah, we were like family. I used to sit on Uncle Teddy's lap. [giggles] I liked that! Franklyn Madson: I'm sure Uncle Teddy did, too.

Dialogue

Gray Baker: Why are you helping me? Cozy Carlisle: I don't know. You smell good.

Dialogue

Grace: Why is it that I can recognize certain smells, that I know my right hand from my left, but I can't remember what my favorite color is or my favorite flower or — what kind of wine I like. Mike Church: Maybe you're lucky. Grace: Lucky? How so? Mike Church: You know, I was just thinking there must be a certain freedom that goes with living only in the present tense. At least you don't have to spend every day trying to forget your past.

Dialogue

Roman Strauss: It's not a bracelet, darling. It's an anklet, a very special anklet. Let's have your leg. It's really very old. The man I bought it from explained to me that when a husband gives this to his wife — they become — two halves of the same person. Nothing can — separate them. Not even death. Margaret Strauss: So we're stuck with each other.

Dialogue

Grace: They seemed so in love. Mike Church: Well, those are usually the people that kill each other.

Dialogue

Starlet: You in the business? Roman Strauss: The business? Starlet: Yeah, you know: pictures, movies. Roman Strauss: No. I'm a composer. Starlet: Oh, well, in that case, you're not anybody. [walks away]

Dialogue

Margaret Strauss: So, any new tidbits from the press? Gray Baker: Zero. To tell you the truth, I miss the war. Margaret Strauss: Well, what an odd thing to say. Gray Baker: Doesn't seem to be much news anymore — all this back-to-normal stuff. The world's getting boring again.

Dialogue

Margaret Strauss: Is it really good to smoke so much? Gray Baker: No. That's why I started rolling my own. Figured it will slow me down. Margaret Strauss: Has it? Gray Baker: No. I just roll them faster.

Dialogue

Mike Church: Why would she want to kill me now? Cozy Carlisle: Why do women do anything?

Dialogue

Pete: I've known Mike Church forever. He would never hurt her. Franklyn Madson: This is fate we're talking about, and if fate works at all, it works because people think that this time, it isn't going to happen!