"When the serpent appears, his head is ten feet long and five feet wide. He has one red eye and one green eye. He's deadly and he's seven miles long. As he moves—on his scales is written all the history of the world, all people, all actions, all of us our little pictures on the scales, God it's big! -- and it's eating as it moves all the time, devouring, digesting consciousness, power, a monster of energy! We must kiss the snake on the tongue, if it senses our fear, it will eat us instantly. But if we kiss it without fear, the snake will take us through the garden and out the gate. To our freedom -we must ride this snake. To the end of time."

"Hey! I am the Lizard King. I can do anything! Raise your hands if you understand! Alive, any of you alive—let's take a poll—how many of you know you're really alive?! [numerous people raise their hands and yell] BULLSHIT! Plastic soldiers in a miniature dirt war! C'mon! How many of you people know you're alive? How many of you people know you're really alive!"

"I like a man who wears his soul on his face."

"The music was new black polished chrome and came over the summer like liquid night."

"[to John] What's a rock and roll band for man, if you can't party all night and do bad things?"

"We gotta take the planet back, reinvent the gods, make new myths."

"The reaction I get now looking back is the soul of the ghosts of those dead Indians—maybe one or two of them were just running around freaking out and just leaped into my soul—and they're still there."

"It was the first time I tasted fear. I musta been about four, like a child is just like a flower, his head is floating in the breeze."

"Is everybody in?... Is everybody in?... Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin..."

"Love is a burning thing."

"Shooter Jennings — Waylon Jennings"

"Waylon Payne — Jerry Lee Lewis"

"Tyler Hilton — Elvis Presley"

"Shelby Lynne — Carrie Cash"

"Dan John Miller — Luther Perkins"

"Larry Bagby — Marshall Grant"

"Johnny Holiday — Carl Perkins"

"Dallas Roberts — Sam Phillips"

"Robert Patrick — Ray Cash"

"Ginnifer Goodwin — Vivian Cash"

"Reese Witherspoon — June Carter Cash"

"Joaquin Phoenix — Johnny Cash"

"[reading inscription] "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.""

"Toni Basil - Mary"

"Karen Black - Karen"

"Sabrina Scharf - Sarah"

"Luana Anders - Lisa"

"Tita Colorado - Rancher's Wife"

"Warren Finnerty - Rancher"

"Mac Mashourian - Bodyguard"

"Phil Spector - Connection"

"Antonio Mendoza - Jesus"

"Luke Askew - The Stranger"

"Jack Nicholson - George Hanson"

"Dennis Hopper - Billy"

"Peter Fonda - Wyatt"

"Prostitutes: [while tripping on LSD] I'm going to die. I'm dead...Do you understand?...Oh dear God, please let it be. Please help me conceive a child...I'm right out here out of my head...Please God, let me out of here. I want to get out of here...You know what I mean...You wanted me...You wanted me ugly didn't you? I know you johns - I know you johns."

"Jack: [praying] We have planted our seeds. We ask that our efforts be worthy to produce simple food for our simple taste. We ask that our efforts be rewarded. And we thank you for the food we eat from other hands - that we may share it with our fellow man and be even more generous when it is from our own. Thank you for a place to make a stand."

"The Devil: Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. We've come to play for our dinner. Or should I say, stay for our dinner. Or even slay for our dinner...We've come to drink your wine, taste your food and take pleasure in your women."

"Joanne: [reading from the I-Ching] Starting brings misfortune. Per-serverance brings danger. Not every demand for change in the existing order should be heeded. On the other hand, repeated and well-founded complaints should not fail to a hearing."

"Sarah: We just can't take anymore, Stranger. Just too many people dropping in. Oh, I'm not talking about you and your friends, you know that. And like the week before, Susan dropped in with twelve people from Easter City. She wanted to take ten pounds of rice with her...Well naturally, we had to say no...So she gets all up tight and she breaks out some hash - and she won't give us any. Oh, and...that's not all. The next morning, they went outside to start their bus and they couldn't get it started..."

"Rancher: Turn that thing off. You're making my horse skittish. ... Sure is a good-looking machine."

"You see, what happened here is these people got here late in the summer. Too late to plant. But the weather was beautiful and it was easy livin', and everything was fine. And then came that winter. There were forty or fifty of them here living in this one-room place down here. Nothing to eat - starvin'. Out by the side of the road lookin' for dead horses...Anything they could get ahold of. Now there's - there's eighteen or twenty of them left and they're city kids. Look at them. But they're getting this crop in. They're gonna stay here until it's harvested. That's the whole thing."

"The people this place belongs to are buried right under you. You could be a trifle polite...It's a small thing to ask."

"It doesn't make any difference what city. All cities are alike. That's why I'm out here now...cause I'm from the city, a long way from the city - and that's where I want to be right now."

"Well, they are people, just like us - from within our own solar system. Except that their society is more highly evolved. I mean, they don't have no wars, they got no monetary system, they don't have any leaders, because, I mean, each man is a leader. I mean, each man - because of their technology, they are able to feed, clothe, house, and transport themselves equally - and with no effort...Why don't they reveal themselves to us is because if they did it would cause a general panic. Now, I mean, we still have leaders upon whom we rely for the release of this information. These leaders have decided to repress this information because of the tremendous shock that it would cause to our antiquated systems. Now, the result of this has been that the Venutians have contacted people in all walks of life - all walks of life. [laughs] Yes. It-it-it would be a devastatin' blow to our antiquated systems - so now the Venutians are meeting with people in all walks of life - in an advisory capacity. For once man will have a god-like control over his own destiny. He will have a chance to transcend and to evolve with some equality for all."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. That's what's it's all about, all right. But talkin' about it and bein' it, that's two different things. I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free, 'cause then they're gonna get real busy killin' and maimin' to prove to you that they are. Oh, yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em."

"That was a UFO, beamin' back at ya. Me and Eric Heisman was down in Mexico two weeks ago - we seen forty of 'em flying in formation. They-they-they've got bases all over the world now, you know. They've been coming here ever since nineteen forty-six - when the scientists first started bouncin' radar beams off of the moon. And they have been livin' and workin' among us in vast quantities ever since. The government knows all about 'em."

"You- you mean marijuana. Lord have mercy, is that what that is? Well, let me see that. Mmmmm-mmm. Mmmm...I-I-I couldn't do that. I mean, I've got enough problems with the - with the booze and all. I mean, uh, I - I can't afford to get hooked...it-it-it leads to harder stuff."