"You run one time, you got yourself a set of chains. You run twice, you got yourself two sets. You ain't gonna need no third set 'cause you're gonna get your mind right. And I mean RIGHT. [To the other inmates] Take a good look at Luke. Cool Hand Luke?"

"We got a couple men here doing 20 spots. We got one that's got all of it. We got all kinds, and you gonna fit in real good. Of course, unless you get rabbit in your blood and you decide to take off for home. You give the bonus system time and a set of leg chains to keep you slowed down just a little bit, for your own good. You'll learn the rules. Now, it's all up to you. Now I can be a good guy, or I can be one real mean son-of-a-bitch. It's all up to you."

"That's my darlin' Luke. He grin like a baby, but he bites like a 'gator."

"He'll deliver more justice in a weekend than ten years of your courts and tribunals. Just stay out of his way."

"Christopher Walken - Rayburn"

"Radha Mitchell - Lisa"

"Marc Anthony - Samuel"

"Dakota Fanning - Pita"

"Denzel Washington - Creasy"

"A bullet always tells the truth."

"A man can be an artist ... in anything, food, whatever. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasey's art is death. He's about to paint his masterpiece. I have nothing else to say."

"I'm goin' home, too. I'm goin' to Blue Bayou."

"[to Samuel] I'm gonna ask your wife a couple of questions. You move... you make one sound... I'll snatch the life right outta you, understand?"

"I don't want your money! YOU UNDERSTAND ME?! No, I want you!"

"I'm going to tear your family apart piece by piece, YOU UNDERSTAND ME! PIECE BY PIECE!"

"Okay, my friend. It's off to the next life for you. I guarantee, you won't be lonely."

"I am going to ask questions. If you don't answer fully and truthfully, you will suffer much more than you have to. I'm going to cut your fingers off. One by one, if I have to."

"Twelve hours of work and I still can't sleep. Damn. Days go on and on. They don't end."

"Albert Brooks - Tom"

"Leonard Harris - Sen. Charles Palantine"

"Peter Boyle - Wizard"

"Harvey Keitel - Sport"

"Jodie Foster - Iris"

"Cybill Shepherd - Betsy"

"Robert De Niro - Travis Bickle"

"Though movies (Taxi Driver for John Hinckley Jr., would-be assassin of Ronald Reagan), books (The Catcher in the Rye for Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's murderer) and songs ("Helter Skelter" for Tate-LaBianca murders mastermind Charles Manson) may articulate specific criminals acts, they don't inspire the person's desire for violence. Science has proven that in numerous studies. It’s tempting to blame movies, video games and rap music because they often express humanity's worst impulses, but impulses are not actions for most of us. And for the mentally ill seeking violence, anything can set them off. Alek Minassian, the self-described incel (involuntary celibate) who deliberately drove his van into a crowd in Toronto in 2018, killing 10 people, said he was motivated by his resentment toward women for having sexually rejected him in favor of giving "their love and affection to obnoxious brutes." Should we then demand that studios producing romantic comedies and publishers of romance novels be shamed into contributing to anti-incel causes? The 2017 Las Vegas shooter killed 59 and injured 851 during a country music festival. Should country music bear some responsibility?"

"May 10. Thank God for the rain which has helped wash away the garbage and trash off the sidewalks. I'm working long hours now, six in the afternoon to six in the morning. Sometimes even eight in the morning, six days a week. Sometimes seven days a week. It's a long hustle but it keeps me real busy. I can take in three, three fifty a week. Sometimes even more when I do it off the meter. All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets. I go all over. I take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn, I take 'em to Harlem. I don't care. Don't make no difference to me. It does to some. Some won't even take spooks. Don't make no difference to me."

"The distinction between hero and villain is sometimes a matter of interpretation or misinterpretation of facts"

"On every street in every city in this country there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody. He's a lonely forgotten man desperate to prove that he's alive."

"Iris' father: [in a letter to Travis] Dear Mr. Bickle: I can't say how happy Mrs. Steensma and I were to hear that you are well and recuperating. We tried to visit you at the hospital when we were in New York to pick up Iris. But you were still in a coma. There is no way we can repay you for returning our Iris to us. We thought we had lost her, and now our lives are full again. Needless to say, you are something of a hero around this household. I'm sure you want to know about Iris. She's back in school and working hard. The transition has been very hard for her as you can well imagine. But we have taken steps to see she has never cause to run away again. In conclusion, Mrs. Steensma and I would like to again thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to come to New York again, to thank you in person or we surely would. But if you should ever come to Pittsburgh, you would find yourself a most welcome guest in our home. Our Deepest Thanks, Burt and Ivy Steensma."

"Passenger: [to Travis] You see the woman in the window? Do you see the woman in the window?...I want you to see that woman, because that's my wife. But that's not my apartment. That's not my apartment. You know who lives there? Huh? I mean, you wouldn't know who lives there - I'm just saying, "But you know who lives there?" Huh? A nigger lives there. How do ya like that? And I'm gonna, I'm gonna kill her. There's nothing else. I'm gonna kill her. What do you think of that? Hmm? I said 'What do you think of that?' Don't answer. You don't have to answer everything. I'm gonna kill her. I'm gonna kill her with a .44 Magnum pistol. I have a .44 Magnum pistol. I'm gonna kill her with that gun. Did you ever see what a .44 Magnum pistol can do to a woman's face? I mean it'll fucking destroy it. Just blow her right apart. That's what it can do to her face. Now, did you ever see what it can do to a woman's pussy? That you should see. You should see what a .44 Magnum's gonna do to a woman's pussy you should see. I know, I know you must think that I'm, you know... You must think I'm pretty sick or something, you know, you must think I'm pretty sick. Right? You must think I'm pretty sick? Hmm? Right? I'll betcha, I'll betcha you really think I'm sick right? You think I'm sick? You think I'm sick? You don't have to answer. I'm paying for the ride. You don't have to answer."

"We meet at a crossroads in history. No longer will the wrong roads be taken."

"Walt Whitman, that great American poet, spoke for all of us when he said: "I am the man. I suffered. I was there." Today, I say to you, We Are The People, we suffered, we were there. We the People suffered in Vietnam. We the People suffered, we still suffer from unemployment, inflation, crime and corruption."

"When we came up with our slogan, "We are the People," when I said let the people rule, I felt that I was being somewhat overly optimistic. I must tell you that I am more optimistic now than ever before. The people are rising to the demands that I have made on them. The people are beginning to rule. I feel it is a groundswell. I know it will continue through the primary. I know it will continue in Miami. And I know it will rise to an unprecedented swell in November."

"Now, I see it clearly. My whole life is pointed in one direction. I see that now. There never has been any choice for me."

"[in a note] Dear Iris: This money should be used for your trip. By the time you read this, I will be dead. Travis."

"[in an anniversary card to his parents] Dear Father and Mother: July is the month I remember which brings not only your wedding anniversary but also Father's Day and Mother's birthday. I'm sorry I can't remember the exact dates, but I hope this card will take care of them all. I'm sorry again I cannot send you my address like I promised to last year. But the sensitive nature of my work for the government demands utmost secrecy. I know you will understand. I am healthy and well and making lots of money. I have been going with a girl for several months and I know you would be proud if you could see her. Her name is Betsy but I can tell you no more than that...I hope this card finds you all well as it does me. I hope no one has died. Don't worry about me. One day, they'll be a knock on the door and it'll be me. Love, Travis."

"[looking in the mirror] Yeah. Huh? [draws] Huh? Huh? Faster than you, you fuckin' son of a...I saw you comin', you fuck. Shit-heel. [reholsters] I'm standin' here. You make the move. You make the move. It's your move. Huh? [draws gun from concealed forearm holster] Don't try it, you fuck. [reholsters] You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? [turns around to look behind him] Well, then who the Hell else are you talking- You talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? Huh? 'kay. [whips out his gun again] Huh? (Listen you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. Who would not let- Listen you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is someone who stood up. Here is...) [draws his gun] You're dead."

"The idea had been growing in my brain for some time. True force. All the king's men cannot put it back together again."

"June 29. I gotta get in shape now. Too much sittin' is ruinin' my body. Too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on, it will be fifty push-ups each morning, fifty pull-ups. There'll be no more pills, there'll be no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body. From now on, it will be total organization. Every muscle must be tight."

"Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man. June 8. My life has taken another turn again. The days can go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next. A long continuous chain. Then suddenly, there is a change."

"I realize now how much she's just like the others - cold and distant, and many people are like that. Women for sure. They're like a union."

"Each night when I return the cab to the garage, I have to clean the cum off the back seat. Some nights, I clean off the blood."

"I tried several times to call her, but after the first call, she wouldn't come to the phone any longer. I also sent flowers but with no luck. The smell of the flowers only made me sicker. The headaches got worse. I think I got stomach cancer. I shouldn't complain though. You're only as healthy, you're only as healthy as you feel. You're only as...healthy...as...you...feel."

"[talking on the phone to Betsy] Hello Betsy. Hi, it's Travis. How ya doin'? Listen, uh, I'm, I'm sorry about the, the other night. I didn't know that was the way you felt about it. Well, I-I didn't know that was the way you felt. I-I-I would have taken ya somewhere else. Uh, are you feeling better or oh you maybe had a virus or somethin', a 24-hour virus you know. It happens. Yeah, umm, you uh, you're workin' hard. Yeah. Uh, would you like to have, uh, some dinner, uh with me in the next, you know, few days or somethin'? Well, how about just a cup of coffee? I'll come by the, uh, headquarters or somethin', we could, uh... Oh, OK, OK. Did you get my flowers in the...? You didn't get them? I sent some flowers, uh...Yeah, well, OK, OK. Can I call you again? Uh, tomorrow or the next day? OK. No, I'm gonna...OK. Yeah, sure, OK. So long."