"Clive was my boy. He had my back plenty of times. Me and him was like one fist. One army. [Clive pulls a gun out of a paper bag and accidentally shoots himself] I sat there until the police came. But when they come, all they see is a dead body, a gun, and a nigger. They took me to juvenile hall. First night was the scariest. Inmates banging on the walls, throwing up gang signs, yelling out who they were and where they from. I cried my first night. I never let anybody know that. I spent the next few years in and out of cells. Every day I worry, when will I be free?"

"At sixteen, I've seen more bodies than a mortician. Every time I step out my door I face the risk of being shot. To the rest of the world it's just another dead body on a street corner. They don't know that he was my friend."

"Pat Carroll as Miep Gies"

"Quiet flame, bright flame, quiet flame, night cries."

"Marcella Rovere - La Vedova, the widow"

"Livia Venturini - La Suorina, the nun"

"Already, word has come from the world's film centers - a great picture is coming...unique in its elemental story and setting...rare in the earthy, human magnificence of its portrayals."

"Anthony Quinn - Zampanò"

"Giulietta Masina - Gelsomina"

"Widow: For three nights I've been up at 1:00am to cook. Think I'm tired? If I felt like it, I could dance all night long. Us older women are better than young girls."

"Richard Basehart - Il Matto, the fool"

"This is the picture YOU'VE HEARD about!"

"She's not like Rosa. But she's a good girl, poor thing. She'll do what she's told. She just came out a little strange. But, if she eats every day, maybe she'll get better."

"What a funny face! Are you a woman, really? Or an artichoke?"

"What if I asked you to come with me? I'll teach you to walk the tightrope, way up in the air, with all the lights on you. I have a car. We'd be traveling all the time. We'd have a world of fun. Would you like that? But no. "Nothing." You have to stay with Zampanò and perform his ridiculous stunts and let him beat you like a donkey. Such is life."

"You want to go with Zampanò and take Rosa's place? He'll teach you a trade. You'll earn some money. And one less mouth to feed around here wouldn't be bad."

"Gelsomina, Zampanò's a good man. He'll treat you well. You'll travel the world. You'll sing and dance. And look what he gave me: 10,000 lire! I have it here, 10,000 lire! We can fix the roof and these poor things can eat. Why did your father ever leave us?"

"[reciting his act by rote before a crowd] Here we have a piece of chain that is a quarter of an inch thick. It is made of crude iron, stronger than steel. With the simple expansion of my pectoral muscles, or chest, that is, I'll break the hook. [collecting money from the crowd] Thank you, thank you. Now, to do this feat, I must fill myself up like a tire. If a blood vessel should break, I would spit blood. For instance, in Milan a man weighing 240 pounds lost his eyesight doing this trick. That is because the optical nerves take a beating, and once you lose your eyes, you are finished. If there's any delicate person in the audience, I would advise him to look away 'cause there could be blood. [with seemingly great effort, he breaks the chain]"

"Do you remember how beautiful it was, Zampanò? Watching the rain from the window that day?"

"Come here. There should be something here to fit you. I want you to look elegant. I don't want to see you in rags. My women have always looked smart."

"Do only what I tell you to."

"Aldo Silvani - Il Signor Giraffa, the circus owner"

"Constance Worth - Sylvia Marbe"

"Jack Roper - Eddie Burns"

"Rita Hayworth - Nina Barona"

"Thomas Mitchell - Eugene 'Gene' Gibbons"

"John Qualen - Charles Engle"

"Douglas Fairbanks Jr. - Bill O'Brien"

"George Watts - Joseph Hopper"

"[to Bill O'Brien] I'll remember this night for a long time. When things don't seem so good, I'll remember Mr. Gibbons, and Mr. Engle... and you."

"They'll deal you hope off the bottom."

"[seeing a waiter put two drinks on the table] Fine, fine! I no longer have to order drinks. I just attract them. He shall have liquor wherever he goes! [to Engle] As I understand from your communication, Mr. Engle, you're on the brink of self-destruction. May I shake your hand? A brilliant idea! I speak as one who has destroyed himself a score of times. I am, Mr. Engle, a veteran corpse. We are all corpses here! This rendezvous is one of the musical graveyards of the town. Caters to zombies hopping around with dead hearts and price tags for souls. Hmmmp! [offering him one of the drinks] Will you join me, sir? It is the custom here for the dead to drink - heavily! [drinks] Allow me to present my credentials as a fellow cadaver. I'm being divorced by my wife whom I love dearly in my own nasty way. I was disemboweled by another woman. I have written three bad plays in a row, and next year I'll write a worse one. I have neither a home, a single hope, nor a shred of curiosity left. Bankrupt and broke, I've destroyed myself, sir, in becoming famous. I am no longer a man, Mr. Engle, I'm an epitaph over an ash can! And now, sir, what's your story?"

"Noreen Nash - Lona Lane"

"Sal Mineo - Ángel Obregón II"

"[on the telephone] Hello, Dutch? Bill O'Brien! Say listen, I'm over at the Pigeon Club takin' in the sights, and, uh, I ran into somethin' that I thought might be of mutual interest to us. An out-of-town job came shoo-shooing in here a while ago and throwin' away money like birdseed."

"I'm pretending there's something swell about you. This delusion came over me while we were dancing. You know, when you look into a girl's eyes and you think you see someone that isn't there... well that's what I saw."

"Rod Taylor - Sir David Karfrey, Lacy's husband"

"Ralph Theodore - Dutch Enright"

"Oh, if only I had my slave costume and my chains!"

"Carolyn Craig - Lacy Lynnton, Leslie's sister"

"Yesterday's pain is tomorrow's joke. And you'll always end up laughing if you can manage not to cut your throat first."

"Fran Bennett - Judy Benedict, Leslie and Bick's older daughter"

"Earl Holliman - Robert "Bob" Dace, Judy's husband"

"Elsa Cárdenas - Juana Villalobos Benedict, Jordan III's wife"

"Dennis Hopper - Jordan "Jordy" Benedict III, Leslie and Bick's son"

"Paul Fix - Dr. Horace Lynnton, Leslie's father"

"Chill Wills - Uncle Bawley, Bick's uncle"

"Robert Nichols - Mort "Pinky" Snyth, Vashti's husband"

"Mercedes McCambridge - Luz Benedict, Bick's sister"

"Carroll Baker - Luz Benedict II, Leslie and Bick's younger daughter"