"[to reporters] I'm gonna tell you something. Somebody messes with me? I'm gonna mess with him. Somebody steals from me? I'm gonna say you stole, not talk to him for spittin' on the sidewalk. Y'understand? Now, I have done nothing to hurt these people, but they're angered at me, so what do they do? Doctor up some "income tax", for which they got no case. To annoy me. To speak to me like men? No. To harass a peaceful man. I pray to God if I ever had a grievance I would have just a little more self respect. I'll tell you one more thing. You got an all-out prizefight? You wait until the fight is over, one guy's left standing, and that's how you know who won."

"Patricia Clarkson - Catherine Ness"

"Billy Drago - Frank Nitti"

"Jack Kehoe - Walter Payne"

"Richard Bradford - Police Chief Mike Dorsett"

"Robert De Niro - Al Capone"

"Andy Garcia - Agent George Stone"

"Charles Martin Smith - Agent Oscar Wallace"

"Sean Connery - Jim Malone"

"Kevin Costner - Eliot Ness"

"What are you prepared to do?"

"The Chicago Dream is that big."

"AL CAPONE. He ruled Chicago with absolute power. No one could touch him. No one could stop him. - Until Eliot Ness and a small force of men swore they'd bring him down."

"Never stop fighting till the fight is done"

"[to Ness] You got nothing. You're nothing but a lot of talk and a badge! You hear me? Cause you got nothing! You got nothing in court, you don't got the bookkeeper, you got NOTHING! NOTHING! And if you were a man, you would've done it now! You don't got a thing, you punk!"

"I want you to get this fuck where he breathes! I want you to find this Nancy-boy Eliot Ness, I want him dead! I want his family dead! I want his house burned to the ground! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna piss on his ashes!"

"Life goes on. A man becomes preeminent, he's expected to have enthusiasms. Enthusiasms... Enthusiasms... What are mine? What draws my admiration? What is that which gives me joy? [grabs a baseball bat] Baseball! A man stands alone at the plate. This is the time for what? For individual achievement. There he stands alone. But in the field, what? Part of a team. Teamwork.... Looks, throws, catches, hustles - part of one big team. Bats himself the live-long day, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and so on. If his team don't field... what is he? You follow me? No one! Sunny day, the stands are full of fans. What does he have to say? "I'm goin' out there for myself. But... I get nowhere unless the team wins." [Beats his henchman to death with his bat]"

"I grew up in a tough neighborhood. And we used to say, "You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word." And in that neighborhood, it might've been true. And sometimes a reputation follows you. There is violence in Chicago, of course. But not by me, and not by anybody who works for me, and I'll tell you why: because it's not good business."

"[after being told about an article describing him as the mayor of Chicago in all but name] Well, I tell you, you know, it's touching. Like a lot of things in life, we laugh because it's funny, and we laugh because it's true. Some people say, reformers here say, "Put that man in jail, what does he think he is doing?" Well, what I hope I'm doing, and here's where your English paper's got a point, is I'm responding to the will of the people. People are gonna drink! You know that, I know that, we all know that, and all I do is act on that. And all this talk of bootlegging - what is bootlegging? On a boat, it's bootlegging. On Lake Shore Drive, it's hospitality. I'm a businessman!"

"[chasing a knife-armed thug out of his house with a shotgun] Isn't that just like a Wop? Brings a knife to a gunfight! Get outta here, you Dago bastard! Go on, get your ass outta here!"

"[to Ness, preparing for the liquor raid at the border] Take it easy...take it easy! It'll all happen in time. This is the job. Don't wait for it to happen. Don't even want it to happen. Just watch what does happen."

"[When asked about if a cop is trustworthy] Well, he'd better be - he's my cousin."

"[about finding a team member not under Capone's influence] If you're afraid of getting a rotten apple, don't go to the barrel. Get it off the tree."

"That's the second rule of police work. If you want to keep a secret, don't tell the boss."

"You just fulfilled the first rule of law enforcement: Make sure when your shift is over, you go home alive."

"[to Ness] Welcome to Chicago. This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide."

"I have foresworn myself. I have broken every law I have sworn to uphold, I have become what I beheld and I am content that I have done right!"

"A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

"Woody Harrelson - Sergeant William Schumann"

"John Michael Higgins - John Levy"

"William H. Macy - CIA Agent Charles Young"

"Kirsten Dunst - Tracy Lime"

"Andrea Martin - Liz Butsky"

"Willie Nelson - Johnny Dean"

"Denis Leary - Fad King"

"Anne Heche - Winifred Ames"

"Robert De Niro - Conrad Brean"

"Dustin Hoffman - Stanley Motss"