"Rossi: They seize it, arrest everybody, whack it up and sell it back to us. Our dope. They been living off it for years, these New York cops. They basically control the market with it. What the fuck has happened to the world, Frank?"

"Won’t get any informants. Not inside. It’s like a Sicilian family. Like he’s structured his own family the same way to protect himself. Being with Bumpy long as he was, he would have been around Italians a lot. Enough to learn that much."

"His name is Frank Lucas. Originally from Greensboro, North Carolina. Couple of arrests years ago. Gambling, robbery, unlicensed firearm. For fifteen years he was Bumpy Johnson’s collector, bodyguard and driver. He was with him when he died. Five brothers, he’s the oldest, lots of cousins, all living here now, spread out around the boroughs and Jersey. The brothers are Eugene Lucas in Brooklyn, Earl Lucas in Newark, Lester Lucas in Queens, Turner Lucas, the Bronx and Teddy Lucas, in Bergen County. Except for the chinchilla coat, which no one can explain, Frank’s life seems orderly and legitimate. He gets up early. Five a.m. Has breakfast at a Midtown place, usually alone. Then goes to work. Meeting with his accountant, or lawyer, dropping in on one of the several office buildings he owns. Nights, he usually stays home. When he does go out, it’s to a club or dinner - with his new wife - friends, celebrities, sports figures - never O.C. guys. Sundays he takes his mother to church. Then drives out to change the flowers on Bumpy’s grave. Every Sunday, no matter what."

"For a cop the uppermost thing is the arrest. For a prosecutor, the arrest is nothing without the evidence to convict. We don’t have any real evidence on anyone on this board, so they’re coming down. We’re starting over from the street."

"Pick up the fuckin' glass!"

"The number one fear of people isn't dying, it's public speaking."

"This is my home. My country. Frank Lucas don't run from nobody. This is America."

"I do pay them, I pay them all. Cops, accountants, lawyers, who don’t I pay? Everybody. I pay them a fortune, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t satisfy them. The more you pay, the more they expect. You can’t start with them because they can’t stop. It’s like dope. They always want more."

"Brand names mean something, Nicky. Consumers rely on them to know what they’re getting. They know the company isn’t going to try to fool them with an inferior product. They buy a Ford, they know they’re gonna get a Ford. Not a fuckin' Datsun. Blue Magic that's a brand name; Like Pepsi, that's a brand name. I stand behind it, I guarantee it. They know that even if they don’t know me any more than they know the chairman of General Mills."

"[To Trupo]Detective. There are some things you don’t do. This is one of them. Not on a man’s wedding day."

"That basically the whole picture right there."

"The most important thing in business is honesty, integrity, hard work, family, never forgetting where we came from. See, you are what you are in this world, that’s either one of two things: Either you're somebody ... or you’re nobody. I'll be right back"

"The man I worked for, he had one of the biggest companies in New York City- he ran it for more than fifty years. Fifteen years, eight months, nine days- I was with him every day. I looked after him, took care of him, protected him... I learned from him. Bumpy was rich, but he wasn't white man rich, you see he wasn't wealthy. He didn’t own his own company. He thought he did, but he didn’t. He just managed it. White man owned it so they owned him. Nobody owns me, though. Because I own my company. And my company sells a product that’s better than the competition at a price that’s lower than the competition."

"It’s chaos. Every gorilla for himself."

"Forget it, Frank. There's no one in charge."

"That's the way it is now: You can’t find the heart of anything to stick the knife."

"This is the problem. This is what’s wrong with America. It’s gotten so big you can’t find your way."

"Omari Hardwick - 'Free'"

"Danny Martinez - Miguel Perez, WR/DB"

"Jamal Mixon - Jermaine Evans"

"James Earl - Donald Madlock, OL/DL"

"Michael J. Pagan - Roger Weathers"

"Jurnee Smollett - Danyelle Rollins"

"Maurice McRae - Leon Hayes, QB"

"Brandon Mychal Smith - 'Bug' Wendal"

"Trever O'Brien - Kenny Bates, WR"

"Setu Taase - Junior Palaita, FB/HB"

"David Thomas - Kelvin Owens, WR/DB"

"Jade Yorker - Willie Weathers, HB"

"L. Scott Caldwell - Bobbi Porter"

"Leon Rippy - Paul Higa"

"Kevin Dunn - Ted Dexter"

"Xzibit - Malcolm Moore"

"Dwayne Johnson - Sean Porter"

"Yeah. I played games. I play Madden!"

"They ain't that good, man. We're better. And it means much more to us. You know? When this all started, man, coach, he said we'd be winners. I thought he was full of shit, man. I hated y'all. Didn't want no part of it. But then we made a team. We showed people somethin'. Coach is right. We changed. We're not losers no more. All we gotta do is go out there and show it one more time. You know what I'm sayin'?"

"[Closing lines] We played the championship game the next week. We lost 17-14. But we played a helluva game. And no one called us losers. I told 'em, far as I was concerned, they were champs. Since then all the kids have been released. 24 are goin' to school. Three are working full-time jobs. And only five are back in jail. That's a lot better than the average failure rate of 75 percent. After his release, Junior Palaita got a job working for a furniture company and lives with his family. Kelvin Owens recovered from his bullet wound. He's gonna play for Washington High next season. Miguel Perez and Donald Madlock went back to their old gangs and are now in California Youth Authority prisons. Kenny Bates is goin' to school in Redondo Beach and living with his mom. Leon Hayes is trying to resist the crack dealer's lifestyle. He's gonna play football for Dorsey High this year. Bug Wendal was killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton. Willie Weathers got a full scholarship to play football for a top boarding school. A school that's long way from 88th Street. And how'd things change for me? Not a whole lot."

"Ya got nobody but yourself, but, goddamn it, that's all you need. Believe in yourself and knock me on my ass!"

"I know you're a good football player. You may even be great. And I am gonna push you until we find out."

"Dan Martin - Terrell Rollins"

"Lemme tell you somethin' else, I still don't believe that they're 38 points better than you. I still don't believe that they're the better team. I would not trade you for them. I want you to hold your heads up high."

"It's time to prove to everyone out there that even though you're locked up, you are somebody."

"Then let's try the impossible, because the possible just ain't workin'."

"[First lines] Most 16, 17-year-old kids, they make a bad choice, something gets broken, they screw up in class, hurt somebody's feelings, show up at the prom drunk, they get sent to the principal's office, have their car keys taken away, or get grounded. Then there's kids, they make a bad choice, somebody ends up shot dead in a parkin' lot. Those kids get sent here."

"Anna Maria Horsford - Sharon Weathers"

"Michael Jace - Mr. Jones"

"Mary Mara - Mrs. Bates"

"[to Lula] Those toenails dry yet, sweetheart? We've got some dancing to do."

"[to Lula] The way your head works is God's own private mystery."