Memorable Quotes from Delroy Lindo
10 quotesFamily Tensions and Personal Conflicts
Arthur Rose
Hey, nothin', man. You just go in the house. This ain't none of your concern.
Homer Wells
Just listen to me...
Arthur Rose
You are forgettin yourself now. This is my daughter! Now, I believe ya have your own mess ya gotta deal with.
Rose Rose
I wanna get...
[Struggling to get free from her father]
Arthur Rose
Ain't that right, Homer? Ain't that right, Homer? My daughter done told ya and I done told ya. This ain't your business. This ain't none of your business! Ya even know what your business is, Homer? Do ya! Come on, man! What is your business?
Homer Wells
I'm in the doctor business. I can help. That's all I'm saying. I can help.
Establishing Rules for Clear Thinking
Arthur Rose
Sometimes you gotta make some rules to think straight.
Consequences of Choices and Cultural Divide
Jedediah
You keep dancing with the devil, one day he's gonna follow you home.
Delta Slim
See, white folks, they like the blues just fine. They just don't like the people who make it.
Grace
Come on in, you motherfuckers!
Confrontation Over Family Secrets
Homer Wells
You're having sex with your own daughter.
Arthur Rose
Ain't nobody havin sex with my daughter! Let me just tell you that!
Homer Wells
You're lying. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? What do you care who hears? I mean, come on. They know already, don't they? They know Mr. Rose.
Arthur Rose
And you know what your business is, boy! I know you don't wanna be in no kind of business with me! That's what I know.
Homer Wells
Yeah? Go on. Cut my clothes. I've got other clothes.
Arthur Rose
You gonna come here talkin to me about lies and shame? Those people took you in, and that boy Wally is away at war!
Homer Wells
Yeah, well she's your daughter!
Arthur Rose
And I love her! Ain't never gonna do nothin to harm her.
Homer Wells
She's pregnant, you know that? She's pregnant.
Unpleasant Situation Acknowledged by Characters
Delta Slim
Y'all smell anything?
Annie
No.
Delta Slim
I think I shat myself.
Challenging Unjust Rules and Creating New Ones
Peaches
What do they think, go up to the roof to sleep? They must think we're crazy. They think we're dumb niggers, so we need some dumb rules, is what they think.
Rose Rose
That's it? It don't mean nothin at all. And all this time I been wonderin about em.
Arthur Rose
They outrageous, them rules. Who live in this cider house? Who grindin up those apples, pressin that cider, cleanin up all this mess? Who just plain live here, just breathin in that vinegar? Well, someone who don't live here made those rules. Those rules ain't for us. We are supposed to make our own rules. And we do. Every single day.
Breaking Rules for Truth and Clarity
Arthur Rose
That's right. That's the truth. I'm just tryin to put things straight. Sometimes, ya gotta break some rules, to put things straight. Ain't that right, Homer? Good.
[lying in bed, bleeding to death after making Homer and Muddy promise to tell the police he was so upset over his daughter Rose running away that he killed himself; He looks at Homer who nods with reluctance resignation as he finally accepts this truth; dies]
Conflict of Perspectives on Life and Death
Det. Roland Castlebeck
I'm a police officer. If you kill me, your life is over.
Calitri
No, you got that the wrong way ’round. If I kill you, your life will be over.
Doubt in Child's Return During Crisis
Tom Mullen
Why would they ever let my son go, no matter what I do? I mean, no matter what I do... pay, don't pay, comply, tell him to go fuck himself - why would they give him back? I mean, he's a witness any way you cut it. It's all bullshit, it's all just... seven out of ten.
Kate Mullen
What are you saying?
Tom Mullen
All right: Morlock Man gets his money, I don't think we'll ever see Sean again. That's if he's still alive to begin with.
Agent Lonnie Hawkins
Whoa, now. Are you talking about not paying?
Kate Mullen
No! No, we pay him!
Tom Mullen
Now wait a minute. Listen to me... Morlock man says the pickup guy will give me an address for Sean. I get there, the guy sticks a gun in my face. I said, "You want the money, now give me the address? Where's the address?" You should've seen his face. He had no, absolutely NO idea what I was talking about. None!
Agent Lonnie Hawkins
Okay...
Tom Mullen
This is not business to him. This is very personal.
Agent Lonnie Hawkins
I tell you that everybody pays, and we get back 7 out of 10.
Tom Mullen
If we give him what he wants, he will kill Sean!
Agent Lonnie Hawkins
Tom, you've got to play the odds, man. I've been doing this for eighteen years, and if I were a betting man, I would bet on the people who pay every time, out of the gate.
Tom Mullen
Did you bet on the ones where you got back a corpse?
The Value of Disappointment in Victory
Memphis
Well, without disappointment, you cannot appreciate victory.
Det. Roland Castlebeck
Did Eleanor tell you that?
Memphis
Well that's hitting below the belt.: