31 quotes
A Question of Vocabulary in Conversation
Bill
What's that word?
[''Points to newsletter with knife'']
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Lesson on Respect and Expectations
Bill
You. Whatever your name is... what is your name?
Amsterdam
Amsterdam, sir.
Bill
Amsterdam? I'm New York. Don't you never come in here empty handed again. You gotta pay for the pleasure of my company.
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The Power of Unity and Control
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
Mulberry Street... and Worth... Cross and Orange... and Little Water. Each of the Five Points is a finger. When I close my hand it becomes a fist. And, anytime that I wish, I can turn it against you.
[to Boss Tweed]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Perceptions of Identity and Labor in Conflict
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
I don't see no Americans. I see trespassers, Irish harps. Do a job for a nickel what a nigger does for a dime & what a white man used to get a quarter for.
[to Boss Tweed]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Rejection of Racial Insults
McGloin
NO NIG-NOGGERY HERE!!!! NO--
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Unity in Suffering and Strength
Amsterdam Vallon
Our name is called "The Dead Rabbits" to remind all of our suffering, and as a call to those who suffer still to join our ranks. However far they may have strayed from our common home across the sea. For with great numbers must come great strength in the salvation of our people.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Claiming Ownership in a Chaotic World
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
Everything you see belongs to me, to one degree or another. The beggars and newsboys and quick thieves here in Paradise, the sailor dives and gin mills and blind tigers on the waterfront, the anglers and amusers, the she-hes and the Chinks. Everybody owes, everybody pays. Because that's how you stand up against the rising of the tide.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Forgotten Legacy of a Bloodied City
Amsterdam Vallon
In the end, they put candles on the bodies so's their friends, if they had any, could know them in the dark. The city did this free of charge. Shang, Jimmy Spoils, Hell-cat, McGloin, and more. Friend or foe, didn't make no difference now. It was four days and nights before the worst of the mob was finally put down. We never knew how many New Yorkers died that week before the city was finally delivered. My father told me we was all born of blood and tribulation, and so then too was our great city. But for those of us what lived and died in them furious days, it was like everything we knew was mildly swept away. And no matter what they did to build this city up again... for the rest of time... it would be like no one even knew we was ever here.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Threat to Teach Through Violence
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
You see this knife? I'm gonna teach you to speak English with this fucking knife!
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The Past Guides Our Present Struggles
Amsterdam Vallon
The past is a torch that lights our way. Where our fathers have shown us the path, we shall follow. Our faith is the weapon most feared by our enemies. For thereby shall we lift our people up against those who would destroy us.
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Redemption Through Faith and Resurrection
Walter Monk McGinn
A glorious resurrection will spring from the depths... to which these miserable creatures have fallen. In God, they will find their true home.
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Confrontation of Racial Tension in a Church
McGloin
Father! Jesus, did you know there's NIGGER IN YOUR CHURCH?!
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The Growing Strength of Immigrant Unity
Amsterdam Vallon
You know there's more of us coming off those boats everyday? Some say 15,000 Irish a week! Get all of us together and we ain't got a gang, we got an army!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Legacy of Violence and Remembrance
Walter Monk McGinn
I've got forty-four notches on my club. Do you know what they're for? They're to remind me what I owe God when I die. My father was killed in battle, too. In Ireland, in the streets, fighting those who would take as their privilege what could only be got and held by the decimation of a race. That war is a thousand years old and more. We never expected it to follow us here. It didn't. It was waiting for us when we landed. Your father tried to carve out a corner of this land for his tribe. That was him, that was his dead rabbits. I often wondered... if he had lived a bit longer, would he have wanted a bit more?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Warning of Dire Consequences
McGloin
You're gonna end up on a stake like your man did! GYUUUUURRGH!
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Confrontation Among Rival Gangs in New York
Bill
Is this it, Priest? The Pope's new army? A few crusty bitches and a handful of rag-tags?
[smirking]
Priest Vallon
Now, now, Bill. You swore this was a battle between warriors, not a bunch of Miss Nancies. So warriors is what I brought.
O'Connell Guard leader
The O'Connell Guard!
Plug Ugly leader
The Plug Uglies!
Shirt Tail leader
The Shirt Tails!
Chichester leader
The Chichesters!
Forty Thieves leader
The Forty Thieves!
Priest Vallon
Well, what do you think of us now, Bill? Together with the other five gangs, my new army matches the number with yours. What say you, brother?
[after all the other gangs are gathered]
Bill
Uh-huh. Well, I guess we're even now. So, let's get started, then. Bené? On my challenge, by the ancient laws of combat, we are met at this chosen ground to settle for good and all who holds sway over the Five Points: us Natives, born right-wise to this fine land, or the foreign hordes defiling it.
[smiling; to his fellow natives; two Natives remove Bill's overcoat and top hat; Bill and the other Natives then arm themselves as the leader gives his pre-battle speech]
Natives
Yeah!!!
Priest Vallon
By the ancient laws of combat, I accept the challenge of the so-called "Natives". You plague our people at every turn. But from this day out, you shall plague us no more, for let it be known that the hand that tries to strike us from this land shall be swiftly cut down!
Dead Rabbits and other gangs
YEAH!!!
Bill
Then may the Christian Lord guide my hand against your Roman popery!
Priest Vallon
Prepare to receive the true Lord!
[Priest unsheathes his sword]
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Legacy and Sacrifice in a Divided Nation
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
My father gave his life, making this country what it is. Murdered by the British with all of his men on the twenty-fifth of July, anno domini, 1814. Do you think I'm going to help you befoul his legacy, by giving this country over to them what's had no hand in the fighting for it? Why, because they come off a boat crawling with lice and begging you for soup?
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Exclusionary Views of the Natives
McGloin
There's no niggers among the Natives! Niggers and Rabbits is one thing! BUT A NIGGER IN THE CHURCH, THAT'S SOMETHING ELESE!
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Racial Exclusion in McGloin's Statement
McGloin
THIS SHOW AIN'T FOR BLACKIES!!!
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Bill the Butcher's Perspective on Origins
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
On the Seventh Day the Lord rested, but befores that he did, he took a squat over the side of England and what came out of him... was Ireland. No offense son.
[To Amsterdam]
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Trophies of Violence and Conquest
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
Ears and noses will be the trophies of the day.
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The Nature of Flesh and Blood
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
You get to know a lot butchering meat. We're made up of the same things - flesh and blood, tissue, organs. I love to work with pigs. The nearest thing in nature to the flesh of a man is the flesh of a pig...This is the liver. The kidneys. The heart. This is a wound—the stomach will bleed and bleed. This is a kill. This is a kill. Main artery. This is a kill.
[to Amsterdam; stabs the pig; stabs the pig; stabs the pig]
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Racial Tensions in Gangs of New York
McGloin
GO BACK TO AFRICA, NIGGER! GO BACK TO AFRICAAAAA!!!!!!
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Tribute and Vengeance in a Violent World
William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
We hold in our hearts the memory of our fallen brothers whose blood stains the very streets we walk today. Also on this night we pay tribute to the leader of our enemies, an honorable man, who crossed over bravely, fighting for what he believed in. To defeat my enemy, I extinguish his life, and consume him as I consume these flames. In honor of Priest Vallon.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Racial Tension in a Sacred Space
McGloin
What's that *NIGGER* DOING IN THIS CHURCH?!
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The Illusion of Law and Order
Boss Tweed
The appearance of law must be upheld, especially while it's being broken.
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The Power of Counting in Politics
Boss Tweed
Remember the first rule of politics. The ballots don't make the results, the counters make the results. The counters. Keep counting.
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Political Tensions at the Waterfront
Boss Tweed
You may or may not know, Bill, that everyday I go down to the waterfront with hot soup for the Irish as they come ashore. Its part of building a political base.
Bill
I've noticed you there, you may have noticed me.
Boss Tweed
Indeed I have. Throwing torrents of hatred and withering abuse on every single person who steps off those boats.
Bill
If only I had the guns, Mr. Tweed, I'd shoot each and every one of them before they set foot on American soil.
[gleefully]
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Debate on Identity and Contribution in America
Boss Tweed
That's the building of our country right there, Mr. Cutting. Americans aborning.
Bill
I don't see no Americans. I see trespassers, Irish harps. Do a job for a nickel what a nigger does for a dime and a white man used to get a quarter for. What have they done? Name one thing they've contributed.
Boss Tweed
Votes.
Bill
Votes, you say? They vote how the archbishop tells them, and who tells the archbishop? Their king in the pointy hat what sits on his throne in Rome.
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The Comfort of Unlikely Alliances
Amsterdam Vallon
It's a funny feeling being taken under the wing of a dragon. It's warmer than you'd think.
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The Public Execution of a King
Amsterdam Vallon
When you kill a king, you don't stab him in the dark. You kill him where the entire court can watch him die.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.