Midnight Cowboy (1969) - Quotes

Refusal to Seek Medical Help

Ratso: You ain't gettin me no doctor. Nope.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Communication and Misunderstanding in Conversations

Shirley: Maybe if you didn't call me ma'am, things might work out better.

Joe: That's the first god-damned time this thing ever quit on me. It's a fact. You think I'm lyin to ya?

Shirley: No, no, I don't think you're lyin'. I just had this funny image. I had this image of a, um, policeman without his stick, and a, uh, bugler without his horn, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Well, I think I'm making it worse. Maybe we ought to take a little nap and see what happens.

Joe: I ain't sleepy.

Shirley: Oh! I know, scribbage.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Negotiating Worth in Unexpected Situations

Ratso: She's hooked.

Shirley: Like why, cowboy?

Ratso: I'd say she was good for ten bucks, but I'll ask for twenty.

Shirley: Why cowboy whore? Did you know we were gonna make it?

Ratso: So, uh, do you really want to do business?

Shirley: [referring to Ratso] Who is he? Don't tell me you two are a couple!

Gretel: Why are you laughing, Joe? Are you really a cowboy?

Joe: Well, I'll tell you the truth now. I ain't a real cowboy, but I am one helluva stud.

Ratso: A very expensive stud. And I happen to be his manager.

Shirley: Incidentally, how much is this gonna cost me?

Ratso: Twenty bucks.

Shirley: OK.

Ratso: And taxi fare for me.

Shirley: Oh, get lost, will ya?

Ratso: I agree, but for that service, I charge one buck taxi fare.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

A Transaction on 42nd Street

Joe: There you go boy, there's money for ya, that's nine dollars right there plus assorted change, minus 26 cents for milk, plus 5 cents for Dentyne - gum.

Ratso: Where you been, 42nd Street? That's where you've been.

Joe: Buy yourself some medicine before you die in my damn hands.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Desire for Escape and Validation

Ratso: I gotta get outta here, gotta get outta here. Miami Beach, that's where you could score. Anybody can score there, even you. In New York, no rich lady with any class at all buys that cowboy crap anymore. They're laughin at you on the street.

Joe: Ain't nobody laughin at me on the street.

Ratso: Behind your back, I've seen em laughin at you, fella.

Joe: Aw, what the hell you know about women anyway? When's the last time you scored, boy?

Ratso: That's a matter I only talk about at confession. We're not talkin about me now.

Joe: And when's the last time you've been to confession?

Ratso: It's between me and my confessor. And I'll tell ya another thing. Frankly, you're beginning to smell. And for a stud in New York, that's a handicap.

Joe: Well, don't talk to me about clean. I ain't never seen you change your underwear once the whole time I've been here in New York. And that's pretty peculiar behavior.

Ratso: I don't have to do that kind of thing in public. I ain't got no need to expose myself.

Joe: No, I bet you don't. I bet you ain't never even been laid! How about that? And you're gonna tell me what appeals to women!

Ratso: I know enough to know that that great big, dumb cowboy crap of yours don't appeal to nobody except every jockey on 42nd Street. That's faggot stuff! You wanna call it by its name? That's strictly for fags!

Joe: John Wayne! You wanna tell me he's a fag? I like the way I look. It makes me feel good. It does. And women like me, god-dammit. Hell, only one thing I've ever been good for is lovin'. Women go crazy for me. That's a really true fact. Ratso, hell: Crazy Annie, they had to send her away.

Ratso: Then how come you ain't scored once, the whole time you've been in New York?

Joe: Cause, cause I need management, god-dammit. Cause you stole twenty dollars offa me. That's why you're gonna stop crappin around about Florida. And, and get your skinny butt movin. And earn twenty dollars worth of management which you owe me.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Cooking Choices in Difficult Circumstances

Joe: [about Ratso's food] Smells worse hot than it did cold.

Ratso: All right, startin tomorrow, you cook your own god-damn dinner. Or you get one of your rich Park Avenue ladies to cook for you in her penthouse.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Navigating the Streets of Opportunity

Joe: You really know the ropes! Damn, I wish I'd bumped into you before.

Ratso: You're pickin trade up on the street like that. That's nowhere. I mean, you gotta get yourself some kind of management. You need my friend O'Daniel. He operates the biggest stable in town, in fact, in the whole god-damned Metropolitan area. It's stupid a stud like you paying. You don't want to be stupid.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

A Request for Financial Assistance

Cass: I hate to ask you, but you're such a doll.

Joe: You know, Cass, that's a funny thing you mentioning money. Cause I was just about to ask you for some.

Cass: You were gonna ask me for money? Huh?

Joe: Hell, why do you think I come all the way up here from Texas for?

Cass: You were gonna ask me for oney? Who the hell do you think you're dealing with? Some old slut on 42nd Street? In case you didn't happen to notice it, ya big Texas longhorn bull, I'm one helluva gorgeous chick.

Joe: Now, Cass, take it easy.

Cass: You heard it. At twenty-eight years old. You think you can come up here, and pull this kind of crap up here! Well, you're out of your mind!

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Emotional Confessions and Uncertainty in Transit

Annie: Do you love me Joe? Do you love me? Love me? You're the only one Joe. You're the only one. You're better Joe. You're better than the rest of em. You're better than any of them Joe. You love me Joe. You're better than all of em. You're the best Joe.

Shirley: Like, uh, say, hay, lay, hay, hey, lay, hmmm...gay ends in y. Hmmm? Do you like that?...Gay, fey. Is that your problem, baby?

Bus driver: Okay, folks, everything's all right. Nothing to worry about...Okay folks, nothin to worry about. Just a little illness. We'll be in Miami in just a few minutes.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Ubiquity of Prayer in Life

Mr. O'Daniel: I've prayed on the streets. I've prayed in the saloons. I've prayed in the toilets. It don't matter where, so long as He gets that prayer.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

A Promise of Shared Experiences

Mr. O'Daniel: [to Joe] I'm gonna use ya. I'm gonna run you ragged...You and me can have fun together. It doesn't have to be joyless.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Fear of Vulnerability and Loss of Independence

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: I don't think I can walk anymore. I've been fallin down a lot. I'm scared...You know what they do to ya when, when they know you can't, when they find out that you can't walk-walk. Oh Christ.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Commentary on Relationships and Identity

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: You want the word on that brother and sister act. Hansel's a fag, and Gretel's got the hots for herself so who cares, right?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Rico's Approval of a Cowboy

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: Not bad, not bad for a cowboy. You're OK. You're OK.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Reflections on Hardship and Family Legacy

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: End up a hunchback like my old man? If you think I'm crippled, you should have caught him at the end of the day. My old man spent fourteen hours a day down in that subway. He come home at night, two to three hours worth of change stained with shoe polish. Stupid bastard coughed his lungs out from breathin in that wax all day. Even a faggot undertaker couldn't get his nails clean. They had to bury him with gloves on.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Essentials for Life and Miami's Charm

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and coconut milk. Did you know that? That's a fact. In Florida, they got a terrific amount of coconut trees there. In fact, I think they even got em in the, uh, gas stations over there. And ladies? You know that in Miami, you got, uh, you listenin to me? You got more ladies in Miami than in any resort area in the country there. I think per capita on a given day, there's probably, uh, three hundred of em on the beach. In fact, you can't even, uh, scratch yourself without gettin a belly-button, uh, up the old kazoo there.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Identity and Self-Perception in Midnight Cowboy

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: You know, in my own place my name ain't Ratso. I mean, it just so happens that in my own place, my name is Enrico Salvatore Rizzo...At least call me Rico in my own god-damn place.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Plans for a Warmer Future

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: It's not, not bad, huh? There's no heat here, but you know, by the time winter comes, I'll be in Florida.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Private Entrance and Personal Warning

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: Got my own private entrance here. You're the only one who knows about it. Watch the plank. Watch the plank. Break your god-damn skull. No way to collect insurance.

Understanding Condemnation and Rent Collection

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: The X on the windows means the landlord can't collect rent, which is a convenience, on account of it's condemned.

Potential Earnings with Proper Management

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: You know, with proper management, you could be takin home fifty, maybe a hundred dollars a day, easy.

Ratso Rizzo's Iconic Reflection on Life

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: [[w:AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes|American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations] *Note: the bolded portion is ranked #27 in the ] in American cinema.

Assertive Defiance in Urban Life

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: [bangs hand on car; to Joe] HEY! I'm walkin here! I'm walkin here! Up yours, you son-of-a-bitch! You don't talk to me that way! Get outta here! Don't worry about that. Actually, that ain't a bad way to pick up insurance, you know.

Compliment on a Shirt

Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" "Rico" Rizzo: [to Joe] Terrific shirt.

Dreams of a Fresh Start in Miami

Joe Buck: Everything we got only set us back ten and some... Hey you know, Ratso. Rico, I mean. I got this damn thing all figured out. When we get to Miami, what we'll do is get some sort of job, you know. Cause hell, I ain't no kind of hustler. I mean, there must be an easier way of makin a living than that. Some sort of outdoors work. What do ya think? Yeah, that's what I'll do. OK Rico? Rico? Rico? Hey, Rico? Rico?

Commentary on Personal Belongings and Environment

Joe Buck: Yours was the only one left with a palm tree on it. The clothes are damn cheap here too, you know that?

Dreams of Easy Living and Financial Freedom

Joe Buck: We ain't gonna have to steal no more, that's what I'm tryin to tell ya. I've got eight bucks in my damn pockets, twenty more come Thursday, boy. We're gonna be ridin easy before very long, I'm gonna tell ya. She went crazy if you want to know the damn truth of it...She turned into a damn alley cat.

Questioning Intentions and Appearances

Joe Buck: [to Ratso] You want me to stay here. You're after somethin'. What are you after? You don't look like a fag.

A Call to Action for the Cowboy

Joe Buck: [to himself, in the mirror] You know what you gotta do cowboy.

Identity and Confidence in a Complex World

Joe Buck: Well, sir, I ain't a for-real cowboy. But I am one helluva stud.

Seeking Opportunity in a New Environment

Joe Buck: Lotta rich women back there, Ralph, begging for it, paying for it, too...and the men - they're mostly tutti fruttis. So I'm gonna cash in on some of that, right?...Hell, what do I got to stay around here for? I got places to go, right?