12 quotes
Eating as a Distraction from Thoughts
Hoover
How come you got a hot dog in your mouth while you're threading the projector? Why do you eat while you're working? Why do you eat all the time?
Coolidge
It's all psychological, Max. I eat so I don't think about food.
Hoover
Oh... so you eat so you don't think about food.
Coolidge
Yeah.
Hoover
I don't want to butt into your business, but this psychiatrist, the guy you're going to, I think he's in worse shape than you are.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Weight of Unseen Consequences
General Timms
These tiny particles of matter, which are so small that no one's ever seen them - never - they contain enough energy to blow up this house, an entire city, every person on Earth. Now that is inconceivable.
Hoover
General, I really don't think much about those things. I'd probably see too much.
General Timms
What do you see?
Hoover
People dead before their time.
General Timms
That's the history of the world, Lieutenant. Some people die before their time so that others can live; it's the cornerstone of civilization, uh… war, religion, democracy… a hundred die so that a thousand may live.
Hoover
Well, General, I take em one at a time.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Questioning Psychiatric Advice
Max Hoover
Is that what your psychiatrist told you?
[Repeated line to Coolidge.]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Cornerstone of Civilization: Human Sacrifice
Hall
What'd Timms have to say?
Hoover
He said the cornerstone of civilization was human sacrifice.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Meaning Behind Routine Choices
Coolidge
You know, I've been thinking, why is it we always sit in the same place? And why is it you're always the one that drives, Max?
[riding in the car]
Hoover
I guess it's cause I got the keys.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Burden of Truth and Responsibility
Hoover
Let me tell ya how it goes, Ellery. Ya meet somebody. Maybe they're a little off-center, but they tell ya the truth, and ya like em — ya like em for that. And one thing leads to another, and ya end up in bed. Now that's weak, Ellery.
Coolidge
Max…
Hoover
Now listen to me! Nobody gets hurt. Now, you go home, and you see your wife, and you're feelin bad. Ya wanna unload it, ya wanna get it off your chest. So you tell er. And now she's hurt. Now that's weak, too, Elleroy. But it's also cruel. It's just goddam cruel.
Hoover
Take a— here, here's something for ya. Here's something that doesn't cost ya twenty-five bucks an hour. You carry your own water, Ellery. Ya understand? Carry your own water.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Perception of Intelligence in Professional Fields
General Timms
You're much more intelligent than you appear to be, Lieutenant. Must be a big advantage in your field. In my field, everyone was always so desperate to seem cleverer than they were.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Perspectives on Beach Sounds and City Life
Hall
I don't understand how anybody can live at the beach. Those waves crashing and flopping all the time - drive me crazy.
Relyea
I'm with you, Eddie. I like the sound of traffic when I'm sleeping.
Jimmy Fields
I find it very peaceful. Most people do. I guess cops are just different.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unexpected Encounters in a Police Investigation
Hoover
Jack Flynn?
Jack Flynn
Here ya go buddy, buy yourself a good time. They'll let anybody in here.
[hands him money; turning away]
Hoover
Mr. Flynn, I'm Maxwell Hoover. I'm with the Los Angeles Police Department.
[throwing bills down]
Jack Flynn
Oh, that means I get change back.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reality of Los Angeles vs. America
Max Hoover
This isn't America, Jack. This is L.A.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unconventional Solutions in a Tense Moment
Coolidge
Damn it! I can't get my finger in there. It won't fit.
[trying to thread a projector]
Esther
Try your dick.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Assertion of Authority in Los Angeles
Max Hoover
See? That's federal property. This isn't. This is L.A. This is my town. Out here you're a trespasser. Out here I can pick you up, burn your house, fuck your wife, and kill your dog. And the only thing that'll protect you is if I can't find you. And I already found you.
[After beating FBI Special Agent McCafferty senseless…]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.