23 quotes
The Appeal of Unconventional Pets
Harry Moseby
What do you got em for?
[observing Paula, who is feeding dolphins in a special pen]
Paula
Well, there's a big demand for dolphins. Lots of people want em, you'd be surprised. People buy them for their swimming pools. They think it's chic to have a dolphin for a pet. Like that craze for baby alligators in New York years back. When they got bored with em, they flushed them down the john. Now they got a sewage system swarming with blind, albino, shit-eating alligators.
Harry Moseby
I'm not too sure I believe that.
[listening with a bemused look on his face]
Paula
You're not one of those "intent on the truth" types, are you?
Harry Moseby
Well, not religious about it, no, but I...
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Resisting Temptation with Positive Thoughts
Paula
How do you resist Delly?
Harry Moseby
Oh, I just think good, clean thoughts, like Thanksgiving, George Washington's teeth.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Disillusionment with Fairy Tales and Reality
Harry Moseby
You told me fairy tales... About Malone... Billy Danreuther... The President getting shot... Your erect nipples!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Search for Delly Grastner's whereabouts
Harry Moseby
I'm looking for Delly Grastner.
Quentin
Delly isn't around here anymore.
Harry Moseby
You got any idea where she could be? Is she visiting friends? Is she meditating? Did she join a commune?
Quentin
Delly's idea of a "commune" is her and a guy on top of her.
[scoffs]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Illusion of Victory in Conflict
Ellen Moseby
Who's winning?
[of a football game]
Harry Moseby
Nobody. One side is just losing slower than the other.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Regret and Missed Opportunities in Life
Paula
Oh, that's a beauty.
Harry Moseby
Yeah, but he didn't see it. He played something else and he lost. He must have regretted it every day of his life. I know I would have. As a matter of fact I do regret it, and I wasn't even born yet.
Paula
That's no excuse.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Decision to Travel on Someone Else's Dime
Harry Moseby
My guess is that I should go down there.
[speculating that the missing daughter, Delly, may be in Florida with her stepfather]
Arlene Iverson
You're gonna go all the way to Florida on a guess?
[melodramatically]
Harry Moseby
No. I'm gonna fly all the way to Florida on your money, Mrs. Iverson. It's up to you.
Arlene Iverson
Go ahead.
[indifferently]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Prize for Pain
Harry Moseby
What happened to your face?
Quentin
I won second prize in a fight.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Fame and Personal Identity
Arlene Iverson
This is my second husband, Tom lverson, the bum. The only thing I got out of him was a new name. That's ahfter I quit acting. Did you ever see me in anything?
[shows Harry a picture]
Arlene Iverson
I was never "big," not really big. There were a lot like me. You know, studio premieres, studio romances, not much talent. But I got lucky and grabbed off one of the big guns, Irving Grastner. Oh, I had lovely tits... even if I do say so myself. Ahh, they're sitting on a little bit of silicone now... but when they were up for grabs, they were really something special.
[sighs]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Perspectives on Life and Relationships
Joey Ziegler
He'd fuck a woodpile on the chance there was a snake in it.
Joey Ziegler
Well, the world is getting smaller, the kids are getting younger and I'm getting drunk!
Marv Ellman
There's nothing like having a mother and a daughter. Gives you sort of a kind of perspective.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Reflections on Significant Historical Events
Paula
Where were you when Kennedy got shot?
Harry Moseby
Which Kennedy?
Paula
Any Kennedy.
Harry Moseby
When the president got shot, I was on my way to San Diego. Football game. When Bobby got shot, I was sitting in a car waiting for a guy to come out of a house with his girlfriend. Working on a divorce case. One of those times I wish I was in another business.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Confusion of Growing Older
Harry Moseby
Listen Delly, I know it doesn't make much sense when you're sixteen. Don't worry. When you get to be forty, it isn't any better.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Freedom and Chaos in Society
Paula
When we're all as free as Delly there'll be rioting in the streets.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Familiar Faces in Conversation
Nick
Where do you know Arlene from?
Joey Ziegler
From way back.
Nick
Oh, yeah? What's your name again? Ziegler? Joey Ziegler?
Joey Ziegler
Joey Ziegler.
Nick
I don't think you were one of the names.
Joey Ziegler
What names?
Nick
One of those she cheated on Grastner with. I got them all.
Joey Ziegler
I'm one of a small, select group. We hold meetings in a telephone booth.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Awareness of Relationships in Night Moves
Harry Moseby
You think Delly knew that Marv and her mother were making it?
Joey Ziegler
A blind man on a galloping horse would've known. Arlene ain't ].
[[w:Lillian Gish|Lillian Gish]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unexpected Bath Conversation
Arlene Iverson
Caught me in my bath.
Harry Moseby
I'm sorry.
Arlene Iverson
Oh, that's all right. You could've joined me. It's a big bath.
[seductively]
Harry Moseby
Maybe some other time, when I'm feeling really dirty.
[with a wry grin]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Detective Loyalty and Modern Challenges
Arlene Iverson
Are you the kind of detective who, once you get on a case nothing can get you off it? Bribes, beatings, the allure of a woman...
Harry Moseby
That was true in the old days. Before we had a union.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confronting Past Trauma and Emotional Detachment
Arlene Iverson
So I'm not grief-stricken. What does that make me? You know, Delly isn't the only kid who ever had it rough. When I was her age... I was down on my knees to half the men in this town. I'm sorry the poor little bitch is dead. And when the time comes, I'll cry for her... but you won't be around to see it, Mr. Smart-Ass-Moseby. So... Out... OUT!
[as Harry confronts her at her poolside, after Delly's death; drunkenly; sighs; drunkenly waves him away]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Unseen Dangers in a Private Eye's Search
Taglines
What private eye Harry Moseby doesn't know about the girl he's looking for... just might get him killed.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Search for Identity and Connection
Taglines
Maybe he would find the girl... maybe he would find himself.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Casual Introduction Among Friends
Nick
Where do you know Arlene from?
Joey Ziegler
From way back.
Nick
Oh, yeah? What's your name again? Ziegler? Joey Ziegler?
Joey Ziegler
Joey Ziegler.
Nick
I don't think you were one of the names.
Joey Ziegler
What names?
Nick
One of those she cheated on Grastner with. I got them all.
Joey Ziegler
I'm one of a small, select group. We hold meetings in a telephone booth.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Consequences of Emotional Attachments
Tom Iverson
I want that kid the hell out of here. You see, I... I get pretty foolish with her, and I... Well, you've seen her. God, there ought to be a law!
Harry Moseby
There is.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Exploring Past Choices and Intentions
Harry Moseby
What'd you do before this?
Paula
This and that... I taught school, I... kept house. I waited tables... I did a little stripping, I did a little hooking... and I trod a lot of water.
[coyly; pauses, gives him a look]
Harry Moseby
Sounds kind of bleak. Or is it just the way you tell it?
Paula
Do you ask these questions because you wanna know the answer, or is it just something you think a detective should do?
[sharply]
Harry Moseby
I just want you to know I'm here.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.