A Walk Among the Tombstones Quotes

  • Matt Scudder: I do favors for people, and in return, they give me gifts. So, what can I do for you?

  • Ray: Leila... was that her name?

    Matt Scudder: I would think you'd remember.

    Ray: Nah, once they're in the van they're just body parts.

  • Matt Scudder: My ex-wife, she was vegetarian.

    TJ: So what happened? Why'd you split? What was she a clucker?

    Matt Scudder: A what?

    TJ: A clucker. A chickenhead. You know, those females that only like you if you give them nice things. If you ain't bling blingin' you ain't seein' shit.

    Matt Scudder: Can't you speak English?

  • Jonas Loogan: What is it I said that gave me away?

    Matt Scudder: Everything. You're a weirdo Jonas

  • Ray: [reading Y2K newspaper headline] People are afraid of all the wrong things.

  • Albert: Look... I just wanted to say...

  • Ray: Who the hell is that?

  • [first lines]

    Danny Ortiz: You need some help, man.

    Matt Scudder: Oh, God.

    Danny Ortiz: I don't care. You want to mess up your own shit - but you're going to mess up mine, too. I need to know you got my back. Not that you're going to come falling through the door behind me...

    Matt Scudder: Don't worry your pretty little spic head off.

    Danny Ortiz: Anyway. That was all I wanted to say.

    Matt Scudder: Is that it? Fuck you!

    [gets out of the car]

  • Kenny Kristo: You used to be a cop, right?

    Matt Scudder: Yeah, I was with the 6th Precinct in the Village for a while. And before that, I was over here with the 75th.

    Kenny Kristo: So why'd you quit?

    Matt Scudder: I didn't like the hours, Mr. Kristo.

    Kenny Kristo: Nah, the corruption got to you, huh?

    Matt Scudder: Not really. It would have been hard to support my family without it.

  • Waitress - The Flame: Sure you don't want a soda or something, honey?

    TJ: I know you just love to give a young black man like myself one of your sperm-killer sodas. But no thank you, ma'am. I'll just stick with the water.

    Matt Scudder: What?

    TJ: They only give sodas to low-income people. With a bunch of chemicals in them to sterilize you. That's why I only drink water. A gallon a day and stay hydrated.

  • Matt Scudder: You gonna stab me now with that big fucking knife?

    Jonas Loogan: It's gonna bother me, too. For a long time, I know it will.

    Matt Scudder: How much is it gonna bother you I take that knife away and stick it in your neck?

    Jonas Loogan: Could you really do that?

    Matt Scudder: Yeah, I really could. But I'd rather not.

  • Matt Scudder: [speaking at A.A. meeeting] I was off-duty one day in this bar in Washington Heights where cops didn't have to pay for their drinks. And a couple of guys came in to rob the place. I chased them into the street, shot two dead, got a third one in the leg. He'll never walk right again. Yeah. I quit drinking that day. It just wasn't as much fun after that.

  • Matt Scudder: You know there's still a round left in the chamber here? Now. Put it back together. Caress it. Rub it, like it's part of you. Feels good, doesn't it?

    TJ: Word... It's all oily and whatnot.

    Matt Scudder: Turn off the safety... Now cock it... Now put it to your temple and pull the fucking trigger.

    TJ: What?

    Matt Scudder: You heard me. Shoot yourself in the head. Might as well get it over with now. Because you walk around with a gun, sooner or later, it's gonna happen anyway. No rewind. No going out for popcorn and coming back to the show. It's just you with that gun in your hand, stupid look on your face, and your hash all over the wall.

  • Ray: [on the phone] She couldn't tell me what breed the other dog was. She was young when it died. They had it put to sleep, she said. It's a silly term for it, don't you think? I mean, you're gonna kill something you ought to have the courage to say that's what you're doing. You're not talking. You still there?

    Matt Scudder: I'm here.

    Ray: I gather it was a mongrel. So many of us are.

  • Ray: [negotiating over the phone] You could grab me.

    Matt Scudder: You'll have that knife you keep talking about, a gun, too, if you want one.

    Ray: You'll see my face.

    Matt Scudder: Wear a mask.

    Ray: Cuts the visibility.

    Matt Scudder: I already know what you look like, *Ray*.

    Ray: What do you know?

    Matt Scudder: I know you're a genetic fuck-up, who if I'd met on the street 10 years ago, I'd have thrown you out of a fucking window.