- [first lines]
- John Rosow: I could lie there forever. But the phone rang.
- [ringing]
- John Rosow: Hello?
- [still ringing]
- Miss Charley: Any other questions?
- John Rosow: Yeah, what makes this Drexler Hewitt think I'll tail this guy without any more information?
- Miss Charley: [throws envelop at him] Good day, Mr. Rosow.
- John Rosow: [finding money in envelop] So far, I guess...
- Hero Furillo: [letting him into his car trunk] I hope you can breath in there.
- John Rosow: Oh, I've had apartments in New York smaller than this.
- Limo Driver: Thank you, boss.
- John Rosow: Oh, you are most welcome. And please stop calling me boss, I am not Bruce Springsteen.
- Gus Papitos: You seem upset, John. What are you thinking, thinking you wanna come over here and hit me?
- John Rosow: No, I'm just trying to remember what I ever saw in you.
- John Rosow: You wake up one day and you're an adult. And all the people you were just dreaming about have gone and changed. So you shake the sleep-dust from your eyes and you say, was it really so long ago that you and I sat together having fun? No, not so long ago. But life goes by in the blink of an eye. Sobriety after all this time isn't all as bitter as I thought it would be. Recently, for a second or two I almost felt like things were okay with the world. Strange to feel that way, when you know there are wars everywhere, everything's going to hell in a hand basket. But still I must admit, for a moment, I felt some kind of peace.
- John Rosow: I told her she could be my secretary, once I got a few more assignments. But she said she didn't mix business with pleasure. I promised her I was no pleasure. Yuk, yuk, yuk.
- [last lines]
- John Rosow: I don't really mind living like this. Quiet, not much to say. But, sometimes, every once in a while, I remember back to when I had you.