- Ray Hicks: When I left the Marines I made myself a promise. Never again am I going to be fucked around by morons. The next mother who tries to make me back off is going to have to live it out with me.
- Ray Hicks: They got my buddy, man. Now they're going to kill him and that pretty lady. How am I going to let them do that, huh? Did you see the way she walked to her fate? Nothing but class. she's the love of my life, no shit. Beats the hell out of all of them.
- John Converse: You see, in a world where elephants are pursued by flying men, people are just naturally going to want to get high.
- John Converse: I've been waiting all my life to fuck up like this.
- Bender: Well, you finally made the big time.
- Ray Hicks: When I tell you the story of my life you'll eat your heart out.
- Marge Converse: How did you turn out?
- Ray Hicks: Well, your husband once told somebody I was a psychopath.
- Marge Converse: That's the kind of thing he'd say.
- Ray Hicks: Do you think he could be right?
- Marge Converse: It's a very imprecise term.
- John Converse: [about his wife] If you really want to know, I think she's pretty moral, basically.
- Antheil: "Pretty moral, basically"? Oh, Jesus. What a couple of yo-yo's.
- John Converse: What about Danskin. He want a job with the agency, too?
- Smitty: He's a brute, man. A psycho. Dude like that, he can't deal with the public.
- Antheil: I was just reading your play. I liked a lot of it. I don't like the main character, though. This Marine. Sounds like a real jellyfish. I guess you're supposed to like him because he's against the Marine Corps. Is that it?
- John Converse: Something like that.
- Antheil: Why doesn't he *do* something? I mean, go over the hill, refuse an order. I couldn't sympathize with a character like that.
- John Converse: Not everyone did.
- Antheil: The Marine in the play, that supposed to be you?
- John Converse: No.
- Antheil: Maybe a little?
- John Converse: Maybe on some level.
- Antheil: Um-hmn. You know what I think, "on some level"? I think you're the kind of wise cocksucker that writes a tear-jerk play against the Marines and then turns around and smuggles a shitload of heroin into this country.
- Danskin: [Converse is singing] Shut up! What the hell is the matter with you?
- John Converse: I don't know. But pretty soon I'm either going to be away from you, or dead. And either way, it's fine with me.
- Danskin: You want odds?
- John Converse: On what?
- Danskin: On dead?
- John Converse: [about Vietnam] Don't they say this is where everybody finds out who they are?
- Ray Hicks: Yeah? What a bummer for the gooks.
- John Converse: Why'd you send her to Canada?
- Bender: I sent her there because her parents are criminals.
- Ray Hicks: That head guy. Who is he?
- John Converse: He's some kind of cop. He's not straight.
- Ray Hicks: No shit.
- Ray Hicks: [shouting at the mountainous horizon] Hey, John! I got it! I got it all!... You be there for me.
- Ray Hicks: [sitting in a seedy bar that appears to be populated with junkies] What a lot of shit this place is now.
- Ray Hicks: [Alex the bartender comes over] Where's the kitchen at the back of the pool tables - what the hell happened to the pool tables?
- Alex: You gotta' change with the times.
- Ray Hicks: The times are fucked. Why do I gotta' sit around looking at these poor junkies? I'd just as soon look at you out there.
- Alex: I ain't got no costume.
- Ray Hicks: You got bigger tits.
- Eddie Peace: I got to tell you, this comes as a complete surprise to me, fella. Not the sort of thing I would have expected from you, personally. But, that's the fuckin' war for you.
- Antheil: You know, our little friend in Saigon told me you were nuts... but she didn't tell me the half of it.
- John Converse: "Our little friend in Saigon"?
- Antheil: Yeah, Charmian. We go back a long way. Even a dipstick like you should have figured that out.
- Marge Converse: Why Gerald?
- Ray Hicks: Because he's a Martian! They're all Martians and I'm a loyal American who fought for my flag. Peace was fucking with me and I don't take shit from Martians.
- Ray Hicks: [cleaning up his vandalized shack] Could've been worse. Could've been a body in this sleeping bag. The big ones eat the little ones up here. Welcome to L.A.
- John Converse: [as Danskin retches with exhaustion] You okay?
- Danskin: I could beat you to death, you know that?
- John Converse: Absolutely!
- John Converse: [realizing his wife is a drug addict] When did you start?
- Marge Converse: It's *your* wonderful smack.
- Charmian: What are you going to do with your money, Johnny? Such a dedicated non-swinger as you are.
- John Converse: I don't know.
- Charmian: [teasingly laughing] Shit, you don't know, do you? You just know you want it, right?
- John Converse: [emoting] "I desire to serve God and to grow rich like all men."
- Charmian: Who said that?
- John Converse: Oh, I don't know. Some great hustler of the past.
- Marge Converse: Why did you carry for John?
- Ray Hicks: Because he asked me to. I don't always have to have a reason for the shit I do.
- Danskin: Let me tell you how it is, John. I was humiliated in front of your wife. Your friend Raymond chained me to a toilet. The bastard thought it was funny.
- Antheil: You know what I think, on some level? I think you're the kinda' wise cocksucker that writes a tear-jerk play against the Marines and then smuggles a shitload of heroin into this country.
- John Converse: I deny that. And no more literary conversation until I call my lawyer.
- Antheil: You mean Ben Odell? No Commie lawyer's gonna' help you now.
- Ray Hicks: In Vietnam I had men that were dead the day they hit that place. In the morning they were in Hawaii, in the afternoon they were dead.
- Marge Converse: Oh, he's really in bad shape. You know, he can't even roll a joint. I mean, he never cared about money. He must have just flipped out over there.
- Ray Hicks: He's not the only one.
- Ray Hicks: You got a good place to stash this?
- Marge Converse: What is it?
- Ray Hicks: It's smack. It's two keys that's never been cut. I'm carrying it for John. That's why you owe me money.
- Marge Converse: What am I supposed to do with it? I work in a bookstore, for Christ's sake.
- Marge Converse: We could still make a deal!
- Ray Hicks: Who's "we"? They know what fuck-ups we are. They've got their pride. I don't think we could pull it off.
- Marge Converse: Well, I think they're fuck-ups, too!
- Ray Hicks: They're animals. You can't make a deal with animals!
- Marge Converse: What's it say?
- Ray Hicks: [reading from a book] "In danger, all that counts is going forward."
- Marge Converse: Hmm, what else?
- Ray Hicks: "By growing used to danger a man can allow it to become part of him. He grows used to evil."
- Ray Hicks: Do you remember last night?
- Marge Converse: I remember everything with absolute clarity since you walked in on me. Not one funny little thing slips by me. Do you believe me?
- Ray Hicks: What can I do? I gotta believe you.
- Eddie Peace: You nickel and dime asshole. Don't you dare threaten me with violence. You're way out of your league here, Jack. You're not selling grass to college girls down here.
- Marge Converse: What was he like?
- Ray Hicks: In some ways he was beautiful. In some ways he had his head up his ass.