- Julien Tavernier: Don't sneer at war. It's your bread and butter. Indochina netted you how much? And now Algeria. Have some respect for war. It's your family heirloom.
- Commissaire de police: Anything's good for an alibi. Wives, girlfriends, bartenders, childhood friends, deceived husbands - but not an elevator. That's ridiculous. It's totally harebrained.
- Julien Tavernier: Without your voice, I'd be lost in a land of silence.
- Florence Carala: That's not very daring.
- Julien Tavernier: Love isn't daring.
- Horst Bencker: We Germans don't like war.
- Louis: Yeah, right!
- Horst Bencker: You're just like the older generation of Frenchmen. We're just traveling businessmen. And a uniform for traveling tends to stand out.
- [first lines]
- Florence Carala: I'm the one who can't take anymore. I love you. I love you. So we have to. I love you.
- Simon Carala: I needed a hero in my business.
- Julien Tavernier: A retired hero.
- Simon Carala: This kind of work doesn't call for ragpickers but for angels. A paratrooper is a good angel.
- Florence Carala: [inner voice] I lost you in the night, Julien. I should have left you alone. I shouldn't have kissed you or caressed your face.
- Simon Carala: Honestly, my dear Tavernier, you often keep me waiting. During the Indochina War, it didn't matter. What was one defeat more or less? But now you're in big business. This isn't a dream.
- Véronique: What's crazy is to imagine incredible things. And I really mean something terrific. And it is terrific.
- Horst Bencker: Ah! My favorite champagne. We didn't have this brand during the occupation.
- Véronique: He doesn't like champagne.
- Horst Bencker: How sad. Had I known you can't stand champagne...
- Louis: It does nothing for me. My generation has other things on its mind. Four years of occupation, Indochina, Algeria.
- Horst Bencker: Bravo! Bravo! To Europe!
- Véronique: To Europe!
- Frieda Bencker: To Europe!
- Florence Carala: [inner voice] Julien with that girl? Why? Yes, I recognized the flower shop girl. I can't believe it. That would be so shabby.
- Christian Subervie: You can't rely on that Julien. We met in Algiers.
- Florence Carala: You were an officer?
- Christian Subervie: Ah, no. I was in the refrigerator business. He must be with a broad. He's neglected all his pals.