Ava Gardner: ...You can't buy me, Howard, so stop trying. Don't buy me any more diamonds or sapphires or any other damn thing. You can buy me dinner...
Jack Frye: You want me to bribe senators? Howard Hughes: I don't want them bribed, Jack. I want this done legal. I want them *bought*.
Howard Hughes: [repeating over and over again] Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints...
Noah Dietrich: You've just placed the largest order for aircraft in the history of the United States, Howard! I've got a bill here from Lockheed-Martin for forty million dollars! Do you think I've got that just sitting around in petty cash?
Noah Dietrich: I've gotta tell you, the board over in Houston has been getting a little concerned about the cost of this operation out here. Howard Hughes: [grimacing] Ah! Would you stop showing them the books, Noah? Noah Dietrich: That's illegal How...
Katharine Hepburn: Let me take the wheel.
[Howard takes Kate to the Cocoanut Grove] Katharine Hepburn: Your kind of a joint, is it? Wouldn't have thought. Howard Hughes: Yeah, well, they're open late. I go to a hot dog stand on La Cienega, too; they're open 'til around 4. Katharine Hepburn: ...
Howard Hughes: You're the tallest woman I have ever met. Katharine Hepburn: And all sharp elbows and knees. Beware.
Howard Hughes: Little Howard likes citrus.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: [about Hughes] Well, we have a long list of particulars. Chief among them is that he defrauded the American government of $56 million while we were at war, when we could least afford it. While brave men were dying on the bea...
Ava Gardner: [infuriated to learn that Hughes was tapping her phone lines to keep an eye on her] What do you wanna know, Howard? Was I screwing Artie Shaw last night? Was I screwing Sinatra the night before? You bet! Everyone told me you were a godda...
Howard Hughes: Thats just what we do in my buisness.
Howard Hughes: I read in the magazines that you play golf. Katharine Hepburn: On occasion... Howard Hughes: How 'bout nine holes? Katharine Hepburn: *Now*, Mr. Hughes?
James McNamara: Well, it certainly looks at this moment that Howard Hughes will be around the United States for quite some time to come.
