Hannibal Lecter: Well, Clarice - have the lambs stopped screaming?
Hannibal Lecter: A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
[last lines] Hannibal Lecter: [on telephone] I do wish we could chat longer, but... I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye. Clarice Starling: Dr. Lecter?... Dr. Lecter?... Dr. Lecter?... Dr. Lecter?...
Hannibal Lecter: You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition's given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one genera...
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told. Catherine Martin: Mister... my family will pay cash. Whatever ransom you're askin' for, they pay it. Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin ...
Jack Crawford: Believe me, you don't want Hannibal Lecter inside your head.
Hannibal Lecter: First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek? Clarice Starling: He kills women... Hannibal Lecter: No. That is...
Clarice Starling: Where are you, Dr. Lecter? Hannibal Lecter: I've no plans to call on you, Clarice. The world is more interesting with you in it.
Hannibal Lecter: People will say we're in love.
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: [to a mirror] Would you fuck me? I'd fuck me. I'd fuck me hard. I'd fuck me so hard.
Hannibal Lecter: Tell me, Senator: did you nurse Catherine yourself? Senator Ruth Martin: What? Hannibal Lecter: Did you breast-feed her? Paul Krendler: Now wait a minute... Senator Ruth Martin: Yes, I did. Hannibal Lecter: Toughened your nipples, di...
Hannibal Lecter: Why do you think he removes their skins, Agent Starling? [sarcastically] Hannibal Lecter: Enthrall me with your acumen. Clarice Starling: It excites him. Most serial killers keep some sort of trophies from their victims. Hannibal Lec...
Clarice Starling: Did you do all these drawings, Doctor? Hannibal Lecter: Ah. That is the Duomo seen from the Belvedere. Do you know Florence? Clarice Starling: All that detail just from memory, sir? Hannibal Lecter: Memory, Agent Starling, is what I...
Clarice Starling: [Hannibal Lecter has escaped] He won't come after me. Ardelia Mapp: Oh really? Clarice Starling: He won't. I can't explain it... He - he would consider that rude.
Hannibal Lecter: Look for severe childhood disturbances associated with violence. Our Billy wasn't born a criminal, Clarice. He was made one through years of systematic abuse. Billy hates his own identity, you see, and he thinks that makes him a tran...
Hannibal Lecter: You're very frank, Clarice. I think it would be quite something to know you in private life.
Jack Crawford: Starling, when I told that sheriff we shouldn't talk in front of a woman, that really burned you, didn't it? It was just smoke, Starling. I had to get rid of him. Clarice Starling: It matters, Mr Crawford. Cops look at you to see how t...
Hannibal Lecter: "Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center." Sounds charming. Clarice Starling: That's only a part of the island. There's a very, very nice beach. Terns nest there. There's beautiful... Hannibal Lecter: [cuts her off] Terns? Mmh. If...
