Mattie Ross: I'm here to take you back to Fort Smith and hang you. Tom Chaney: And I think I will not go, now how do you like that?
Tom Chaney: Everything happens to me. Now I'm shot by a child.
[the other outlaws have left, Mattie heats water on the fire] Tom Chaney: What are you doin'? Mattie Ross: I'm getting some water so I can wash my hands. Tom Chaney: A liitle smut won't hurt you. Mattie Ross: That's true - or else you and your chums ...
Rooster Cogburn: Damn that Texan - when you need him, he's dead. LaBoeuf: I ain't dead yet, you bushwhacker. Hang on.
Mattie Ross: Do you need a good lawyer? Ned Pepper: I need a good judge!
Mattie Ross: Now I know you can drink whiskey and I saw you kill a rat, but all the rest has been talk. I'm not paying for talk. I can get all the talk I need at the Monarch Boarding House. Rooster Cogburn: I ought to paddle your rump! Mattie Ross: I...
Goudy: [cross-examining Rooster] How many men have you shot since you became a marshal, Mr. Cogburn? Rooster Cogburn: I never shot nobody I didn't have to. Goudy: That was not the question. How many? Rooster Cogburn: Uh... shot or killed? Goudy: Oh, ...
Mattie Ross: [watching Rooster load his revolver] Why do you keep that one chamber empty? Rooster Cogburn: So I won't shoot my foot off.
[LaBoeuf sits down for supper at the Monarch Boarding House] Monarch boarder: Watch out for the chicken and dumplings. They'll hurt your eyes. LaBoeuf: How's that? Monarch boarder: They'll hurt your eyes lookin' for the chicken. [he and other boarder...
[Mattie prepares to go back to the Monarch Boarding House; Rooster is too drunk to escort her] Mattie Ross: I'll walk over there by myself. Rooster Cogburn: You scared of the dark? Mattie Ross: I've never been scared of the dark. Rooster Cogburn: Wel...
[Mattie is arguing with Col. Stonehill] Col. G. Stonehill: I'll take it up with my attorney. Mattie Ross: And I will take it up with mine - Lawyer Daggett. And he will make money and I will make money and your lawyer will make money... and you, Mr. L...
[Col. Stonehill is frustrated at Mattie's bargaining] Col. G. Stonehill: I will pay a total of two hundred dollars to your father's estate when I have in my hand a letter absolving me of all liability from the beginning of the world to date!
Mattie Ross: Now I'm sure you'll find a buyer for those ponies very soon. Col. G. Stonehill: I have a tentative offer of ten dollars a head from the soapworks at Little Rock. Mattie Ross: It seems such a shame to render such spirited horseflesh into ...
Mattie Ross: Do you know a Marshal Rooster Cogburn? Col. G. Stonehill: Most people around here have heard of Rooster Cogburn and some people live to regret it. I would not be surprised to learn that he's a relative of yours.
[Mattie returns later to buy a pony from Col. Stonehill] Col. G. Stonehill: Do you entertain plans of ever leaving this city? Mattie Ross: Yes, I'm off early tomorrow morning for the Indian nation. Marshal Rooster Cogburn and I are going after the mu...
[Mattie comes to get Rooster and finds him talking with LaBoeuf] Mattie Ross: This man wants to take Chaney back to Texas. That's not what I want. Rooster Cogburn: He wants him caught and punished - so do you. Mattie Ross: I want Tom Chaney to hang f...
[Mattie is frustrated with Rooster possibly throwing in with LaBoeuf] Mattie Ross: Give me my $25 back. Hand it over! Rooster Cogburn: I spent it. Mattie Ross: You sorry piece of trash! Rooster Cogburn: I'll get it for you. I'll send it to you. Matti...
[Rooster and LaBoeuf are on the ferry; Mattie comes over to get on board] LaBoeuf: You're not gettin' on this ferry. Mattie Ross: This is open to the public. I paid my ten cents for horse and rider. LaBoeuf: Red, take this girl into town to the sheri...