Penny Wharvey McGill: Vernon here's got a job. Vernon's got prospects. He's bona fide. What are you?
Don't be afraid to make an ass of yourself. I do it all the time, and look what I got." (Spoken at a graduation ceremony while holding aloft an honorary doctoral degree from McGill University)
One of the defense mechanisms I have for the difficulties in the business, one of which is rejection, is that if I do the work, I go in, and I'm prepared and I audition and they don't hire me, I'm always just amazed, thinking, 'Wow! For that money, t...
Ulysses Everett McGill: I am the only daddy you got! I'm the damn paterfamilias! Wharvey Gal: But you ain't bona fide!
Ulysses Everett McGill: I'm not sure that's Pete. Delmar O'Donnell: Of course it's Pete! Look at him!... We gotta find some kind of wizard to change him back.
[first lines] Ulysses Everett McGill: Say, any of you boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straitened circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wanderin'?
Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, as soon as we get ourselves cleaned up and we get a little smellum in our hair, why, we're gonna feel 100% better about ourselves and about life in general.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, I guess hard times flush the chump. Everybody's lookin' for answers... Where the hell's he goin'? [as Delmar runs out to be baptized] Pete: Well, I'll be a son of a bitch. Delmar's been saved!
Big Dan Teague: Thank you boys for throwin' in that fricassee. I'm a man of large appetite, and even with lunch under my belt, I was feelin' a mite peckish. Ulysses Everett McGill: It's our pleasure, Big Dan.
Ulysses Everett McGill: What'd the devil give you for your soul, Tommy? Tommy Johnson: Well, he taught me to play this here guitar real good. Delmar O'Donnell: Oh son, for that you sold your everlasting soul? Tommy Johnson: Well, I wasn't usin' it.
Tommy Johnson: I had to be up at that there crossroads last midnight, to sell my soul to the devil. Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, ain't it a small world, spiritually speaking. Pete and Delmar just been baptized and saved. I guess I'm the only one tha...
Ulysses Everett McGill: Say, uh, Cousin Wash, I suppose it'd be the acme of foolishness to inquire if you had a hair net. Washington Hogwallop: Got a bunch in yon bureau, Mrs. Hogwallop's as a matter of fact [sniff] Washington Hogwallop: . Help y'sel...
Delmar O'Donnell: You work for the railroad, Grampa? Blind Seer: I work for no man. Delmar O'Donnell: Got a name, do you? Blind Seer: I have no name. Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, that right there may be the reason you've had difficulty findin' gainf...
Ulysses Everett McGill: Pete's cousin turned us in for the bounty. Pete: The hell you say! Wash is kin! Washington Hogwallop: Sorry, Pete, I know we're kin, but they got this depression on. I got to do for me and mine. Pete: I'm gonna kill you, Judas...
Delmar O'Donnell: Care for some gopher? Ulysses Everett McGill: No thank you, Delmar. A third of a gopher would only arouse my appetite without beddin' 'er back down. Delmar O'Donnell: Oh, you can have the whole thing. Me and Pete already had one api...
Pete: I've always wondered, what's the devil look like? Ulysses Everett McGill: Well, there are all manner of lesser imps and demons, Pete, but the great Satan hisself is red and scaly with a bifurcated tail, and he carries a hay fork. Tommy Johnson:...
Pappy O'Daniel: And furthermore, by way of endorsing my candidacy, the Soggy Bottom Boys are gonna lead us all in a rousing chorus of "You Are My Sunshine." [Applause. Pappy turns away from the mike, towards Everett] Pappy O'Daniel: [no-nonsense] Ain...
Pete: Crazy! No one's ever gonna believe we're a real band. Ulysses Everett McGill: No, it's gonna work. I just gotta get close enough to talk to her. Takin' off with us has got more future than marryin' a guy named Waldrip. I'm Goddamned bona fide! ...
Washington Hogwallop: Mrs. Hogwallop up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T. Ulysses Everett McGill: She musta been lookin' for answers. Washington Hogwallop: Possibly. Good riddance as far as I'm concerned. I do miss her cookin' though. Delmar O'Donnell: This stew's ...
Pappy O'Daniel: Sounded to me like he was harboring a hateful grudge against the Soggy Bottom Boys on account of their rough and rowdy past. Looks like Homer Stokes is the kind of fellow who wants to cast the first stone. [boos] Pappy O'Daniel: Well,...
Pete: Well hell, it ain't square one! Ain't nobody gonna pick up three filthy, unshaved hitch-hikers, and one of them a know-it-all that can't keep his trap shut. Ulysses Everett McGill: Pete, the personal rancor reflected in that remark I don't inte...