The Hustler quotes

View Quote Eddie: Fat Man, you shoot a great game of pool.
Minnesota Fats: So do you, Fast Eddie.

View Quote Eddie: When I'm goin', when I'm really goin', I feel like a, like a jockey must feel when he's sittin' on his horse, he's got all that speed and that power underneath him, he's coming into the stretch, the pressure's on him - and he knows. He just feels, when to let it go and how much. 'Cause he's got everything workin' for him - timing, touch. It's a great feeling, boy - it's a real great feeling - when you're right and you know you're right. Like all of a sudden, I got oil in my arm. Pool cue's part of me. You know, it's a - pool cue, it's got nerves in it. It's a piece of wood; it's got nerves in it. You can feel the roll of those balls. You don't have to look. You just know. You make shots that nobody's ever made before. And you play that game the way nobody's ever played it before.
Sarah: You're not a loser, Eddie. You're a winner. Some men never get to feel that way about anything. I love you, Eddie.

View Quote James Findlay: [to Bert Gordon, referring to a statue of the devil] This fellow here bears a striking resemblance to you. It seems as though you might have modeled for the artist.

View Quote Eddie: Sarah, do you think I'm a loser?
Sarah: A loser?
Eddie: Yeah. I met this guy, Gordon, Bert Gordon. He said I was a born loser.
Sarah: Would he know?
Eddie: He knows a lot.
Sarah: Why did he tell you?
Eddie: I don't know, I'm not sure. He said there are people who, uh, who want to lose, who are always lookin' for an excuse to lose.
Sarah: What does he do, this Bert Gordon?
Eddie: He's a gambler.
Sarah: Is he a winner?
Eddie: He owns things.
Sarah: Is that what makes a winner?
Eddie: What else does?
Sarah: Does it bother you what he said?
Eddie: Yeah. Yeah, it bothers me a lot. Cause you see twice, Sarah, once at Ames with Minnesota Fats, and then again at Arthurs, you know, in that cheap, crummy pool room. Now why did I do it Sarah, why did I do it? I could've beat that guy, I could've beat him cold. He never would have known. But I just had to show him. Just had to show those creeps and those punks what the game is like when it's great, when it's really great. You know, like anything can be great, anything can be great. I don't care - brick-laying can be great if a guy knows. If he knows what he's doin' and why and if he can make it come off.

View Quote [to Eddie, stumbling after some drinks at the bus terminal] I'm not drunk. I'm lame.

View Quote You know, I gotta hunch, Fat Man. I've gotta hunch it's me from here-on in...I mean, did that ever happen to you? When all of a sudden, you feel like you can't miss? 'Cause I dreamed about this game, Fat Man. And I dreamed about this game every night on the road...You know, this is my table, man, I own it...

View Quote Charlie Burns: [to Eddie] We were partners. We were more than partners.

View Quote Charlie: It's quiet.
Eddie: Yeah, like a church. Church of the Good Hustler.
Charlie: It looks more like a morgue to me. Those tables are the slabs they lay the stiffs on.
Eddie: I'll be alive when I get out, Charlie.

View Quote Eddie: A big creep broke my thumbs.
Gordon: A man named Turk Baker?
Eddie: You know everybody, don't ya?
Gordon: Everybody who can hurt me. Everybody who can help me pays.
Eddie: Maybe you ought to give me lessons.
Gordon: Sign up.
Eddie: Where do I sign?

View Quote Charlie: Quit, he's too good.
Eddie: Charlie, I'm gonna take him.

View Quote Gordon: I want to talk to you.
Sarah: Do we need words?
Gordon: Yeah, I think we do. We could try to cut each other up, but that would be bad for everybody. Bad for me, bad for you. Worst of all, it would be bad for Eddie.
Sarah: You know what's good for him.
Gordon: To win.
Sarah: For whom and for what?
Gordon: For what makes the world go 'round. For money - and for glory.
Sarah: You didn't answer my first question. For whom?
Gordon: Today for me, tomorrow for himself.
Sarah: No, there's no tomorrow, not with you. You own all the tomorrows because you buy them today - and you buy cheap.
Gordon: Nobody has to sell.
Sarah: You bastard.
Gordon: Listen, Miss Lady Bird. You're here on a rain-check and I know it. You're hangin' on by your nails. You let that glory whistle blow loud and clear for Eddie, and you're a wreck on a railroad track. You're a horse that finished last. Now don't make trouble, Miss Lady Bird. Live and let live - while you can! [chuckling] I'll make it up to you.
Sarah: How?
Gordon: You tell me.

View Quote Gordon: Eddie, you're a born loser.
Eddie: What's that supposed to mean?
Gordon: First time in ten years I ever saw Minnesota Fats hooked, really hooked. But you let him off.
Eddie: I told you, I got drunk.
Gordon: Sure you got drunk, the best excuse in the world for losin'. No trouble losin' when you got a good excuse. And winning - that can be heavy on your back too, like a monkey. Drop that load too when you got an excuse. All you gotta do is learn to feel sorry for yourself. That's one of the best indoor sports, feelin' sorry for yourself. A sport enjoyed by all - especially the born loser.

View Quote [about Minnesota Fats] He is great! Geez, that old Fat Man. Look at the way he moves, like a dancer...And those fingers, them chubby fingers. And that stroke, it's like he's uh, like he's playin' a violin or somethin'.

View Quote Minnesota Fats: [After playing for 25 straight hours] Fast Eddie, let's play some pool.
Eddie: [unsteadily] You look beautiful, Fats, just like a baby, all pink and powdered up.
Charlie: What are ya tryin' to do Eddie? Beat him? You beat him bad. Do you want to kill yourself?
Eddie: What are ya, chicken, Charlie?
Charlie: Yeah, maybe that's it, I'm chicken.

View Quote Boy! Everybody, everybody wants a piece of me.