Matthew Scudder quotes from A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)

View Quote [repeated line] I stopped drinking that day. It just wasn't as fun after that.

View Quote Whoever it was who took your wife, didn't just pick your name out of a hat. They'd been following her, know her schedule. They've done this before and they're going to do this again.

View Quote You want your money, or do you want to be looking behind you for the rest of your worthless **** life?

View Quote Kenny Kristo: So you're a private detective, is that right?
Matthew Scudder: Unlicensed.
Kenny Kristo: What's that mean?
Matthew Scudder: It means that sometimes I do favors for people and sometimes in return, they give me gifts.

View Quote Kenny Kristo: [on Scudder's police career] Nah, the corruption got to you, huh?
Matthew Scudder: Not really. It would have been hard to support my family without it.

View Quote Matthew Scudder: So what? You gonna stab me now with that big **** knife?
Jonas Loogen: It's gonna bother me too, for a long time. I know it will.
Matthew Scudder: How much is it gonna bother you if I take that knife away and stick it in your neck?

View Quote Jonas Loogen: What was it I said gave me away?
Matthew Scudder: Everything. You're a weirdo, Jonas.

View Quote [TJ has brought a gun]
Matthew Scudder: Point it at me, like you're gonna shoot me. Go ahead. Come on. [TJ does so] That the way you hold a gun?
TJ: That's the way I hold it, yeah.
Matthew Scudder: You know how to jack the clip? Empty it? Clean it?
[Scudder takes the gun and empties the clip]
Matthew Scudder: But the gun's still not empty. You know that, right? You know there's still a round left in the chamber here? Now put it back together.
[TJ does so]
Matthew Scudder: Caress it. Rub it. Like it's part of you. Feels good, doesn't it?
TJ: Word! It's all oily and whatnot.
Matthew Scudder: Turn off the safety. Now **** it. Now put it to your temple and pull the **** trigger.
TJ: What?
Matthew Scudder: You heard me. Shoot yourself in the head. Might as well get it over with now. Because you walk around with a gun, sooner or later it's gonna happen anyway. No rewind, no going out for popcorn and coming back to the show. It's just you with that gun in your hand, stupid look on your face, and your hash all over the wall. Take it easy now, TJ.

View Quote Ray: The dog's name is Watson.
Matthew Scudder: Watson. And the other dog? The one before?
Ray: She couldn't tell me what breed the other dog was. She was young when it died. They had it put to sleep, she said. It's a silly term for it, don't you think? I mean, you're gonna kill something you ought to have the courage to say that that's what you're doing. [beat] You're not talking, you still there?
Matthew Scudder: I'm here.
Ray: I gather it was a mongrel. So many of us are.

View Quote Matthew Scudder: I already know what you look like, Ray.
Ray: [beat] What do you know?
Matthew Scudder: I know you're a genetic ****-up, who, if I'd met on the street 10 years ago, I'd have thrown you out of a **** window.

View Quote Ray: What the **** is the matter with you, man? Why aren't you afraid?
Matthew Scudder: I don't know. Maybe I don't care if you shoot me or not. Or maybe there's a high-powered rifle pointed at your head.
Ray: I could still kill you.
Matthew Scudder: I'm right here. In some ways you'd be doing me a big favor.
Ray: Nah... I think I'll just fade into the shadows.