Memorable quotes for
The Shootist (1976) More at IMDbPro »

John Bernard Books: Damn.
Bond Rogers: John Bernard, you swear too much.
John Bernard Books: The hell I do.

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[Books has just had a confrontation with Mike Sweeney]
Mrs. Rogers: Do you know that man?
John Bernard Books: Not him personally; but I had some dealings with his brother, Albert.
Mrs. Rogers: What kind of dealings?
[Books looks at her]
Mrs. Rogers: Oh.

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John Bernard Books: I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.

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Pulford confidante: Hey, Pulford. Did you hear John Bernard Books is stayin' out at Mrs. Rogers' boarding house? I heard Thibodo say he was dyin'!
Jack Pulford: Yes, so I heard. Shame; he was a man I could have taken.
Dearden: Bullshit.
Jack Pulford: My friend, you have two ways to leave this establishment; immediately or dead.

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Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: Books, I want you out of town. These are law-abiding people here and I don't want any trouble. I can deputize as many men as I need to see that you leave.
John Bernard Books: I'm not going anywhere, Marshal. I'm dying and I intend to die right here.
Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: Really? You're really dyin'?
John Bernard Books: Ask Doc Hostetler.
Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: Hot damn! You know, Books, that's the best news I've had all day. While I was walking over here I was thinking, what if Books decides to kill me? Who will take over as marshal? Will the town council pay my pension to my wife? Damn, that's good news.

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Dr. E.W. Hostetler: Books, every few days I have to tell a man or a woman something I don't want to. I've been practicing medicine for 29 years, and I still don't know how to do it well.
John Bernard Books: Why don't you just say it flat out?
Dr. E.W. Hostetler: All right. You have a cancer - advanced. Is that what that fella up in Creed told you?
John Bernard Books: Yeah.
Dr. E.W. Hostetler: And you didn't believe him.
John Bernard Books: No.
Dr. E.W. Hostetler: Do you believe me?
John Bernard Books: Can't you cut it out, Doc?
Dr. E.W. Hostetler: I'd have to gut you like a fish.
John Bernard Books: Well, what *can* you do?
Dr. E.W. Hostetler: There's... just, uh... very little I can do. Uh, if... when the pain gets too bad, I can give you something.
John Bernard Books: What you're trying to tell me is that I...
Dr. E.W. Hostetler: Yeah.
John Bernard Books: Damn.

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Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: Hey, Books; did you hear what happened at the Metropole last night? Faro dealer, Pulford, shot a man clean through the heart at eighty paces. Maybe you should go to the Metropole, let Pulford deal you a game of cards.

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Dr. E.W. Hostetler: You know, Books; I'm not an especially brave man. But, if I were you and had lived my entire life the way you have, I don't think that the death I just described to you is not the one I would choose.

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Gillom Rogers: [Books is giving Gillom gunfighting lessons] Mr. Books, my grouping of shots was tighter than yours. How is it you've killed so many men?
John Bernard Books: First thing is, that target wasn't shooting back at you. Second, most men at that last second will flinch; I won't.

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Pulford confidante: Pulford, J.B. Books is over at The Rogers' House. That was yesterday's news.
Jack Pulford: That was yesterday's news.
Pulford confidante: But I just heard he's dying
Jack Pulford: Dying?
Pulford confidante: Old Books is cashing in.
Jack Pulford: That's hard news. He's the man I could've taken.
Gambler: [Laughs] My ass.
Jack Pulford: You have two ways of leaving this establishment, my friend. Immediately or dead.

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Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: How are you feeling? A little more poorly everyday?
John Bernard Books: You have a streak of kindness a mile wide.
Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: That I do.

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John Bernard Books: I'm a dying man, scared of the dark.
Mrs. Rogers: Damn you! Damn you for the pain you brought into this house.

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Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: To put it in a nutshell, you've plum wore us out.
John Bernard Books: Put it in a nutshell? You couldn't put it in a barrel without a bottom. You're the longest winded bastard I've ever known.

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John Bernard Books: Mike Sweeney?
Mike Sweeney: John Bernard Books, now I'm flattered that you remembered me.
John Bernard Books: Well, you look just how I remembered the Sweeneys - mean and ugly.

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Gillom Rogers: Bat Masterson told Cobb...
John Bernard Books: [Interrupts] Bat Masterson?
Gillom Rogers: Yeah, he said that a man has to have guts, and be good with guns.
John Bernard Books: Did he mention that third eye you better have?
Gillom Rogers: Third eye?
John Bernard Books: For that dumbass amateur. There's always some six-fingered bustard that couldn't hit a cow in the tit with a tin cup.

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Mike Sweeney: [after shooting Books] I'll tell you, that was for Albert!

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John Bernard Books: [after Gillom tells him that Pulford and Cobb will be at the Metropole the next day] What about the other one, Mike Sweeney?
Gillom Rogers: Now you watch out for him, Mr. Books. He's mean, and he hates you.
John Bernard Books: Well, we'll see if we can't clear that up tomorrow.

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Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: You wouldn't gun down a police officer.
John Bernard Books: What'd stop me? Fear of dying?

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Carson City Marshal Walter Thibido: The day they lay you away, what I'll do on your grave won't pass for flowers.

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John Bernard Books: Bond, I don't believe I ever killed a man that didn't deserve it.
Bond Rogers: Surely only the Lord can judge that.

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John Bernard Books: [addressing the barman after entering the bar where his last gunfight will take place] Mister, this is my birthday. Gimme the best in the house.

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