Quotes

Travis Bickle: Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man.

Travis Bickle: Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is a man who stood up.

Travis Bickle: I realize now how much she's just like the others, cold and distant, and many people are like that, women for sure, they're like a union.

Travis Bickle: All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets. I go all over. I take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn, I take 'em to Harlem. I don't care. Don't make no difference to me. It does to some. Some won't even take spooks. Don't make no difference to me.

Travis Bickle: June twenty-ninth. I gotta get in shape. Too much sitting has ruined my body. Too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on there will be 50 pushups each morning, 50 pullups. There will be no more pills, no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body. From now on will be total organization. Every muscle must be tight.

Travis Bickle: Thank God for the rain to wash the trash off the sidewalk.

Personnel Officer: Wanna work uptown at nights? South Bronx? Harlem?

Travis Bickle: I'll work anytime, anywhere.

Personnel Officer: Will you work on Jewish holidays?

Travis Bickle: Anytime, anywhere.

Wizard: You get a job. You become the job.

Betsy: You know what you remind me of?

Travis Bickle: What?

Betsy: That song by Kris Kristofferson.

Travis Bickle: Who's that?

Betsy: A songwriter. 'He's a prophet... he's a prophet and a pusher, partly truth, partly fiction. A walking contradiction.'

Travis Bickle: [uneasily] You sayin' that about me?

Betsy: Who else would I be talkin' about?

Travis Bickle: I'm no pusher. I never have pushed.

Betsy: No, no. Just the part about the contradictions. You are that.

Travis Bickle: The days go on and on... they don't end. All my life needed was a sense of someplace to go. I don't believe that one should devote his life to morbid self-attention, I believe that one should become a person like other people.

Travis Bickle: The idea had been growing in my brain for some time: TRUE force. All the king's men cannot put it back together again.

Wizard: Look at it this way. A man takes a job, you know? And that job - I mean, like that - That becomes what he is. You know, like - You do a thing and that's what you are. Like I've been a cabbie for thirteen years. Ten years at night. I still don't own my own cab. You know why? Because I don't want to. That must be what I want. To be on the night shift drivin' somebody else's cab. You understand? I mean, you become - You get a job, you become the job. One guy lives in Brooklyn. One guy lives in Sutton Place. You got a lawyer. Another guy's a doctor. Another guy dies. Another guy gets well. People are born, y'know? I envy you, your youth. Go on, get laid, get drunk. Do anything. You got no choice, anyway. I mean, we're all fucked. More or less, ya know.

Travis Bickle: I don't know. That's about the dumbest thing I ever heard.

Wizard: It's not Bertrand Russell. But what do you want? I'm a cabbie. What do I know? I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about.

Travis Bickle: Maybe I don't know either.

Personnel Officer: How's your driving record? Clean?

Travis Bickle: It's clean, real clean. Like my conscience.

Travis Bickle: Hello Betsy. Hi, it's Travis. How ya doin'? Listen, uh, I'm, I'm sorry about the, the other night. I didn't know that was the way you felt about it. Well, I-I didn't know that was the way you felt. I-I-I would have taken ya somewhere else. Uh, are you feeling better or oh you maybe had a virus or somethin', a 24-hour virus you know. It happens. Yeah, umm, you uh, you're workin' hard. Yeah. Uh, would you like to have, uh, some dinner, uh with me in the next, you know, few days or somethin'? Well, how about just a cup of coffee? I'll come by the, uh, headquarters or somethin', we could, uh... Oh, OK, OK. Did you get my flowers in the...? You didn't get them. I sent some flowers, uh... Yeah, well, OK, OK. Can I call you again? Uh, tomorrow or the next day? OK. No, I'm gonna... OK. Yeah, sure, OK. So long.

Travis Bickle: Let me tell you something. You're in a hell, and you're gonna die in a hell, just like the rest of 'em!

Sport: You're a funny guy - but looks aren't everything.

Sport: Well, take it or leave it. If you want to save yourself some money, don't fuck her. Cause you'll be back here every night for some more. Man, she's twelve and a half years old. You never had no pussy like that. You can do anything you want with her. You can cum on her, fuck her in the mouth, fuck her in the ass, cum on her face, man. She get your cock so hard she'll make it explode. But no rough stuff, all right?

Travis Bickle: May 10th. Thank God for the rain which has helped wash away the garbage and trash off the sidewalks. I'm workin' long hours now, six in the afternoon to six in the morning. Sometimes even eight in the morning, six days a week. Sometimes seven days a week. It's a long hustle but it keeps me real busy. I can take in three, three fifty a week. Sometimes even more when I do it off the meter. All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets. I go all over. I take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn, I take 'em to Harlem. I don't care. Don't make no difference to me. It does to some. Some won't even take spooks. Don't make no difference to me.

Wizard: In the middle of the bridge she changes her pantyhose.

Personnel Officer: So what is it? Why do you want to be a taxi driver? Do you need a second job? Are you moonlighting?

Travis Bickle: I... I just want to work long hours. What's moonlighting?

Travis Bickle: How's everything in the pimp business?

Wizard: Hey Travis, this here's Doughboy. We call him that 'cause he'll do anything for a buck.

Doughboy: Hi Travis. Got change of a nickel?

Travis Bickle: You got a .44 magnum?

Andy, Gun Salesman: It's an expensive weapon.

Travis Bickle: That's all right. I got money.

Andy, Gun Salesman: It's a real monster. It'll stop a car at a hundred yards. Put a round right through the engine block.

Street drummer: Now back to Gene Krupa's syncopated style

Senator Charles Palantine: I think I know what you mean, Travis.

Travis Bickle: I first saw her at Palantine Campaign headquarters at 63rd and Broadway. She was wearing a white dress. She appeared like an angel. Out of this filthy mess, she is alone. They... cannot... touch... her.

Travis Bickle: Dear Father and Mother: July is the month I remember which brings not only your wedding anniversary but also Father's Day and Mother's birthday. I'm sorry I can't remember the exact dates, but I hope this card will take care of them all. I'm sorry again I cannot send you my address like I promised to last year. But the sensitive nature of my work for the government demands utmost secrecy. I know you will understand. I am healthy and well and making lots of money. I have been going with a girl for several months and I know you would be proud if you could see her. Her name is Betsy but I can tell you no more than that... I hope this card finds you all well as it does me. I hope no one has died. Don't worry about me. One day, they'll be a knock on the door and it'll be me. Love Travis.

Travis Bickle: You're a young girl, you should be at home. You should be dressed up, going out with boys, going to school, you know, that kind of stuff.

Passenger: [to Travis] You see that window with the light? The one closet to the edge of the building? you know who lives there? Of course you don't know who lives there, but I'm saying "Do you know who lives there?" A Nigger lives there, and that isn't my apartment. My wife is in there and... I'm gonna kill her.

[laughs]

Passenger: I'm gonna kill her with a .44 Magnum.

Travis Bickle: Twelve hours of work and I still can't sleep. Damn. Days go on and on. They don't end.

Travis Bickle: May 26th. Four o'clock p.m. I took Betsy to Charles Coffee Shop on Columbus Circle. I had black coffee and apple pie with a slice of melted yellow cheese. I think that was a good selection. Betsy had coffee and a fruit salad dish. She could have had anything she wanted.

Charlie T: My man is loaded.

Travis Bickle: June 29th. I gotta get in shape now. Too much sittin' is ruinin' my body. Too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on, it will be fifty push-ups each morning, fifty pull-ups. There'll be no more pills, there'll be no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body. From now on, it will be total organization. Every muscle must be tight.

Travis Bickle: Dear Iris: This money should be used for your trip. By the time you read this, I will be dead. Travis.

Senator Charles Palantine: We meet at a crossroads in history. No longer will the wrong roads be taken.

Travis Bickle: Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man. June 8th. My life has taken another turn again. The days can go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next. A long continuous chain. Then suddenly, there is a change.