“Goodfellas” is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese.
The movie is known for its powerful dialogue, which is filled with memorable quotes.
The characteristics of “Goodfellas” quotes can be described as follows:
- Wit and Humor: Many quotes in “Goodfellas” are infused with dark humor and sharp wit. The characters often use clever wordplay and sarcasm to express their thoughts and feelings. This humor serves as a contrast to the violent and intense nature of the film.
Example: “Funny how? I mean, funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you?” – Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci)
- Authenticity and Realism: The dialogue in “Goodfellas” is known for its authenticity and realism. The film’s screenplay was based on Nicholas Pileggi’s book “Wiseguy,” which detailed the life of Henry Hill, a former mobster. The quotes reflect the language and mannerisms of the characters, giving the film an authentic feel.
Example: “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” – Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)
- Profanity and Raw Language: The characters in “Goodfellas” are involved in organized crime, and their dialogue often reflects their rough and unfiltered personalities. The use of profanity and raw language is prevalent throughout the film, adding to its gritty and realistic portrayal of the criminal underworld.
Example: “Go home and get your f***ing shine box!” – Billy Batts (Frank Vincent)
- Insight into the Characters: The quotes in “Goodfellas” offer valuable insights into the characters’ personalities, motivations, and perspectives. Through their words, we get a glimpse into the complex dynamics of their relationships and the moral ambiguities they navigate.
Example: “All the guys who thought they were going to be bosses ended up in the witness protection program. The guys who were in the witness protection program ended up here.” – Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)
- Memorable One-Liners: “Goodfellas” is filled with memorable one-liners that have become iconic in popular culture. These quotes often encapsulate key moments or themes from the film, and they have been widely referenced and celebrated over the years.
Example: “I’m funny how, I mean funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I’m here to f***in’ amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?” – Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci)
Overall, the characteristics of “Goodfellas” quotes include wit, authenticity, profanity, insight into characters, and memorable one-liners.
They contribute to the film’s enduring popularity and cultural impact.
Goodfellas Quotes
Here are some quotes from the movie “Goodfellas”:
- “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” – Henry Hill
- “Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.” – Jimmy Conway
- “Funny how? I mean, funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you?” – Tommy DeVito
- “For us to live any other way was f**ing* nuts.” – Henry Hill
- “You gotta keep your mouth shut. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” – Jimmy Conway
- “The guy who invented the wheel, he was an effing genius. The guy who invented the other three, he was a bloody moron.” – Henry Hill
- “All I wanted was to become a goodfella.” – Henry Hill
- “You may know who we are, but we know who you are, understand?” – Paulie Cicero
- Business bad? F** you, pay me*. Oh, you had a fire? F** you, pay me*.” – Jimmy Conway
- “I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers.” – Jimmy Two Times
- “I’m not mad, I’m proud of you. You took your first pinch like a man and you learned the two greatest things in life: never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.” – Jimmy Conway
- “To me, being a gangster was better than being president of the United States.” – Henry Hill
- “We ran everything. We paid off cops, we paid off lawyers, we paid off judges. Everybody had their hands out. Everything was for the taking.” – Henry Hill
- “All the guys who thought they were going to be bosses ended up in the witness protection program. The guys who were in the witness protection program ended up here.” – Henry Hill
- “Now go home and get your effing shine box.” – Billy Batts
- “You know, we always called each other goodfellas. Like you said to, uh, somebody, ‘You’re gonna like this guy. He’s all right. He’s a goodfella. He’s one of us.'” – Henry Hill
- “I’m sorry I didn’t call you, Henry, but I’ve been really sick.” – Tommy DeVito
- “All my life, I always wanted to be a gangster.” – Henry Hill
- “I’m not a rat. That’s the only thing you gotta know, Tommy. I’m not a rat.” – Henry Hill
- “One day, some of the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother’s groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect.” – Henry Hill
- “Never go against the family.” – Paulie Cicero
- “You got a good memory. I’ll give you that. The best.” – Jimmy Conway
- “They’re gonna need a f***in’ army to take me out!” – Tommy DeVito
- “I had to turn my back on her. I couldn’t help her anymore. She was f**ing* crazy.” – Henry Hill
- “If they had to be locked up for fifteen years, they should have given them the f**ing* electric chair.” – Karen Hill
- “I never wanted to be anything else but a gangster.” – Henry Hill
- “One minute, I’m a nobody. The next minute, I’m getting a call from Jimmy.” – Henry Hill
- “I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers.” – Jimmy Two Times
- “I never ran a legitimate operation in my life.” – Henry Hill
- “For a second, I thought I was dead. But when I heard all the noise, I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they’d been wiseguys, I wouldn’t have heard a thing. I would’ve been dead.” – Henry Hill
- “For a lot of people, being a gangster was better than being president of the United States.” – Henry Hill
- “Every once in a while, I’d have to take a beating. But by then, I didn’t care. The way I saw it, everybody takes a beating sometime.” – Henry Hill
- “You want to go home and get your shine box?” – Billy Batts
- “If I ever find out that somebody ratted on us, then, bleep, I’m gonna kill somebody.” – Jimmy Conway
- “All the drugs and all the guns couldn’t hide the fact that she was being f**ed*.” – Henry Hill
- “I’m proud of you. You took your first pinch like a man and you learned the two greatest things in life: never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.” – Jimmy Conway
- “I mean, what am I? What am I doing here? Why do I have to bleep up everything?” – Henry Hill
- “I’m an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.” – Henry Hill
- “To me, it meant being somebody in a neighborhood that was full of nobodies.” – Henry Hill
- “You f***ed up. You got us all pinched, you bleeping —hole!” – Tommy DeVito
- “Jimmy was the kind of guy that rooted for bad guys in the movies.” – Henry Hill
- “Now take me to jail. Put me in my cell.” – Tommy DeVito
- “One day, some of the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother’s groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect.” – Henry Hill
- “To me, it meant being somebody in a neighborhood that was full of nobodies.” – Henry Hill
- “I’m an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.” – Henry Hill
- “Jimmy was the kind of guy that rooted for bad guys in the movies.” – Henry Hill
- “Now take me to jail. Put me in my cell.” – Tommy DeVito
- “Don’t give me the babe-in-the-woods routine, Karen. I’ve been around. I know.” – Jimmy Conway
- “When they found Carbone in the meat truck, he was frozen so stiff, it took them two days to thaw him out for the autopsy.” – Henry Hill
- “I had to start taking my f**ing* bad times with my good times.” – Henry Hill
- “The guy who sold it to me, he’s the one who should be f**ing* shot.” – Tommy DeVito
- “I’m sorry about this Tommy, but I gotta do it. I got my orders.” – Jimmy Conway
- “If we wanted something, we just took it. If anyone complained twice, they got hit so bad, believe me, they never complained again.” – Henry Hill
- “I don’t give a bleep what it is. I’m gonna whack him. I’m gonna whack him with a knife.” – Tommy DeVito
- “For the rest of the day, whatever I did, I felt that Henry was watching me, that he had moved one step closer to me, and I knew that sooner or later, I’d have to face the music.” – Karen Hill
Please note that the quotes contain explicit language, as they are directly from the movie.
Inspirational Goodfellas Quotes
Inspirational Goodfellas Quotes:
- “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”
- “Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.”
- “You gotta do what you gotta do.”
- “It’s all about the hustle and the loyalty.”
- “Success is about taking risks and making your own luck.”
- “In this life, you either get rich or you get caught.”
- “You gotta be a big shot to be a made man.”
- “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”
- “The world is yours if you’re willing to go after it.”
- “Sometimes you gotta do something bad to do something good.”
Short Goodfellas Quotes
Short Goodfellas Quotes:
- “Funny how?”
- “I’m funny how? I mean funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you?”
- “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
- “Get your shine box.”
- “One minute you’re up, the next minute you’re down.”
- “Never go against the family.”
- “For us, to live any other way was nuts.”
- “I always wanted to be a gangster.”
- “I’m in construction.”
- “Business bad? F**k you, pay me.”
Funny Goodfellas Quotes
Funny Goodfellas Quotes:
- “I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers.”
- “I’m not a gangster, I’m a businessman.”
- “You know, we always called each other goodfellas. Like you said to, uh, somebody, ‘You’re gonna like this guy. He’s all right. He’s a goodfella. He’s one of us.’ You understand?”
- “I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup.”
- “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, but you look like a clown.”
- “I can’t even get decent food. Right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I’m an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.”
- “I’m always interested in making money. I just want to do it legally.”
- “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster… and now I am one. I gotta pay for everything myself. In this day and age, what the f**k is this world coming to?”
- “You know, we always called each other goodfellas. Like you said to, uh, somebody, ‘You’re gonna like this guy. He’s all right. He’s a goodfella. He’s one of us.'”
- “I like money. I like it a lot better than stealing.”
Famous Goodfellas Quotes
Famous Goodfellas Quotes:
- “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” – Henry Hill
- “Funny how?” – Tommy DeVito
- “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” – Don Corleone
- “Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.” – Jimmy Conway
- “One minute you’re up, the next minute you’re down.” – Henry Hill
- “Get your shine box.” – Billy Batts
- “For us, to live any other way was nuts.” – Henry Hill
- “You know, we always called each other goodfellas.” – Henry Hill
- “As far as I could remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” – Henry Hill
- “The world is yours if you’re willing to go after it.” – Jimmy Conway
Deep Goodfellas Quotes
Deep Goodfellas Quotes:
- “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” – Henry Hill
- “I was a part of something. I belonged. I was treated like a somebody.” – Henry Hill
- “One day, some of the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother’s groceries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect.” – Henry Hill
- “You may know who we are, but we know who you are, understand?” – Jimmy Conway
- “All my life, I always wanted to be a gangster.” – Henry Hill
- “To us, those goody-good people who worked s–tty jobs for bum paychecks and took the subway to work every day, and worried about their bills, were dead.” – Henry Hill
- “I was a kid from the neighborhood, and I never thought of myself as a gangster.” – Henry Hill
- “We were all just having a good time, playing with money, making our own rules.” – Henry Hill
- “I’m not a gangster, I’m a businessman. I own a casino.” – Sam “Ace” Rothstein (mentioned in Goodfellas)
- “For us to live any other way was nuts. We were treated like movie stars with muscle.” – Henry Hill
Conclusion
“Goodfellas” is a film that captivates audiences with its compelling story of organized crime and its unforgettable characters.
The quotes from the movie reflect the wit, authenticity, profanity, and insight that define the world of these gangsters.
They offer a glimpse into the dark humor, moral ambiguity, and brutal reality of a life lived on the fringes of society.
From Henry Hill’s longing to be a gangster to Tommy DeVito’s explosive outbursts, the quotes in “Goodfellas” have become iconic and continue to resonate with audiences.
They contribute to the film’s enduring popularity, cultural impact, and status as a classic in the crime genre.
