- Henri Young: I won. "Reaction." You can't ever take that away from me.
- Milton Glenn: Take him to the hole.
- James Stamphill: How do you think the Yankees will do against the Redskins this year?
- Henri Young: The Yankees are a baseball team. The Redskins are a football team. Personally, I think the Redskins would kick the shit out of them.
- James Stamphill: I will ask you what I want to ask you.
- Henri Young: And I answer what I want to answer.
- James Stamphill: Fine.
- Henri Young: Fine.
- Milton Glenn: Some men are broken by the laws that they break, unable to resist the forces that are pulling them down. Other men live by the rules that society sets down. You're not one of them.
- James Stamphill: [narrating as cold water is poured on Henri] The definition of rehabilitate: To restore to a state of physical, mental, and moral health through treatment and training.
- Blanche, Hooker: Honey, you're gonna have to get it up first. It's like trying to stick an oyster into a slot machine.
- Judge Clawson: I do not need *you* to tell me what is, or is not okay. In this court room, *I* am the one who decides what is, or is not okay. Okay?
- [last lines]
- James Stamphill: Charles Dickens once said that solitary confinement was inhumane. Seven months later, the Supreme Court agreed. As a a result of the facts brought out in the trail of The People vs. Young, the dungeons of Alcatraz were closed forever. Associate warden Glenn was brought up on charges of mistreatment. He was found guilty. He would never work in the penal system again. I remained in private practice. I also became a baseball fan. You did it, Henri!
- James Stamphill: Unlike many men who lived long after, Henry Young did not die in vain. In the end he was not afraid. He lived and he died in triumphed. If only we could all do that.
- Milton Glenn: ln life for every action there is a definite and distinct reaction. Action
- [cuts his hand with his razor]
- Milton Glenn: ... reaction
- [we see the blood dripping from the hand]
- Milton Glenn: .
- Henri Young: Yes, Mr. Glenn.
- Milton Glenn: Now, if you escape, action: l lose my job... Reaction: l have a family that l will not be able to provide for! Now, knowing this information, can you tell me why you would possibly want to escape and jeopardize my family? l've done nothing to you but my job. And instead of letting you learn by breaking the rules, l feel l need to show you how to obey them. Tolerance. Tolerance for pain. My tolerance of you. But tolerance can be mistaken for kindness. And kindness can be mistaken for weakness. And we can't have weakness, can we, Henri?
- Mr. Henkin: [to Stamphill] I don't know who you pissed off to get this piece of shit case, but that's the breaks!
- James Stamphill: I was wondering if I could talk to you, sir, about a continuance.
- D.A. William McNeil: No.
- James Stamphill: You don't understand, sir, he just sits there. I can't even get him to speak.
- D.A. William McNeil: Well maybe he's practicing for the gas chamber. Tell him to take deep breaths.
- James Stamphill: [murder conviction looming] Mister Young, we have *got* to talk. Would you like a cigarette?
- Henri Young: No thanks, that shit'll kill ya.
- Henri Young: Mr. Young, I am not here to satisfy any sexual fantasies that you might have.
- [said by the female attorney]
- Henri Young: You're not?
- Milton Glenn: No, I'm your attorney.
- [said by the female attorney]
- Judge Clawson: Mr. Stamphill, you are skating on very thin ice.
- James Stamphill: Maybe your Honor, but I'd like to get to the other side.