Fast Eddie : Look, I... um... can always buy a bottle. A fifth of scotch? Sarah Packard : What'ya want me to do - just step out in the alley? Is that it?

Bert Gordon : You're here on a rain check and I know it. You're hangin' on by your nails. You let that glory whistle blow loud and clear for Eddie and you're a wreck on a railroad track... you're a horse that finished last. So don't make trouble, Miss Ladybird. Live and let live! While you can. I'll make it up to you. Sarah Packard : How? Bert Gordon : You tell me.

Sarah Packard : How did you know my name was Sarah? Fast Eddie : You told me. Sarah Packard : I lie. When I'm drunk I lie. Fast Eddie : Okay, so what's your name today? Sarah Packard : Sarah.

Bert Gordon : How's your hand? Fast Eddie : Fine. Bert Gordon : Good. I'd hate to think I was puttin' my money on a cripple. Fast Eddie : Hey, whaddaya say somethin' like that for? Sarah Packard : It's alright, Eddie. I'm sure Mr. Gordon meant no offense. It was a figure of speech. Bert Gordon : That's right, Miss Packard. Sarah Packard : And a fact is a fact. Bert Gordon : Smart girl, Eddie.

Sarah Packard : Eddie, look, I've got troubles... and I think maybe you've got troubles. Maybe it'd be better if we just leave each other alone. Fast Eddie : I have my things over at the hotel. I'll bring them over later. Sarah Packard : I'm not sure. I don't know. Fast Eddie : Well, what do you want to know? And why?

Sarah Packard : I'm a college girl. Two days a week - Tuesdays and Thursdays - I go to college. Fast Eddie : You don't look like a college girl. Sarah Packard : I'm the emancipated type. Real emancipated. Fast Eddie : No, I didn't mean that... whatever that means. I mean you just don't look young enough. Sarah Packard : I'm not. Fast Eddie : So why go to college? Sarah Packard : Got nothing else to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fast Eddie : What do you do on the other days? Sarah Packard : I drink.

Sarah Packard : I love you, Eddie. Fast Eddie : You know, someday, Sarah, you're gonna settle down... you're gonna marry a college professor and you're gonna write a great book. Maybe about me. Huh? Fast Eddie Felson... hustler. Sarah Packard : I love you. Fast Eddie : You need the words? Sarah Packard : Yes, I need them very much. If you ever say them I'll never let you take them back.

[Fast Eddie is bothered because Bert called him a born loser]  Fast Eddie : Cause, ya see, twice, Sarah... once at Ames with Minnesota Fats and then again at Arthur's, in that cheap, crummy pool room, now why'd I do it, Sarah? Why'd I do it? I coulda beat that guy, coulda beat 'im cold, he never woulda known. But I just hadda show 'im. Just hadda show those creeps and those punks what the game is like when it's great, when it's REALLY great. You know, like anything can be great, anything can be great. I don't care, BRICKLAYING can be great, if a guy knows. If he knows what he's doing and why and if he can make it come off. When I'm goin', I mean, when I'm REALLY goin' I feel like a... like a jockey must feel. He's sittin' on his horse, he's got all that speed and that power underneath him... he's comin' into the stretch, the pressure's on 'im, and he KNOWS... just feels... when to let it go and how much. Cause he's got everything workin' for 'im: timing, touch. It's a great feeling, boy, it's a real great feeling when you're right and you KNOW you're right. It's like all of a sudden I got oil in my arm. The pool cue's part of me. You know, it's uh - pool cue, it's got nerves in it. It's a piece of wood, it's got nerves in it. Feel the roll of those balls, you don't have to look, you just KNOW. You make shots that nobody's ever made before. I can play that game the way... NOBODY'S ever played it before. Sarah Packard : You're not a loser, Eddie, you're a winner. Some men never get to feel that way about anything.