Officer (before the gallows): "Anything you'd like to say? ...Perry?" Perry (his last words): "I think maybe, I'd like to apologize, but who to? ...Who...?"

Perry (to Alvin Dewey): "It doesn't make sense. I mean, what happened. Or why. It had nothing to do with the Clutters. They never hurt me - they just... happened to be there. I thought Mr. Clutter was a very nice gentleman... I thought so right up to the time I cut his throat."

Reporter: "I see the hangman's ready. What's his name?" Alvin Dewey: "We The People."

Dick: "Hey Andy? Does it tell anywhere in them books what happens when you make 'the big drop'?" Andy (in adjacent cell): "Well, your neck breaks... you crap your pants."

Perry (to the Clutter girl, after he stopped Dick from raping her): "I despise people who can't control themselves."

Tex Smith (to Alvin Dewey): "...I guess I haven't seen him for five or six years. That's not surprising, though - he's a 'lone wolf' just like me. You guys can rest easy on one thing, sure. You won't be havin' any more trouble with Perry. He learned his lesson for sure. He wrote me from prison, I wrote him right back, pronto. "Boy, you take your punishment with a smile. And I didn't raise you to steal. So don't expect me to cry just because you got it tough behind the bars." Perry's no fool. He knows when he's beat. You fellas have got him whipped forever. The law is the boss. He knows the difference between right and wrong, you can bet on that, because I taught my kids the 'golden rule'. "Always tell the truth. Always wash in the morning. Always be sober and independent." And I showed him how. How to prospect, how to trap fur, how to carpenter, how to bake bread, how to be his own boss... Yes, he's a chip off the old block, alright..."

Dick: "Next move... Mexico. Once we beat it out of the country." Perry: "On what? Forty three dollars, and a smile, and bullsh*t." (First use of the word 'bullsh*t' in a Hollywood film)

Dick: "That waitress - nice piece o' blonde chicken." Perry: "Why'd ya pick me for this job?" Dick: "A perfect score needs perfect partners. Together, we're a perfect fit." Perry: "It's your score. Where do I fit in?" Dick: "I got you figured for a 'natural born killer'... Now, did you lie about that punk in Vegas?" Perry: "...No." Dick: "Why'd you kill him?" Perry: "No special reason. Just the hell of it." Dick: "That's the best reason of all. Back there... you wanted to kill me... just for a second. Right?" Perry: (shrugs) "...It passed."