Sheriff Gifford:
Take a look outside, gentlemen. Take a good look. They look harmless enough, just lounging around. When you came in just now, you probably took them for cowhands if you noticed them at all. But every one of them have had his share of killin'. They are waiting for me to make up my mind, too. And the longer it takes me, the more of them there will be.
William Brady: But they're only a handful. You can't let them influence you.
Sheriff Gifford: That's an awful tough handful.
William Brady: If you turn that man loose, you're letting them run this town.
Sheriff Gifford: Mr. Brady, they can start running this town anytime they want to, but they're too shiftless... lazy. They need something to start them off. Like Flint. If they have to break him out, they won't stop there. Before they're through, they will go for each others throats like a pack of mad dogs, and we'll be caught in the middle.
William Brady: But this isn't the wild west anymore. Jesse James is dead. You haven't got the Pony Express, you got railroads now. You even got an automobile in town. You're talking in the past. Civilization is here.
Sheriff Gifford: So are they! And they are not interested in civilization!
William Brady: But they're only a handful. You can't let them influence you.
Sheriff Gifford: That's an awful tough handful.
William Brady: If you turn that man loose, you're letting them run this town.
Sheriff Gifford: Mr. Brady, they can start running this town anytime they want to, but they're too shiftless... lazy. They need something to start them off. Like Flint. If they have to break him out, they won't stop there. Before they're through, they will go for each others throats like a pack of mad dogs, and we'll be caught in the middle.
William Brady: But this isn't the wild west anymore. Jesse James is dead. You haven't got the Pony Express, you got railroads now. You even got an automobile in town. You're talking in the past. Civilization is here.
Sheriff Gifford: So are they! And they are not interested in civilization!
Sheriff Gifford:
You're smarter than the rest of them. A lot of you all rode into this town, but you are the only one who saw anything. You noticed the change. The others don't look past the end of their guns. You saw the handwriting on the wall. They don't even see the wall because their backs are against it. Their days are over. They don't know it. You know it.
[Flint is a prisoner in Sheriff Brady's jail]
John Ringo: Now don't misunderstand me, Sheriff. I don't like him any better than you do. About the most I can say for him is that he has been with me a long time. If it was just for that, you could keep him. But it's more than that, Sheriff. It's a matter of principle. You see, Sheriff, those men out there expect me to come out with Flint. Now, how would it look I came out alone. You see, Sheriff, it's just a matter of principle.
John Ringo: Now don't misunderstand me, Sheriff. I don't like him any better than you do. About the most I can say for him is that he has been with me a long time. If it was just for that, you could keep him. But it's more than that, Sheriff. It's a matter of principle. You see, Sheriff, those men out there expect me to come out with Flint. Now, how would it look I came out alone. You see, Sheriff, it's just a matter of principle.