Bert Gordon: [to Eddie] You owe me MONEY.

Bert Gordon: [Viciously to Sarah] You're here on a rain check, and I know it! You're hanging on by your nails. Let that glory whistle ring out loud and clear, and you're a wreck on a railroad track! You're a horse that finished last! Now, don't make trouble, Miss Lady Bug! Live and let live while you can!

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.

Bert Gordon: I don't think there's a pool player alive shoots better pool than I saw you shoot the other night at Ames. You got talent.
Fast Eddie: So I got talent. So what beat me?
Bert Gordon: Character.

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.

[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.

[Eddie watching Minnesota Fats during their first game, whispers to Charlie]
Fast Eddie: Boy, he is great! Jeez, that old fat man. Look at the way he moves: like a dancer... And those fingers, them chubby fingers. That stroke... it's like he's, uh, like he's playin' the violin or somethin'.

[in their $3,000 game, after Minnesota Fats breaks, it's Eddie's shot]
Fast Eddie: How should I play that one, Bert? Play it safe? That's the way you always told me to play it: safe... play the percentage. Well, here we go: fast and loose. One ball, corner pocket. Yeah, percentage players die broke, too, don't they, Bert? [he makes the shot and the spectators applaud] How can I lose?

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?

Big John: You Eddie Felson.
Fast Eddie: Who's he?
Big John: What's your game? Whaddaya shoot?
Fast Eddie: You name it, we shoot it.
Big John: Look, friend, I'm not trying to hustle. I don't never hustle people that walk in a poolroom with leather satchels. Don't try to hustle me.
Fast Eddie: Okay, I'm Eddie Felson. I shoot straight pool.