15 Best ‘Pulp Fiction’ Quotes, Ranked

Given Pulp Fiction is one of the best movies of the 1990s, and has one of the greatest screenplays ever written, it’s no surprise to anyone that it contains tons of amazing dialogue. Really, that seems to be what people like most about the film, whether characters are monologuing, swearing/yelling at each other, or dropping snappy one-liners that entered pop culture straight away and have remained there for three decades now.

It was a film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, but it should be noted that he had a co-writer for Pulp Fiction, too, meaning some of the thanks for the great screenplay also has to go to the underappreciated Roger Avary. Some of the film’s best lines are ranked below, though two apologies in advance are in order. The first is that, sorry, not every line can be included here; there are too many good ones. And, secondly, sorry about the censoring of profanity. Things have to be kept PG around here, and Pulp Fiction is anything but PG in its uncensored glory.

15 “If my answers frighten you, then you should cease asking scary questions.”

Jules Winnfield

One of many things that makes Pulp Fiction an all-time great movie is the way it ultimately wraps up. Rather than a blood-drenched shootout or some kind of over-the-top action sequence, Pulp Fiction ends with lots of dialogue, all of it continually threatening to explode into violence, but never getting there. Of course, if you re-arrange the scenes of the movie chronologically, there would be more violence taking place near the end, but the non-chronological order flies in the face of that.

At this point in the story, Jules Winnfield is starting to question certain things he once held as universal truths, but he’s still willing to intimidate or suggest violence without actual violence. Saying something like, “If my answers frighten you, then you should cease asking scary questions” in the way Samuel L. Jackson says it is just as powerful as any more direct physical threat.

14 “If I’m curt with you it’s because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you wanna get out of this. So, pretty please… with sugar on top. Clean the f**king car.”

The Wolf

Harvey Keitel didn’t need a huge amount of screen time to steal (at least some of) the show in Pulp Fiction, with his role as Winston Wolfe being one of his very best. He does also go by “The Wolf,” and he’s stated to be someone who’s a pro at fixing problems. And, good to his word, he does indeed fix a big problem within Pulp Fiction.

He has to deal with a skeptical Vincent Vega, though and totally dominates the naysayer through one expertly delivered monologue. The Wolf lays out how little time they have, how quickly he tends to operate, and then caps it all off legendarily with, “So, pretty please… with sugar on top. Clean the f**king car.” He’s not a man you mess with, and so cleaning the car is what Vincent and Jules indeed do.

13 “Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face.”

Vincent Vega

There’s nothing quite like an unexpected death scene to shake up the direction a movie might be going in, and that’s true for Pulp Fiction and the demise of Marvin, a minor character overall, yet a memorable one. A gun goes off in a car, the interior gets drenched in blood and brain matter, and all John Travolta’s Vincent Vega can say initially is the understated, “Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face.”

It’s sudden, heinously violent, and darkly funny, and it also sets in motion the whole extended portion of Pulp Fiction that shows Vincent and Jules needing to work out what to do with the car, which leads to the introduction of the aforementioned Winston Wolfe. It might be hard to quote something like this particular line in everyday life, but it’s still one of the most iconic of the entire film.

12 “It’s the one that says ‘Bad Motherf**ker.'”

Jules Winnfield

Another moment from Pulp Fiction’s conclusion is the one revolving around Jules’s wallet. He’s one of many people inside a diner that’s getting robbed, and so his wallet ends up in a bag held by one of the robbers. But Jules kind of turns the tables on them and requests his wallet be taken out of the bag, inevitably giving the robbers cash from said wallet.

He does state that his wallet is “the one that says ‘Bad Motherf**ker,’” and he’s not lying; that’s literally what his wallet says. And Jules has been kind of a bad guy, to say the least, but the wallet’s more ironic during this final sequence, given Jules has a sort of redemption and lets the robbers go with his cash, and with their lives. For good measure, you can now also buy wallets that say “Bad Motherf**ker,” in a case of life understandably imitating art. Now you too can seek redemption and defuse dangerous situations if you get caught up in a robbery!

11 “Just because you are a character doesn’t mean that you have character.”

The Wolf

The Wolf gets the sort of respect he deserves at the end of the whole situation involving the car and the brains/body within it, and points it out to Raquel, a young woman who’s the daughter of the owner of the junkyard that they dispose of the body and car at. He states that “Respect for one’s elders gives character,” to which Raquel says, “I have character.”

And then The Wolf humorously counters that “Just because you are a character doesn’t mean that you have character.” It’s how he exits the film, and it’s one of his best lines, summing him up as a truly classy modern gangster type. And, further, he’s more than shown the possibility of being a (great) character and having character, given how memorable he is as a character and how classy he is when it comes to the way he conducts himself.

10 “They call it a Royale with cheese.”

Vincent Vega

Pulp Fiction contains several different storylines that sometimes intersect in unexpected ways, with the unpredictability of the whole film further exemplified by the fact events take place in non-chronological order. Oh, and many of the characters aren’t very smart, have bad luck, and are willing to talk about menial things, even if they’re doing something most people wouldn’t call menial, like driving to a destination where someone might end up getting killed.

But that’s just life for Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, who are shown in one of the film’s earliest scenes conversing about all sorts of things on their way to retrieve a briefcase with something important purportedly in it. Part of this conversation involves the differences in fast food in Paris, with Vincent explaining that, due to the metric system, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is instead called “a Royale with cheese.”

9 “Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.”

Butch Coolidge

Bruce Willis has one of the most prominent roles in Pulp Fiction, with his storyline revolving around what happens when he double-crosses Marsellus Wallace, the man Jules and Vincent were shown working for earlier in the film. Fleeing the area with his girlfriend, Fabienne, post-double-crossing, he realizes he forgot something important to him, and then risks a great deal to travel back into the danger zone (Tom Cruise would be proud) to get it back.

This kicks off a whole misadventure that represents Pulp Fiction at its darkest. Importantly, Willis’s Butch Coolidge survives, and is able to leave after sort of mending things with Marsellus (he still has to leave L.A., though). But hey, at least he also scores a chopper (not a motorcycle) from the whole bizarre ordeal. It’s a vehicle that used to belong to a reprehensible man named Zed, but no longer, with Butch explaining why to Fabienne in his memorable final line of the movie.

8 “You’re gonna go out there and say, ‘Good night, I’ve had a very lovely evening’… walk out the door, go home, jerk off, and that’s all you’re gonna do.”

Vincent Vega

Vincent is the character with the most screen time in Pulp Fiction, even if it’s arguably Marsellus Wallace who’s the most “central” character. Each of the main storylines revolves around characters either helping Marsellus or getting on his bad side, with Vincent also playing a role in each of them, including the part of Pulp Fiction where Marsellus’s wife, Mia, wants a night on the town while Marsellus is away, and Vincent’s asked to take her out.

John Travolta shines in making Vincent a loser, and while the character’s dopiness is conveyed in many ways, it’s never as succinct as when Vincent is talking to himself in a bathroom mirror. It’s funny, but turns tense when Mia finds Vincent’s heroin in his coat pocket, mistakes it for cocaine, and then overdoses, which naturally sets off a further chaotic series of events. It’s definitely not the only time in the movie that something dramatic happens while Vincent is in a bathroom.

7 “Say ‘what’ again. Say ‘what’ again, I dare you, I double dare you motherf**ker, say what one more goddamn time!”

Jules Winnfield

Even if Samuel L. Jackson has less screen time than John Travolta, Jackson dominates every scene he’s in. When Jackson’s in the film, it’s easy to become convinced that his character, Jules Winnfield, is basically Pulp Fiction’s central one. Additionally, he gets a large number of the film’s most iconic lines, which are memorably profane and also exceptionally well-delivered by Jackson at his biggest and loudest.

But Jules is also an interesting character with an underrated arc, and he gets more contemplative as his story nears its end. However, before that end, he’s wild and intimidating, and the whole “Say ‘what’ again” exchange is one of the best moments he has. It happens following the Royale with Cheese conversation, and within maybe the most quotable scene in the movie. The “Ezekiel 25:17” monologue is also found here, but more on that (and the way it’s revisited at the film’s conclusion) later.

6 “You hear me talking, hillbilly boy? I ain’t through with you by a damn sight. I’ma get medieval on your ass.”

Marsellus Wallace

As mentioned before, Marsellus Wallace’s presence is felt throughout the film even when he’s not on-screen. Indeed, in the storylines focused on the briefcase and Mia’s night on the town/overdose, Marsellus is seldom seen, only getting considerable screen time during the storyline that involves Butch double-crossing him. It’s personal for Marsellus, after all.

For as intimidating as he can be while off-screen, Marsellus Wallace on screen is a whole other story, thanks to Ving Rhames’s stone-cold performance. His retaliation against Zed (you know, the one who’s dead) is fairly violent, concerning what’s seen, and absolutely mortifying, concerning what’s threatened. But Zed had it coming, in many ways, though it’s probably for the best that we don’t actually see Marsellus getting medieval on his ass. Such an act involves a pair of pliers and a blowtorch, too. The latter tool, as it’s identified now, isn’t exactly a medieval item, but questioning or nitpicking Marsellus Wallace is just asking for trouble, so it’s best to let it slide.

Captain Koons

Christopher Walken has a reputation for stealing scenes and being a highly memorable supporting player in many films, with Pulp Fiction arguably being the best example of him doing so. He plays a man named Captain Koons, who visits Butch while he’s a child, giving him a gold watch that used to belong to Butch’s father, who died while fighting in the Vietnam War.

It’s hard to imagine any other actor pulling off the ridiculous and incredible monologue Walken’s given to recite here, with the whole thing starting solemn and then careening into the absurd when Koons’s story turns to how the watch was “hidden” from enemies while in Vietnam. It’s toilet humor, sure, but it’s funny, Pulp Fiction doesn’t shy away from that kind of humor in other areas (again, Vincent goes to the toilet a lot), and the whole exchange of dialogue also explains why Butch puts himself in such danger to retrieve the watch after screwing over Marsellus.

4 “I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out and do whatever I wanted. Now I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good.”

Mia Wallace

Before the aforementioned drug overdose, Mia and Vincent actually have a pretty nice night out in one of Pulp Fiction’s breeziest and most iconic scenes (well, just about every scene in this movie is iconic, but whatever). They go to a 1950s-themed restaurant and take place in a dance contest that they apparently win… the word “apparently” being appropriate, because there are theories they might have lost the contest and just stolen the trophy for kicks.

But what’s undeniable is that Mia wants the trophy at any cost, and given she’s connected to Vincent’s powerful boss, she can persuade him to take part in the contest in question. Honestly, if Uma Thurman demanded of anyone that she wanted to dance, she wanted to win, and she wanted “that trophy,” could anyone truly say they’d turn her down?

3 “Well, I’m a mushroom-cloud-laying motherf**ker, motherf**ker!”

Jules Winnfield

No one swears as well as Samuel L. Jackson, and in one of Pulp Fiction’s later scenes, he proves himself able to somehow pull off saying “motherf**ker” twice in a row. First, he specifies that he’s a “mushroom-cloud-laying motherf**ker,” and then refers to Vincent as a “motherf**ker” right afterward, to emphasize his point further. And Jackson genuinely makes it work.

Jules is understandably angry, too, given the situation he and Vincent are in involves them having to clean a car in a very short amount of time. Said car is messy because of Vincent’s lack of control over his firearm, and said mess is a huge amount of brains and blood from a now-deceased Marvin, who was in the apartment Jules and Vincent visited. But, luckily, the duo gets their act together and clean things up, with a good deal of help from The Wolf. Speaking of…

2 “That’s thirty minutes away. I’ll be there in ten.”

Winston Wolfe

The Wolf is a nickname given to Harvey Keitel’s Winston Wolfe, an impeccably cool, calm, and collected fixer who gets Vincent and Jules out of the mess Vincent landed them in. Keitel was basically born to play stylish gangsters and/or criminals, with Winston Wolfe being a trusted associate of Marsellus who’s only sent into situations that require the big guns.

Wolfe is so good at his job that he can travel around the bustling and traffic-heavy Los Angeles with ease, expressing that even though the address Vincent and Jules are at is 10 minutes away, he can still be there in 10. That’s more or less how he’s introduced, though he exits the film with another incredible line that deserves an honorable mention: “Just because you are a character doesn’t mean that you have character.”

1 “The truth is you’re the weak. And I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I’m trying, Ringo. I’m trying real hard to be the shepherd.”

Jules Winnfield

Picking the best quote from Pulp Fiction is tough, but it’s probably one found in the film’s closing sequence, which involves Jules and Vincent (mostly Jules) preventing the robbery of a diner. The best part of this scene involves Jules reflecting on another great quote from earlier in the movie, the aforementioned Ezekiel 25:17 monologue, which he recites with gusto before killing a man.

He admits he’s done so before, but then expresses how he’s come to question both the saying and his criminal ways following an instance of apparent divine intervention (someone trying to shoot Jules and Vincent with every bullet missing). He talks down Pumpkin/Ringo – one of the robbers – without killing him or his partner in crime, all the while expressing his desire to exit a life of crime. And, he does, given he doesn’t play a part in the Butch storyline, which takes place after the suitcase storyline, chronologically. It might all sound like pretentious dialogue on paper, but it’s executed well, coming in the film’s final scene, and delivered perfectly by Samuel L. Jackson.

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