- Gentleman Dave Turner: John Henry. Whatever happens next, I want you to know that I did not sanction that cowardly act against your father. Personally I find that action damnable and deserving of the fate you brought upon them.
- John Henry Clayton: Then you'll be leaving.
- Gentleman Dave Turner: Can't do that. No one hires a gunman who runs from trouble.
- John Henry Clayton: You don't have to run Dave. You can walk.
- Gentleman Dave Turner: The terms of my employment won't allow me to do that.
- John Henry Clayton: This here LeMat's mighty heavy. Puts me at a disadvantage.
- Gentleman Dave Turner: What would you suggest?
- John Henry Clayton: Would you be kind enough to let me go back inside and retrieve myself a Colt?
- Gentleman Dave Turner: - nods
- John Henry Clayton: Thank you.
- Gentleman Dave Turner: - nods again
- Rev. Clayton: Your mother and I kept asking ourselves... asking God... what we done wrong in your upbringing? What did we do that filled you with so much hate?
- John Henry Clayton: It weren't you.
- Rev. Clayton: John 8:32, remember? The truth will set you free. God knows the truth.
- John Henry Clayton: All through the war I kept asking myself, where was God? Where was he at Shiloh and Seven Pines when men lay dead and dying? All good men, God-fearing men. They just lay there, begging for some small act of mercy on His behalf. And then it finally dawned on me: There ain't no God.
- Rev. Clayton: [jumping out of his chair and blustering toward him] THERE IS NO GOD?
- John Henry Clayton: [standing up to meet him] All I'm saying is that if there was ever a time that man needed God it was then, and trust me, he wasn't there. If you're expecting God to save you, he ain't gonna.
- Rev. Clayton: Most men came out of that war wanting nothing more to do with killing, but not you... You went looking for it. God is not responsible for the life you choose.
- John Henry Clayton: I DID NOT CHOOSE IT!
- John Henry Clayton: [to Mary-Alice] The thought of coming back to you... was the only thing that got me through that damn war. And when it was over, I swear to you on my life, I tried coming home. I swore I was done with killing. She just wasn't done with me.
- James McCurdy: When you got a fox in the henhouse, only two things to do: Kill the fox, or move the henhouse.
- John Henry Clayton: My friend, you are no longer employed.
- Gentleman Dave Turner: It would appear you are correct.
- John Henry Clayton: It's been a pleasure knowing you Dave.
- Rev. Clayton: What is the reason you came home?
- John Henry Clayton: I didn't know I had to have a reason, Pa.
- John Henry Clayton: Don't exactly know where I fit in.
- Mary-Alice Watson: This is your home. If a man can't fit in here, where can he?
- James McCurdy: [writing a check to buy her dead husband's land] I'm sorry for your loss.
- Mrs. Chadwick: [tearfully] No, you ain't. Eventually... someone's gonna have the nerve to stand up to you. And when that day comes, I want to be here to spit on your grave.
- James McCurdy: Well, ma'am, feel free to do so. Provided you can find your way to the front of the line.
- Mary-Alice Watson: I want you off my land.
- James McCurdy: And you have every right to do so... for another... 32 hours and 18 minutes.
- Mary-Alice Watson: And if we're still here?
- James McCurdy: Then I'd start looking for a black dress.
- John Henry Clayton: This ain't gonna end, Pa, till someone ends it.
- Rev. Clayton: Not you. It doesn't have to be you.
- John Henry Clayton: It's time I did something right in my life. This is what I know how to do.
- Gentleman Dave Turner: Whatever happens next, I want you to know I did not sanction that cowardly act against your father. Personally, I found their actions damnable and deserving of the fate you brought upon them.
- John Henry Clayton: Then you'll be leaving?
- Gentleman Dave Turner: Can't do that. No one hires a gunman who runs from trouble.
- John Henry Clayton: You don't have to run, Dave. You can walk.
- [last lines]
- Rev. Clayton: [tearfully] You're not going for another 10 years, are you?
- John Henry Clayton: No, I promise. See you soon, Pa...
- Gentleman Dave Turner: [narrating] Little is known of him after that. Some say he drifted down to Coffeeville where he was involved in another altercation a few years later. But those accusations were never proven. The common view was he moved westward under a different name, where he lived a life of quiet isolation. What is known is that when Mary Alice died a few years later, he did not attend her funeral. However, many say the following day, a faded red ribbon was found attached to her headstone. Others in Fowler recounted stories of seeing him throughout the years, up until his father's death, at which time he came no more.
- John Henry Clayton: I'm alright, Pa. It's not gonna take long for word to get out about what happened here today.
- John Henry Clayton: Men from far and wide are gonna come looking for me to make a name for themselves.
- Rev. Clayton: You don't wear guns.
- John Henry Clayton: I put them away. I'm done with that. What is that supposed to mean?
- Rev. Clayton: It means I don't know if a man can get away from who he is.
- John Henry Clayton: And you think you know who I am?
- Rev. Clayton: I thought I did.
- [first lines]
- Rev. Clayton: Your mother is dead.
- [turns and walks back into the house]
- John Henry Clayton: [follows him into the house] I did not know that she had passed.
- Rev. Clayton: How could you?
- John Henry Clayton: If I had known that she had been sick, I'd...
- Rev. Clayton: You would've done what? You would've come home if you knew she was dying? But you couldn't come home when she was living, when she was full of hope?
- John Henry Clayton: How did she pass?
- Rev. Clayton: In my arms, lying beside me in bed. Weeping. Calling out your name.
- Rev. Clayton: Remember when I kept asking ourselves what we done wrong and it filled you with so much hate?
- Rev. Clayton: God is not responsible for the life you choose.
- John Henry Clayton: I DID NOT CHOOSE IT!
- John Henry Clayton: [confiding in his father] I drew my pistol. I fired back. I killed them. Killed them both. In the middle of all of it, one of my shots went wide, straight through a storefront window. Woman came out screaming, covered in blood. First I thought I'd shot her. Then her husband come out... carrying a little boy. I killed a boy, Pop. He looked to be the same age as William. He just lay there dead 'cause of what I'd done. Just like William did.
- John Henry Clayton: [facing-off] Mouth getting dry, Frank?
- Frank Tillman: You offering to buy me a drink?
- Gentleman Dave Turner: How are you feeling?
- John Henry Clayton: I wish people would stop asking me that.
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