How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Taxi Driver.
Quote #1
TRAVIS: I first saw her at Palantine Campaign headquarters at 63rd and Broadway. She was wearing a white dress. She appeared like an angel. Out of this filthy mess, she is alone. They... cannot... touch... her.
Travis idealizes and romanticizes Betsy without having ever met her. He can't approach her as a fellow human, and has lots of hyped-up irrational expectations before he introduces himself.
Quote #2
TRAVIS: I realize now how much she's just like the others—cold and distant, and many people are like that. Women for sure. They're like a union.
Travis blames all women for his isolation—but it's actually his bonkers porno movie date idea that drove him further into loneliness, not Betsy.
Quote #3
WIZARD: Then I picked up these two f**s, you know. They're goin' downtown. They're wearing these rhinestone t-shirts. And they start arguin'. They start yellin'. The other says: "You bitch." I say: "Look, I don't care what you do in the privacy of your own home behind closed doors—this is an American free country, we got a pursuit of happiness thing, you're consenting, you're adult. But, you know, uh, you know, in my f***ing cab, don't go bustin' heads, you know what I mean? God love you, do what you want."
DOUGH BOY: Tell 'em to go to California, 'cause out in California when two f**s split up, one's got to pay the other one alimony.
WIZARD: Not bad. Ah, they're way ahead out there, you know, in California. So I had to tell 'em to get out of the f***in' cab."
This dialogue weirdly combines a homophobic slur with the open-minded acceptance of "God love you, do what you want" and "They're way ahead out there, you know, in California." It shows that Wizard has a rough exterior and a tough way of talking, but, at heart, he's tolerant and relaxed—unlike, say, Travis.
Quote #4
SPORT: A cowboy, huh? I once had a horse, on Coney Island. She got hit by a car. Well, take it or leave it. If you want to save yourself some money, don't f*** her. Cause you'll be back here every night for some more. Man, she's twelve and a half years old. […] You can do anything you want with her. […] But no rough stuff, all right?
This totally obscene speech about a twelve year old girl reveals just how disgusting and criminally exploitive Sport really is. It messes with us, as an audience, because it predisposes us to sympathize with Travis when he goes vigilante and murders Sport. "No rough stuff, all right?" sounds totally ironic, given what Sport has just said.
Quote #5
TRAVIS: Yeah, but you can't live like this. It's hell. Girls should live at home
IRIS: Didn't you ever hear of women's lib?
TRAVIS: What do you mean "women's lib"? You sure are a young girl. You should be at home now. You should be dressed up. You should be goin' out with boys. You should be goin' to school. You know, that kind of stuff.
Iris idea of women's liberation bears no relation to the real thing—no one would claim that being a child prostitute is liberating (actually, it's the polar opposite of women's liberation, since it's total sexual exploitation). Travis isn't snowed by this abuse of terminology, and he knows what he knows.
Quote #6
IRIS: I don't like what I'm doin,' Sport.
SPORT: Oh baby, I never wanted you to like what you're doin'. If you ever liked what you're doing, you wouldn't be my woman.
Sport is repulsively clever. He's manipulating Iris, claiming that he values her because she doesn't enjoy the fact that he's pimping her out to people. He uses the fact that she thinks she's special to him to keep her working for him. It's twisted logic, the logic of an abusive exploiter and emotional manipulator.
Quote #7
SPORT: You miss your man, don't ya? I don't like to be away from you either. You know how I feel about you. I depend on you. I'd be lost without you. Don't you ever forget that —how much I need you. Come to me baby. Let me hold you. When I hold you close to me like this, I feel so good. I only wish every man could know what it's like to be loved by you... God, it's good so close. You know at times like this, I know I'm one lucky man. Touchin' a woman who wants me and needs me. That's the way you and I keeps it together.
This is pure insincerity. It makes us dislike Sport even more intensely, since we see how he's using romantic language to manipulate Iris while actually being totally dead at heart. The romantic veneer is a complete ploy.