How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Taxi Driver.
Quote #1
TRAVIS: Twelve hours of work and I still can't sleep. Damn. Days go on and on. They don't end.
In his insomniac state, Travis days meld into one another. He's trapped in a "Groundhog Day" situation, except instead of being trapped in delightful Punxatawney PA he's in a hellish New York City with limited opportunities for personal growth.
Quote #2
TRAVIS: Each night when I return the cab to the garage, I have to clean the cum off the back seat. Some nights, I clean off the blood.
This is pretty gross. Travis apparently picks up prostitutes and johns who score in the back of his cab. The blood probably isn't from people actually getting stabbed in his back seat—though it could be—but probably from people who are already bleeding when they get it. This situation would probably depress and dissatisfy a lot of people.
Quote #3
TRAVIS: Yeah, well. Naw, I don't know. I just wanna go out. I really, you know, I really wanna, I got some bad ideas in my head, I just...
WIZARD: Look, look at it this way, you know uh, a man, a man takes a job, you know, and that job, I mean like that, and that it becomes what he is. You know like uh, you do a thing and that's what you are. Like I've been a, I've been a cabbie for seventeen years, ten years at night and I still don't own my own cab. You know why? 'Cause I don't want to. I must be what I, what I want. You know, to be on the night shift drivin' somebody else's cab. Understand? You, you, you become, you get a job, you you become the job. One guy lives in Brooklyn, one guy lives in Sutton Place, you get a lawyer, another guy's a doctor, another guy dies, another guy gets well, and you know, people are born. I envy you your youth. Go out and get laid. Get drunk, you know, do anything. 'Cause you got no choice anyway. I mean we're all f***ed, more or less you know.
TRAVIS: Yeah, I don't know. That's about the dumbest thing I ever heard.
WIZARD: I'm not Bertrand Russell. Well what do ya want. I'm a cabbie you know. What do I know? I mean, I don't even know what the f*** you're talkin' about.
Travis is turning to Wizard for advice because he's so dissatisfied—and isolated—that he feels he might turn violent. Wizard doesn't fully understand, thinks he might be contemplating suicide, and gives this rambling speech… which is no help at all, despite Wizard's best intentions. Wizard thinks Travis is in despair, and needs help accepting his lot in life—he doesn't fathom Travis' capacity for real violence.