How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Maltese Falcon.
Quote #1
SPADE: It's not always easy to know what to do.
This innocuous little line directed toward Brigid could be a moral for the whole movie. As Spade finds himself in increasingly murky moral territory, it's never easy to know what to do, or with whom to maintain allegiances.
Quote #2
BRIGID: You've got to trust me, Mr. Spade. I'm so alone and afraid. I've got nobody to help me if you won't help me. Be generous, Mr. Spade. You're brave. You're strong. You can spare me some of that courage and strength, surely. Help me, Mr. Spade. I need help so badly. I've no right to ask you, I know I haven't, but I do ask you. Help me.
This is like Princess Leia's "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope," speech. However, Brigid is only Leia if Leia were really Darth Vader in disguise.
Quote #3
BRIGID: Only that sort could have helped me, if he'd been loyal.
It's never a smart idea to trust a criminal. But when Brigid commits criminal activity herself, her only friends, if you can call them that, are also criminals. But their loyalty is never guaranteed. That makes disloyal Lloyd's betrayal a plausible story, but we'll later learn that Lloyd did remain loyal to Brigid. She's the one who betrayed him.