How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Sting.
Quote #7
JOHNNY HOOKER: Gondorff, you gonna teach me the Big Con or not?
Johnny Hooker quickly gets frustrated when Henry is evasive about his questions. All Johnny wants to do is avenge the death of his friend Luther, but Henry is a careful and intelligent man who has no interest in rushing into something without thinking it over.
Quote #8
HENRY GONDORFF: You gotta keep Lonnegan's con, even after you spent his money. And no matter how much you take from his, he'll get more.
Henry is smart enough to know that he'll spend the rest of his life on the run if Lonnegan ever finds out he conned him out of half a million dollars. That's why the biggest part of his con is making sure that Lonnegan never actually realizes he was conned. And that's going to take a whole lot of clever thinking.
Quote #9
HENRY GONDORFF: But most of all let us know. If they got a hit on you, we gotta fold up the con. You're too exposed. You got that?
Henry knows from experience that having an unreliable friend can undo even the cleverest of grifting plots. That's why he presses Johnny so hard about being honest and admitting when he needs help.