- Maj. Howard 'Bunny' Colvin: [...] This drug thing, this ain't police work. No, it ain't. I mean, I can send any fool with a badge and a gun up on them corners and jack a crew and grab vials. But policing? I mean, you call something a war and pretty soon everybody gonna be running around acting like warriors. They gonna be running around on a damn crusade, storming corners, slapping on cuffs, racking up body counts. And when you at war, you need a fucking enemy. And pretty soon, damn near everybody on every corner is your fucking enemy. And soon the neighborhood that you're supposed to be policing, that's just occupied territory.
- Dep. Comm. for Operations William A. Rawls: Bunny, you cocksucker, I gotta give it to you. A brilliant idea. Insane and illegal, but stone-fucking brilliant nonetheless. After all my puttin' my foot up people's asses to decrease the numbers, he comes in and in one stroke gets a fucking 14 percent decrease. Fucking shame it's going to end our careers, but still.
- Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: I listen to the shit she talks about, first time in my life I feel like a fucking doormat. Like anyone with any smarts would do something else with his life, you know, earn money or get elected. Like I'm just a breathing machine for my fucking dick.
- Det. Lester Freamon: Check this.
- Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: That's Western District. What, Stringer's calling the Western?
- Det. Lester Freamon: Maybe he's surrendering.
- Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: After all the work we've done, I'd never forgive the son of a bitch.
- Brother Mouzone: You're the perfect bait, Lamar. They'll see you as conflicted, your homophobia is so visceral.
- Lamar: You see that. I ain't even stepped inside the joint yet and you're calling me a cocksucker already.
- Lamar: What happened to all them towers?
- Brother Mouzone: Slow train coming.
- Lamar: Huh?
- Brother Mouzone: Reform, Lamar. Reform!
- Joseph 'Proposition Joe' Stewart: Now hear me on this, String. We ain't no ingrates. We all recognize your contribute to the co-op. But the feeling is this: It ain't right for you to be at the head of our table when you can't call off your dog. Call it a crisis of leadership.
- Russell 'Stringer' Bell: You and me? We brothers, B. We didn't think we would make it this fucking far, but fuck if we ain't standing here right now with the whole world at our feet. The whole world, man, not these fucking corners. The whole world, B.
- Russell 'Stringer' Bell: You know, Avon, you gotta think about what we got in this game for, man. Huh? Was it the rep? Was it so our names could ring out on some fucking ghetto streetcorners, man? Naw, man. There's games beyond the fucking game.
- Bubbles: Little Squeak, off of Lanvale. Yeah, she used to boost for Turtle Wells' old mob. She lost a little bit of weight, too. I mean, looking a lot better than I remember. And I remember a lot about that girl.
- Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs: Damn, Bubs, is there anybody West Side you don't know?
- Bubbles: Just citizens and shit.
- Commissioner Ervin H. Burrell: Are you threatening me?
- Maj. Howard 'Bunny' Colvin: I believe I am, sir. My apologies.
- Asst. State's Atty. Rhonda Pearlman: The fact is, the industry has all of us by the balls.
- [pause]
- Asst. State's Atty. Rhonda Pearlman: Pardon my French, your honor.
- Judge Daniel Phelan: All right, I'll tell you what. Best I can do for you is this: You give me a boilerplate affidavit with the PC from the court report. And then, as you get fresh numbers for the new disposables, you call me - anytime, day or night - to jump phones.
- Lt. Cedric Daniels: That helps. But we're still gonna be getting up on their phones even as they're coming down.
- Judge Daniel Phelan: Yeah, probably so.
- Asst. State's Atty. Rhonda Pearlman: This is so totally...
- Judge Daniel Phelan: Fucked up. Je parle français bien, et tu, hein, tu es charmante aujourd'hui.
- Russell 'Stringer' Bell: You know, Avon, you gotta think about what we got in this game for, man. Huh? Was it the rep? Was it so our names could ring out on some fucking ghetto streetcorner, man? No, man. There's games beyond the fucking game.