How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Goodfellas.
Quote #7
TOMMY: No more shines, Billy.
BILLY: What?
TOMMY: I said, no more shines. Maybe you didn't hear about it; you've been away a long time. They didn't go up there and tell you. I don't shine shoes anymore.
BILLY: Relax, will ya? For crying out—what's, what's got into you? I'm breaking your balls a little bit, that's all. I'm only kidding with ya.
TOMMY: Sometimes you don't sound like you're kidding. You know, there's a lot of people around.
Tommy doesn't want anyone around being reminded of his days as a lowly shoeshine boy. When Billy presses it even further, Tommy goes bananas, ultimately murdering the made man and sealing his own fate in the process.
Quote #8
SPIDER: Why don't you go f*** yourself, Tommy?
JIMMY: Whoa! I didn't f***in' hear right. I couldn't believe what I just heard. Hey, Spider, here. Here, this is for you. Attaboy.
[tossing money on the table]
Here, Spider, this is for you. I got respect for this kid. He's got a lot of f***ing balls. Good for you; don't take no s*** off nobody. He shoots him in the foot; he tells him to go f*** himself. Tommy, you gonna let him get away with that? You gonna let this f***ing punk get away with that? What's the matter? What's the world coming to?
[Tommy whips out a gun and kills Spider.]
Tommy is fine with making jokes. We regularly see him holding court, going for laughs. But when the joke is on him? Tommy loses it.
Quote #9
PAULIE: I don't want any more of that s***.
HENRY: What s***? What are you talking about?
PAULIE: Just stay away from the garbage. You know what I mean.
HENRY: Look, Paulie?
PAULIE: I'm not talking about what you did inside; you did what you had to do. I'm talking about now. From now. Here and now.
HENRY: Paulie, why would I want to get into that?
PAULIE: Don't make a jerk out of me. Just don't do it. Just don't do it.
Paulie is no dummy; he knows how this whole drug thing is going to go down, and he doesn't want to look like a clown. Even at the top of the heap, Paulie is sensitive about his image.