The Departed Ambition Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Departed.

Quote #4

QUEENAN: You'll be working for Captain Ellerby, but I like to see everybody. You're a worker. You rise fast.

Captain Queenan is impressed with Colin Sullivan right away. He can recognize that the young man is a smart and hard worker who will rise through the police force without much trouble. Little does he know that Colin has other ambitions that include, you know, helping out the Irish mob.

Quote #5

DIGNAM: Your old man was a f***ing hump from Southie. Baggage handler at the airport, right?

Sergeant Dignam has a way of getting in people's faces, and he wastes no time in reminding Billy Costigan that his father was a nobody who worked at the Boston airport. Maybe he's just testing Billy, or maybe he's making some bigger point, but it's hard to tell through all of the guy's insults.

Quote #6

BILLY: He didn't complain.

COSTELLO: Yeah, that was his problem.

BILLY: Who said he had a problem?

COSTELLO: I said he had a f***ing problem.

Costello never wastes an opportunity to say that Billy's father suffered from a lack of ambition. Billy takes exception to this, but Costello isn't too scared of offending the kid, since he could probably have the kid killed in two seconds if he wanted.