Papillon: Hey you bastards, I'm still here.
Dega: Blame is for God and small children.
[Papillon is contemplating a daring leap from a cliff to escape]
Dega: [the plan] It seems so desperate. You think it will work?
Papillon: Does it matter?
Judge in Dream: I accuse YOU... of a WASTED LIFE!
Papillon: Guilty... guilty... guilty...
Dega: A temptation resisted is a true measure of character.
Toussaint: If you're going to catch leprosy, it's better to catch it from money than from people.
Papillon: We're something, aren't we? The only animals that shove things up their ass for survival.
Prisoner: I know you, you're Degas. You're a very intelligent man!
Dega: Thank you. I seem to be known in all the wrong places.
Toussaint: How did you know I have dry leprosy, that it isn't contagious?
Papillon: I didn't.
Warden Barrot: Put all hope out of your mind. And masturbate as little as possible, it drains the strength!
Camp Commandant: Make the best of what we offer you, and you will suffer less than you deserve.
Dega: If I stay - here in this place -I will die!
Papillon: [to Dega] Me they can kill... You they own!
Doctor: [Briefly examining Dega in a prefunctory manner] You're fine. NEXT!
Dega: [Walking away] Must be better than I feel.
Doctor: [Briefly examining Papillon] You're in wonderful shape.
Papillon: How do you fail an examination like this?
Doctor: NEXT!
Woman: [to Papillon as he is marched aboard ship bound for penal colony] Papillon! Papi! You'll be back, Papillon. Don't worry, you'll be back.
Julot: No, you won't.
Dega: Remember what the chicken said to the weasel?
Papillon: If he was a healthy weasel, the chicken didn't get a chance to say anything.
Toussaint: We do a lot of smuggling here. We raid the mainland. We steal boats. When an outsider comes in we generally kill him, as a security measure.
Papillon: That makes sense.
Toussaint: Well... a man of Christian understanding.
Warden Barrot: Papillon made it to freedom. He lived out the rest of his natural born life. The Penal Colony did not.
Warden Barrot: [to Papillon upon his release from solitary confinement after five years following his second escape attempt] Your five years in solitary confinement are at an end. You've paid part of your debt to France.
