Sneakers (1992)

Ben Kingsley: Cosmo

Photos 

Quotes 

• Cosmo : There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!

• Cosmo : The world isn't run by weapons anymore, or energy, or money. It's run by little ones and zeroes, little bits of data. It's all just electrons.

• Cosmo : What's wrong with this country, Marty? Money. You taught me that. Evil defense contractors had it, noble causes did not. Politicians are bought and sold like so much chattel. Our problems multiply. Pollution, crime, drugs, poverty, disease, hunger, despair; we throw *gobs* of money at them! The problems always get worse. Why is that? Because money's most powerful ability is to allow bad people to continue doing bad things at the expense of those who don't have it.

  Martin Bishop : I agree. Now who did you say you were working for?

  Cosmo : Oh, that's just my day job.

• Cosmo : I cannot kill my friend.

  [to his henchmen] 

  Cosmo : Kill my friend.

• Cosmo : There I was in prison. And one day I helped a couple of nice older gentlemen make some free telephone calls. They turned out to be, let us say, good family men.

  Martin Bishop : Organized crime?

  Cosmo : Hah. Don't kid yourself. It's not that organized.

• Liz : This is my last computer date.

  Cosmo : Wait. A computer matched *her* with *him*? I don't think so.

• Cosmo : In prison I learned that everything in this world, including money, operates not on reality...

  Martin Bishop : ...but the perception of reality.

  Cosmo : Posit: People think a bank might be financially shaky.

  Martin Bishop : Consequence: People start to withdraw their money.

  Cosmo : Result: Pretty soon it *is* financially shaky.

  Martin Bishop : Conclusion: You can make banks fail.

  Cosmo : [imitates buzzer]  I've already done that. Maybe you've heard about a few? Think bigger.

  Martin Bishop : Stock market?

  Cosmo : Yes.

  Martin Bishop : Currency market?

  Cosmo : Yes.

  Martin Bishop : Commodities market?

  Cosmo : Yes.

  Martin Bishop : Small countries?

  Cosmo : I might even be able to crash the whole damn system. Destroy all records of ownership. Think of it, Marty: no more rich people, no more poor people, everybody's the same. Isn't that what we said we always wanted?

  Martin Bishop : Cos, you haven't gone crazy on me, have you?

  Cosmo : Who else is going to change the world, Marty? Greenpeace?

• Cosmo : I'm sorry if he hurt you. I'm afraid Wallace doesn't like you very much.

  Martin Bishop : You oughta have that guy checked for rabies.

  Cosmo : Rabies occurs only in warm-blooded animals.

• Cosmo : Martin Brice - my old and good friend who promised me we would not get in trouble and who, I might add, did not.

• Cosmo : Anyway, I couldn't have you talking to the Russians. Five years ago, yes, we could trust them not to go running to the F.B.I., or if they did we could trust the F.B.I. not to believe them, but today we can't trust anybody.

• Cosmo : You will give me the box, right now, or I will kill you, right now.

• Cosmo : Who else is going to change the world, Marty? Greenpeace?

• Cosmo : I'm afraid Wallace doesn't like you very much.

  Martin Bishop : You oughtta have that guy checked for rabies.

  Cosmo : Rabies occurs only in warm-blooded animals.

• Cosmo : No more secrets, Marty.

• Cosmo : Pain? Try Aspirin.