Godless (TV Mini Series)

Shot the Head off a Snake (2017)

Jeff Daniels: Frank Griffin

Quotes 

• [first lines] 

  Frank Griffin : [walking up with a horse]  Beautiful country, ain't it? Good Book says prosperity is the path to godliness. That if God wanted man to be poor, he wouldn't have surrounded him with so much bounty.

  Roy Goode : [sitting on a log]  Which Good Book are you referring to?

  Frank Griffin : You sure know how to pick fine horseflesh, son. If you get to reading someday, you might come across a fellow named Xenophon.

  Roy Goode : Xenophon? Come on, Frank. Why don't you just admit you make this stuff up?

  Frank Griffin : [chuckles]  He was a Greek fellow. A student of Socrates and some say, the first real horseman. He believed that horses, being prey animals and all, their greatest instincts were fear, flight and lastly, fight. So, on account of that, old Xenophon thought taming them made more sense than breaking them. And that rather than hauling and beating the animal, he would use a bit of rope some gentle restraint and kindness.

  [gets the horse to knee and then lay down] 

  Frank Griffin : Do it that way. Not natural for a horse to be laid down. Makes him amenable, but full of fear. Makes it hard for him to do what he wants to do, which is bolt. So he's got to trust you. Despite what some men think, it's not just about showing him who's boss. It's about showing him that you're the one who's gonna feed him and water him. You're the one who's gonna take care of him.

  [horse nickers] 

  Frank Griffin : It's about showing him... that he can trust you - always and forever.

• Frank Griffin : Tell me, son. Have you got a pappy?

  15 Year Old Roy Goode : [spits in his eye] 

  Frank Griffin : Me neither.

• Frank Griffin : [watching the boy eat]  You've been poor your whole life, I assume? Life's hard. It's already hard, of course. It's even harder without luck.

  15 Year Old Roy Goode : Bible says that?

  Frank Griffin : Have yourself a look.

  [holds out his Bible] 

  15 Year Old Roy Goode : I can't read.

  Frank Griffin : That's all right. I can read for both of us. You've got a family now, son. These are your brothers, and I aim to be your pappy. And a good one, too. I won't mistreat you. I won't beat you. And I won't ever lie to you. Ever. Welcome home, son.

• Frank Griffin : There's different sorts of men. Some don't have the taste for a fight. But they can talk, they can reason. That's almost as good. Then there's some men who can only talk through their guns or their fists. There ain't no reasoning with a man like that. A man like that comes at you, you best just be prepared to meet him.

  15 Year Old Roy Goode : Prepared how?

  Frank Griffin : That's what I aim to teach you.

• 15 Year Old Roy Goode : I want to shoot a real gun.

  Frank Griffin : What are you gonna shoot at?

  15 Year Old Roy Goode : Any man who tries to shoot me.

  Frank Griffin : [chuckles]  Let's say you get shot, anyhow. Then what?

  15 Year Old Roy Goode : Then I guess I die.

  Frank Griffin : And would that be so bad? Death ain't such a big deal. It's dying that's no goddamn fun. Ain't nothing scarier than a man with a gun. And ain't nothing more helpless than a man without one.

• Frank Griffin : Good Book says pain is its own teacher.