"I was there to push people beyond what's expected of them. I believe that's an absolute necessity."
Fletcher says this to Andrew at the jazz club about his tactics as a teacher. After getting fired for causing a student to commit suicide, Fletcher seeks to justify his aggressive teaching methods to Andrew, who listens understandingly. Fletcher believes that no one pushes musicians hard enough anymore, which is why jazz is no longer as relevant as it once was. Therefore, he sees his unorthodox and abusive methods as being in service of making a student a better player.
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'"
This is another part of Fletcher's justification for his abusive methodology. He insists that if a teacher tells a student they've done well, then the student will get complacent and will not improve. Thus, saying "good job" is, in Fletcher's mind, more harmful than helpful.
"I know it was you."
Fletcher says this to Andrew just before he is about to play at a jazz festival. This line signifies that Fletcher knows that Andrew testified against him and got him fired. This line reveals that Fletcher is setting Andrew up for failure as a way of getting revenge. It is a chilling moment in which Andrew comes to the realization that Fletcher is out to humiliate him, yet again.
"Charlie Parker didn't know anybody 'til Jo Jones threw a cymbal at his head."
Andrew says this to his uncle at a family dinner. He feels marginalized in the conversation because no one in his family respects what he does as an aspiring musician. When his uncle questions him about whether he has any friends in conservatory, Andrew replies with this, suggesting that he is internalizing Fletcher's abusive teaching tactics, and believes that being "great" is more important than being popular.
"Were you rushing or were you dragging?"
Fletcher keeps repeating this in a Studio Band rehearsal as a way of testing Andrew. Coming from anyone else, it might just be a straightforward pedagogical question about tempo, but coming from Fletcher, it is a violent and abusive taunting. He yells it again and again to try and get Andrew to see that he is playing poorly, eventually driving Andrew to tears.
"You are a worthless, friendless, faggot-lipped little piece of shit whose mommy left daddy when she figured out he wasn't Eugene O'Neill, and who is now weeping and slobbering all over my drum set like a fucking nine-year old girl! So for the final, FATHER-FUCKING time, SAY IT LOUDER!"
This line is a more straightforward example of Fletcher's verbal abuse. He demeans Andrew, calling out that fact that he has no friends, that his mother left his father, and that his father is a failed writer. Fletcher wields the minimal information that Andrew has given him against his student and demeans him. His words are cruel, misogynistic, and homophobic.
"I'll cue you in!"
After being humiliated by Fletcher at the jazz festival, Andrew opts to go back onstage and start playing the drums again. He plays recklessly, confusing his bandmates and Fletcher. When Fletcher asks him what he's trying to do, Andrew just keeps playing and tells his abusive bandleader this, that he'll cue him in. This line signifies that Andrew is taking initiative, that he's in charge of himself as a musician, and he will dictate his own destiny. Thus, the line is one of empowerment and self-assurance.
Andrew: I wanna be one of the greats.
Nicole: And I would stop you from doing that?
Andrew: Yeah.
Nicole: You know I would stop you from doing that. You know, for a fact?
Andrew: Yes.
Nicole: And I'd barely see you anyway?
Andrew: Yeah.
Nicole: And when I do see you, you'd treat me like shit because I'm just some girl who doesn't know what she wants. And you have a path, and you're gonna be great, and I'm going to be forgotten, and therefore you won't be able to give me the time of day because you have bigger things to pursue?
Andrew: That's exactly my point.
Nicole: What the fuck is wrong with you? You're right, we should not be dating.
This is the final exchange between Andrew and Nicole when he breaks up with her. Nicole fires back at Andrew's clinical assessment of their limitations as a couple. She calls him out on the fact that he is so selfish in his pursuit of "greatness" and that he looks down on her for being less determined in the world. When he cannot help but agree with her cutting assessment of him, she agrees that they would be better off apart.
"But is there a line? You know, maybe, you go too far and you discourage the next Charlie Parker from ever becoming Charlie Parker?"
At the jazz club, Fletcher once again tells the story of Charlie Parker, and how his bandleader's abuse caused him to be a great player. When Fletcher has finished the story, Andrew asks him this. He questions the fact that abuse leads to greatness, and asks if it's possible to go too far, to discourage someone from ever reaching their full potential.
"Either you're deliberately out of tune and sabotaging my band, or you don't know you're out of tune, and that's even worse."
At Andrew's first Studio Band rehearsal, someone is out of tune, and Fletcher goes through a long process of weeding out who it is. He says this line to the group, suggesting that the person who is out of tune ought to announce themselves, or if the offender doesn't know they are out of tune, then it's even worse.
