Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.

I find the only thing that really stands up, better than gambling, better than booze, better than women, is reading.

Even as a young man, Vito Corleone became known as a "man of reasonableness." He never uttered a threat. He always used logic that proved to be irresistible. He always made certain that the other fellow got his share of profit. Nobody lost. He did this, of course, by obvious means. Like many businessmen of genius he learned that free competition was wasteful, monopoly efficient. And so he simply set about achieving that efficient monopoly.

It was from this experience came his oft-repeated belief that every man has but one destiny.

We are a family, and the loyalty of the family must come before anything and everyone else. For if we honor that commitment, we will never be vanquished-but if we falter in that loyalty we will all be condemned.

Why should I be afraid now? Strange men have come to kill me ever since I was twelve years old.

I want to tell you a story. I have no other vanity.