I was really interested in a pretty simple thing: what happens when someone tries to introduce moral considerations into Wall Street, what happens when someone wants to actually demand of himself and those who work with him that what they do is not just profitable but good and useful.

I think that fans are always looking for someone to blame. Wouldn't it be nice if they looked in the mirror?

He was blessed with an unconventional mind, which overcame his conventional middle-class upbringing.

The CDO was, in effect, a credit laundering service for the residents of Lower Middle Class America. For Wall Street it was a machine that turned lead into gold.

In Japan, mothers insist on achievement and accomplishment as a sign of love and respect. Thus to fail places children in a highly shamed situation.

It is the nature of being the general manager of a baseball team that you have to remain on familiar terms with people you are continually trying to screw.

My client loved risk. Risk, I had learned, was a commodity in itself. Risk could be canned and sold like tomatoes.