Michael could never remember his father ever having uttered a word about death, as if the Don respected death too much to philosophize about it.
We are all honorable men here, we do not have to give each other assurances as if we were lawyers.
You cannot say ‘no’ to the people you love, not often. That’s the secret. And then when you do, it has to sound like a ‘yes’. Or you have to make them say ‘no.’ You have to take time and trouble.
A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.
A man who is not a father to his children can never be a real man.
I don’t trust society to protect us, I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men whose only qualification is that they managed to con a block of people to vote for them.
Lawyers can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks.
He had long ago learned that society imposes insults that must be borne, comforted by the knowledge that in this world there comes a time when the most humble of men, if he keeps his eyes open, can take his revenge on the most powerful. It was this knowledge that prevented the Don from losing the humility all his friends admired in him.
Revenge is a dish that tastes best when served cold.
Great men are not born great, they grow great.
Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.
I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.
It was not perhaps the warmest friendship in the world, they would not send each other Christmas gift greetings, but they would not murder each other.
Why should I be afraid now? Strange men have come to kill me ever since I was twelve years old.
A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.
