Mario Puzo

“It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.”

“Behind every great fortune there is a crime.”

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”

“Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgment.”

“A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.”

“Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.”

“A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.”

“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 get elected.”

“Time erodes gratitude more quickly than it does beauty.”

“The power to protect myself is the only thing I truly want.”

“Every man has but one destiny.”

“I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.”

“Revenge is a dish that tastes best when it is cold.”

“Great men are not born great, they grow great.”

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

“Accidents don't happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult.”

“I have a sentimental weakness for my children and I spoil them, as you can see. They talk when they should listen.”

“A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.”