Powerful phrases in the real Mafia

Ok We all know the phrases of the Godfather and other Mario Puzo novels.
I wanna know real phrases of the real gangsters for example:

"You have to be like a lion and a fox. The lion scares the wolves away, the fox discovers the traps. If you are a lion and a fox nobody can defeat you" Carlo Gambino

Not a very smart one, but Carmine Galante was heard to publically say, "I'm gonna make Carlo Gambino suck my d**k in Times Square".

Not a very smart one, but Carmine Galante was heard to publically say, "I'm gonna make Carlo Gambino suck my d**k in Times Square". [/b][/quote]One of the reason that the commission gave him a "Goodbye, Lilo" farewell

"There's no such thing as good money or bad money.There's just money"-Charlie "Lucky" Luciano

Gambino was dead and gone for about three years when they decided to say "goodbye" to Galante. I'm sure it didn't help him that he hated Gambino and Frank Costello vehemently and he'd go out of his way to publically denounce them whenever he wanted. A lot of people wanted to see him dead for a lot of other reasons.

Not the best quotes but pretty ironic:

-"Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo at Junior Gotti's trial:

"I love him like a brother" , while he testified to send the guy to prison for life.

-Carmine Agnello's attorney after hearing the 10 million dollar bail set on his client:

"That's no bail, that's a phone number"

I've got no particular phrase but a lot of wiseguys are known for following Machiavellian philosophy. It's all about power and politics, manipulating others to get what you want and so a Machiavellian would live by:

Only telling people what they want to hear,

Never completely trust someone else,

Only tell people the real reason for doing something if it is useful to do so.

And then there's the obvious principle of his that it is better to be feared than loved. But if you read Machiavelli's The Prince he adds, and I quote, "He must only endeavour to escape being hated". A point many wiseguys forget about.

Here is a very interesting quote from a man who became one of the biggest rats in mob history :

"Never open your mouth,unless you're in the dentist chair"-

Sammy "The Bull" Gravano


Don Cardi

My favorite was from the realtor who "employed" Joe Columbo in his "legitimate" job as a real estate salesman. Asked by a NYTimes reporter how Columbo could afford a lavish country estate on his real estate commissions, his "employer" said:
"Mr. Columbo has the most sincere group of customers. No one ever tries to cheat him out of a commission."

Some of the people here have misunderstood my point, it is welcome anyway other kind of quotes but what I really meant was philosophic quotes like Vito Corleone`s, those which you would learn about the life or they could be useful, like the one of Carlo Gambino in the first post. Here is one of Joseph Bonanno

"Frienship,connections,family ties,trust,loyalty,obedience-this was the glue that held us together."-Joe Bonanno

A quote from -Neil Dellacroce:

Young people don't understand Cosa Nostra.Cosa Nostra means the boss is your boss.Boss is the boss is the boss.What I'm trying to say is a boss is a boss.What does a boss mean in this f___in' thing.You might as well make anybody off the street."


Gotti didnt hear it I guess.

A couple of short ones that say a lot:

"There's no such thing as good money or bad money.There's just money"- Charlie "Lucky" Luciano


"Honest people have no ethics"- Sam DeCavalcante

"If the president of the United States,if he's smart,if he needs help,he'd come to me.I could do a favor for the president..."- Paul Castellano

"If you have a lot of what people want and can't get,then you can supply the demand and shovel in the dough."- Charlie "Lucky" Luciano


"Everybody has a price."-Jimmy Hoffa

"This life of ours,this is a wonderful life.If you can get through life like this and get away with it,hey that's great.But it's very unpredictable.There's so many ways you can screw it up."-Paul Castellano

When I think of the American Idian I think of their courage,strength,pride,their respect and loyalty toward their brothers.I honor the reverence they share for tradition and life.These traits are hungered for in a society that is unfortunately plagued by those whose only values are selfcentered and directed at others' expense... -John Gotti

"God is my Lawyer" Vincent "The Chin" Gigante

How about my signature down below?


Don Cardi

A couple of Meyer Lansky quotes:

-"Don't worry about the law. Look at the Astors and the Vanderbilts,all those big society people.They were the worst thieves and now look at them. It's just a matter of time 'till that will be us"

-"Always overpay your taxes.That way you'll get a refund. Or better yet: just don't pay."

Crime doesn't pay.

"Ever since we was kids we always knew that people could be bought. It was only a question of who did the buying and how much." Lucky Luciano

"We only kill each other." ??????

WOW great signature Don Cardi

Another quote:

"You are no better or worse than anyone else in La Cosa Nostra.You are your own man.You and your father are now equals.Your father,sons, and brothers have no priority.We are all as one, united in blood.Once you become part of this, there is no greater bond." -Thomas DiBella

The upper is from Gotti in the HBOmovie Gotti but the 2nd. Who's is it? Was it Al Capone?

"Of course I am the boss of my family. My wife, my kids"-John Gotti
Clever answer!

Don't let your tongue be your worst enemy

Sonny Franzese

If you think your boss is stupid, remember: You wouldn't have a job if he was any smarter.

John Gotti

A Classic:

You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.

Al Capone


Three can keep a secret if two are dead.

Benjamin Franklin (Ok no gangster but every gangster knows him)

One from former Gambino-boss:

We're not children here.The law is-how should I put it?A convenience.Or a convenience for some people,and an inconvenience for other people.Like, take the law that says you can't go into someone else's house...I have a house,so, hey, I like that law.The guy without a house-what's he think of it?Stay out in the rain,schnook.That's what the law means to him..."-Paul Castellano

"He who is deaf, blind & silent, lives a thousand years in peace."-John Gotti

That's a common Sicilian saying

That's a common Sicilian saying [/b][/quote]Well, John Gotti must have learned somehow and somewhere else.

Well, John Gotti must have learned somehow and somewhere else. [/b][/quote]From his Sicilian relatives probably.

John Gotti was of Neapolitan descent.

"No bum talks about a bum."-Carlo Gambino
What is a "bum"?

"There are certain promises you make that are more sacred than anything that happens in a court of law,I don't care how many Bibles you put your hand on.Some of the promises,it's true,you make to young,before you really have an understanding of what they mean.But once you've made those first promises,other promises are called for.And the thing is you can't deny the new ones without betraying the old ones.The promises get bigger,there are more people to be hurt and disappointed if you don't live up to them.Then, at some point, your called upon to make a promise to a dying man." -Paul Castellano

''That wasn't me, to go somewhere just to be seen. We're not actors, we're not actresses. We're gangsters and racketeers. We're not supposed to be known to the public. What happened to . . . 'We're a secret society'? What kind of secret is this?''

Sammy Gravano

"Vote early and vote often."

"You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot further with a smile and a gun."

- Al Capone

"Never open your mounth unless your in a dentist's chair"
-Sammy Gravano

"We're bigger than US Steel"
-Meyer Lansky (and Hyman Roth)

"I always thought that being a gangster meant to be undercover"

Sammy Gravano

"When you got a man down, know when you let him up" Joseph Colombo

"You don`t get nothing for nothing in this life" Carmine Perisco Jr

"The money doesn´t come down free of charge"

Sammy Gravano