Quotes from Robert Lacey

Compared by one commentator to "the death rattle of a seagull," Costello's voice was later said to have provided the model for Marlon Brando's memorable performance in The Godfather.

What, they had asked Meyer, did he do for a living? "Business," he replied. "What kind of business?" came the question. "My business," came his answer, and Lansky absolutely declined to elaborate further.

virtue-signalling is all about boasting,' reported Phillips. 'It flaunts the signaller's credentials as a morally virtuous person. It screams, "Me! Me! Me!

The challenge of carving an honest and accurate accounting out of the hidden casino syndicates of Las Vegas in the early 1960s was a daunting and almost impossible task, and to the mind of Jimmy Alo, who had several casino syndicates to take care of, there was one obvious man for the job.

So Meyer Lansky was Hyman Roth? Was Marlon Brando Frank Costello? The confusion was compounded when quite serious newspapers started incorporating Godfather comparisons into their reporting on organized crime.

We can't be everything to everyone and still be true to ourselves.

It's perfectly sane. Who wants transparency when you can have magic? Who wants prose when you can have poetry" pull away the veil, and what are you left with? An ordinary young woman of modest ability and little imagination. But wrap her up like this, anoint her with oil, and hey presto, what do you have? A goddess!

The Egyptians took their goods to their graves with them. The great dynasties of Britain and Europe try to keep things in the family so long as there is something in the bank. But Americans prefer to turn it into cash and start anew. They are less sentimental about these things.

Stop reading this book a minute. Can you hear something? Some machine turning? A waterpipe running? A distant radio or pneumatic drill digging up the road? Of all the varieties of modern pollution, noise is the most insidious.

ventured a couple of negative comments about her father, and never tried it again. "It was

If an election were held here tomorrow," Fahd once confided to a colleague, "Bin Baz would beat us without even leaving his house.

There was no law that explicitly banned women from driving in Saudi Arabia. There is none today—the Kingdom's notorious female driving ban is a matter of social convention, fortified by some ferocious religious pressures. So some Saudi women started looking thoughtfully at their Kuwaiti sisters.

Of all the varieties of modern pollution, noise is the most insidious.

America certainly did its part. But doing the sums, it is now clear that through the eight years of Ronald Reagan's presidency, 1981-89, Saudi Arabia actually provided more material assistance to the world's varied assortment of anti Communist "freedom fighters" than did the United States, thus hastening the end of the Cold War and helping accomplish the downfall of the "Evil Empire.

MODERN SAUDI HISTORY IN FIVE EASY LESSONS If you did not go hungry in the reign of King Abdul Aziz, you would never go hungry. If you did not have fun in the reign of King Saud, you would never have fun. If you did not go to prison in the reign of King Faisal, you would never go to prison. If you did not make money in the reign of King Khaled, you would never make money. If you did not go bankrupt in the reign of King Fahd . . .

Whoever wins society will win this war."says Prince Mohammed bin Nayef

When Ali was killed by a Kharijite wielding a poisoned sword during Ramadan in A.H. 40 (A.D. 661), he became one of the earliest victims of Islamic terrorism.

Better that anger should be directed into jihad abroad than into Iran-style revolution at home.

That woman," Bandar liked to say of the British prime minister, "was a hell of a man.

Always in life carry this motto with you: When you lose your money, you lose nothing. When you lose your health, you lose something. When you lose your character, you lose everything.

The House of Saud had executed Juhayman. Now they were making his program government policy.

We're all dying. That's what defines the condition of living." -Winston S. Churchill

We try to transform each detainee from a young man who wants to die to a young man who wants to live. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef

Poetry reading is the chamber music of the actor's craft.