Quotes from Mario Puzo

I have no such powers. If I did I would be more merciful than God, believe me.

Mothers are like cops. They always believe the worst.

Tell my father I wish to be his son.

She emptied her mind of all thought of herself, of her children, of all anger, of all rebellion, of all questions. Then with a profound and deeply willed desire to believe, to be heard, as she had done every day since the murder of Carlo Rizzi, she said the necessary prayers for the soul of Michael Corleone.

Like many business men of genius he learned that free competition was wasteful, monopoly efficient.

One lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns ...

And in that fraction of a second before anything actually happened, Santino Corleone knew he was a dead man.

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.

Every man has but one destiny

The gunman said, Fabrizzio,Michael Corleone sends you his regards.

Your enemies always get strong on what you leave behind.

Some honorable men spend their whole life preparing for a supreme act of treachery

When we are children, when we are young, it is natural to love our friends, to be generous to them, to forgive their faults.. But as we grow old and have to earn our bread, friendship does not endure so easily. We must always be on our guard. Our elders no longer look after us, we are no longer content with those simple pleasures of children. Pride grows in us – we wish to become great or powerful or rich, or simply to guard ourself against misfortune.

You let women dictate your actions and they are not competent in this world, though certainly they will be saints in heaven while we men burn in hell.

Actions defined a man; words were a fart in the wind.

You lived like a fool and you have come to a fool's end.

The fact of the matter is that I wanted to hold a grudge in some funny kind of way.Against everybody.

God seemed to be having a hard time killing him, and he'd be damned if he was going to make the job easy for mere mortals

Do not count on the gratitude of deeds done for people in the past,you must make them grateful for things you will do for them in the future.

The truth now. He was disappointed in human beings. He had seen too many betrayals, too many pitiful weaknesses, too much greed for money and fame. The falseness between lovers, husbands and wifes, fathers, sons, mothers, daughters

Santino, never let anyone outside the family know what you are thinking. Never let them know what you have under your fingernails. I think your brain is going soft from all that comedy you play with that young girl. Stop it and pay attention to business. Now get out of my sight.

Ah, men understand friendship more than we woman.

I spent my whole life trying not to be careless. Women and children can afford to be careless, but not men.

She was the only person in the world who could make him act against his own nature