Quotes from Mario Puzo

A man in my position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous!

He made no empty promises, nor the craven excuse that his hands were tied by more powerful forces in the world than himself.

We hope someday to be saints, but not martyrs

Wasn't it true that Sometimes the greatest misfortunes brought unforseen rewards? -Don Corleone

Death is another story. I will never make a joke about death. It is beyond my powers.

They made it personal when they shot Pop. It is not business, it's personal.

It was not intelligent to damage the ego of a young boy. You can, with some impunity, insult an older man who has already been humiliated by life itself and will not take to heart the small slights of another human being. But a young man thinks these offences mortal.

Among reasonable men problems of business could always be solved.

That's like bringing a guy up from the minors to pitch the World Series.

Life is so beautiful

Luca Brasi was such a man. But he was such an extraordinary man that for a long time nobody could kill him. Most of these people are of no concern to ourselves but a Brasi is a powerful weapon to be used. The trick is that since he does not fear death and indeed looks for it, then the trick is to make yourself the only person in the world that he truly desires not to kill him. He has only that one fear, not of death, but that you may be the one to kill him. He is yours then.

The trick is that since he does not fear death and indeed looks for it, then the trick is to make yourself the only person in the world that he truly desires not to kill him. He has only that one fear, not of death, but that you may be the one to kill him. He is yours then.

With a great effort the Don opened his eyes to see his son once more. He smelled the garden, the yellow shield of light smote his eyes, and he whispered, Life is so beautiful.

Listen to me. I will tell you the truth about a man's life. I will tell you the truth about his love for women.

Don Corleone did this by putting a pistol to the forehead of the band leader and assuring him with the utmost seriousness that either his signature or his brains would rest on that document in exactly one minute. Les Halley signed.

She cannot return your love. She does not live in our world. She does not even live in the world of animals. She lives on a different star, absolutely alone.

The don knew that love is not a reliable emotion to matter how deep. Love does not ensure gratitude, does not ensure obedience, does not provide harmony in so difficult a world. No one understood this better than Don Clericuzio. To inspire true love, one also had to be feared. Love alone was contemptible, it was nothing if it did not also include trust and obedience. What good was love to him if it did not acknowledge his rule?

The Don always taught that when a man was generous, he must show the generosity as personal.

That night a bomb exploded in the Corleone Family mall in Long Beach, thrown from a car that pulled up to the chain, then roared away. That night also two button men of the Corleone Family were killed as they peaceably ate their dinner in a small Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village. The Five Families War of 1946 had begun.

Tell the truth, all Sicilians prefer smelling the shit of their villages to the best perfumes in Paris. What am I doing here? I could have escaped to Brazil like some others. Ah, we love where we are born, we Sicilians, but Sicily does not love us.

But up until that time I want you just to follow my lead and don't worry. There are negotiations going on that will solve problems that you think are not solvable. So just be a little patient." Tessio

The art of this was to ignore all insults, all threats; to turn the other cheek.

People change, they have faulty memories, gratitude for past generosities fades.

His wife killed him. Too simple. His childhood, his mother, his father, his siblings? Even if the scars of childhood heal, you never grow out of being vulnerable. Age is no shield against trauma.