The Godfather Quotes

Tom Hagen : Sollozo is known as the Turk. He's supposed to be very good with a knife. But only in matters of business, or of some sort of reasonable complaint. His business is narcotics. He has the fields in Turkey, where they grow the poppy. In Sicily he has the plant to process it into heroin. He needs cash and he needs protection from the police for which he gives a piece of the action, I couldn't find out how much. The Tattaglia Family is behind him here in New York so they have to be in it for something.
Don Corleone : What about his prison record?
Tom Hagen : Two terms, one in Italy, and one here. He's known as a top narcotics man.
Don Corleone : Santino, what do you think?
Sonny : There's a lot of money in that white powder.
Don Corleone : Tom?
Tom Hagen : Well, I say yes. There is more money potential in narcotics than anything else we're looking at now. If we don't get into it, somebody else will, maybe one of the Five Families, maybe all of them. And with the money they earn they'll be able to buy more police and political power. Then they come after us. Right now we have the unions and we have the gambling and those are the best things to have. But narcotics is a thing of the future. If we don't get a piece of that action we risk everything we have. Not now, but ten years from now.
Sonny : Well, what's your answer gonna be, Pop?

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[ Tessio brings in Luca Brasi's bulletproof vest, delivered with a fish inside ]
Sonny : What the hell is this?
Clemenza : It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.

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Tom Hagen : I'm an attorney for the Corleone family. These men are private detectives hired to protect Vito Corleone. They are licensed to carry firearms. If you interfere you'll have to appear before a judge in the morning and show cause.

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Michael : [ speaking to Carlo ] Only don't tell me you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry.

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Capt. McCluskey : I thought I got all you Guinea hoods locked up! What the hell are you doing here?
Michael : What happened to the men who were guarding my father, Captain?
Capt. McCluskey : I pulled them guys off of here, eh, now get away from this hospital!
Michael : I'm not leaving until you put some guards around my father's room.
Capt. McCluskey : Phil, take him in!
Cop with Capt. McCluskey outside hospital : The kid's clean Captain, he's a war hero! He's never been mixed up with the rackets...
Capt. McCluskey : Goddamn it Phil, I said take him in!
Michael : What's the Turk paying you to set up my father, Captain?
Capt. McCluskey : [ to Patrolmen ] Take a hold of him. Stand him up. Stand him up straight. [ punches Michael and breaks his jaw ]

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Sollozzo : [ to Michael, in Sicilian ] I am sorry. What happened to your father was business. I have much respect for your father. But your father, his thinking is old-fashioned. You must understand why I had to do that. Now let's work through where we go from here. [ Michael tries speaking in Sicilian, but can't express himself properly, so with a quick look at McCluskey they both switch to English ]
Michael : What I want... what's most important to me is that I have a guarantee: no more attempts on my father's life.
Sollozzo : What guarantees could I give you, Mike? I'm the hunted one. I've missed my chance. You think too much of me, kid. I am not that clever. All I want is a truce.
Michael : I have to go to the bathroom. Is that all right?
Capt. McCluskey : You gotta go, you gotta go. [ Michael gets up, but a suspicious Sollozzo probes Michael's crotch, to Michael's offense ]
Capt. McCluskey : I frisked him. He's clean.
Sollozzo : Don't take too long... [ Michael heads to the bathroom ]
Capt. McCluskey : [ to Sollozzo ] I frisked a thousand young punks.

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Emilio Barzini : [ during a meeting with the Five Families ] Times have changed. It's not like the Old Days, when we can do anything we want. A refusal is not the act of a friend. If Don Corleone had all the judges, and the politicians in New York, then he must share them, or let us others use them. He must let us draw the water from the well. Certainly he can present a bill for such services; after all... we are not Communists.

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Tom Hagen : When I meet with Tattaglia's men, should I insist all their drug middlemen have clean records?
Don Corleone : Mention it, don't insist. But Barzini will know that without being told.
Tom Hagen : You mean Tattaglia...
Don Corleone : Tattaglia is a pimp. He never could have outfought Santino. But I didn't know until this day that it was Barzini all along.

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Tom Hagen : You know how they're going to come at you?
Michael : They want to arrange a meeting between me and Barzini. On Tessio's ground. Where I'll be safe. [ Hagen is silent for a long moment ]
Tom Hagen : Tessio. I always thought it would be Clemenza.
Michael : It's the smart move. Tessio was always smarter.

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Don Corleone : You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you? Or my boy to me?

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Johnny Fontane : [ discussing his problems ] I don't know what to do, Godfather. My voice is weak, it's weak. Anyway, if I had this part in the picture, it puts me right back on top, you know. But this... this man out there. He won't give it to me, the head of the studio.
Don Corleone : What's his name?
Don Corleone : Woltz. He said there's no chance, no chance... [ Meanwhile, Hagen finds Sonny and summons him ]
Johnny Fontane : A month ago he bought the rights to this book, a best seller. The main character is a guy just like me. I wouldn't even have to act, just be myself. Oh, Godfather, I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do... [ All of a sudden, Don Corleone rises from his chair and gives Fontane a savage shake ]
Don Corleone : YOU CAN ACT LIKE A MAN! [ gives a quick slap to Fontane ]
Don Corleone : What's the matter with you? Is this what you've become, a Hollywood finocchio who cries like a woman? "Oh, what do I do? What do I do?" What is that nonsense? Ridiculous! [ the Don's unexpected mimicry makes Hagen and even Fontane laugh; around this time Sonny comes in ]
Don Corleone : Tell me, do you spend time with your family?
Johnny Fontane : Sure I do.
Don Corleone : Good. Because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man. [ gives a quick look at Sonny and affectionately embraces Fontane ]
Don Corleone : You look terrible. I want you to eat, I want you to rest well. And a month from now this Hollywood big shot's gonna give you what you want.
Johnny Fontane : Too late. They start shooting in a week.
Don Corleone : I'm gonna make him an offer he won't refuse. Okay? I want you to leave it all to me. Go on, go back to the party. [ a gratified Fontane leaves ]

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Tom Hagen : Mr Corleone is Johnny Fontane's godfather. Now Italians regard that as a very close, a very sacred religious relationship.
Jack Woltz : Tell your boss he can ask for anything else, but this is one favour I can't grant him.
Tom Hagen : Mr. Corleone never asks a second favor once he's refused the first, understood?
Jack Woltz : You don't understand. Johnny Fontane never gets that movie. That part is perfect for him. It'll make him a big star. I'm gonna run him out of the movies. And let me tell you why. Johnny Fontane ruined one of Woltz International's most valuable proteges. For three years we had her under contract, singing lessons, dancing lessons, acting lessons. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. I was gonna make her a big star. And let me be even more frank, just to show you that I'm not a hard-hearted man, that it's not all dollars and cents. She was beautiful, she was innocent, she was the greatest piece of ass I've ever had, and I've had it all over the world. And then Johnny Fontane comes along with his olive oil voice and guinea charm and she runs off. She threw it all away just to make me look ridiculous. And a man in my position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous. Now you get the hell out of here. And you tell that gumba that if he wants to try any rough stuff that I ain't no band leader. Yeah, I heard that story. [ Hagen has been calmly eating his meal throughout Woltz's tirade ]
Tom Hagen : Thank you for the dinner and a very pleasant evening. Have your car take me to the airport. Mr Corleone is a man who insists on hearing bad news at once.

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[ speaking with the father of the girl he plans to marry, and after telling him that he's in hiding from some gangsters ]
Michael : Some people will pay a lot of money for that information; but then your daughter would lose a father, instead of gaining a husband.

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Sonny : Hey, whaddya gonna do, nice college boy, eh? Didn't want to get mixed up in the Family business, huh? Now you wanna gun down a police captain. Why? Because he slapped ya in the face a little bit? Hah? What do you think this is the Army, where you shoot 'em a mile away? You've gotta get up close like this and - bada-BING! - you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. C'mere... [ kisses Michael's head ]
Michael : Sonny...
Sonny : You're taking this very personal. Tom, this is business and this man is taking it very, very personal.

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Sollozzo : I don't like violence, Tom. I'm a businessman; blood is a big expense.

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[ after Sonny beats up Carlo Rizzi for hitting Connie ]
Sonny : You touch my sister again, I'll kill you.

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Don Corleone : You talk about vengance. Is vengance going to bring your son back to you or my boy to me? I forgo the vengance of my son. But my youngest son had to leave this country because of this Sollozzo business. So now I have to make arraingments to bring him back safely cleared of all these false charges. But I'm a supersticious man. And if some unluck accident should befall him, if he should be shot in the head by a police officer, or if should hang himself in his jail cell, or if he's struck by a bolt of lightning... *then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room*... and that, I do not forgive. But, that aside, let say that I swear, on the souls of my grandchildren, that I will not be the one to break the peace we have made here today.

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Connie : [ shrieking at Michael ] You killed my husband! You waited until our father died so nobody could stop you and you killed him! You killed him! You blamed him for Sonny, you always did, everybody did. But you never thought about me. You never gave a dam about me. What am I going to do now?
Kay Adams : [ taking Connie in her arms ] Connie...
Connie : Why do you think he kept Carlo at the mall? All the time he knew he was going to kill him. And then he stood Godfather to our baby. You think you know your husband? You know how many men he had killed! Read the papers. Read the papers! That's your husband! [ Michael takes Connie into her arms, but she goes wild again and tries to attack him ]
Michael Corleone : Take her upstairs. Get her a doctor. [ Michael's bodyguards grab Connie and pull her out of the office ]
Michael Corleone : [ to Kay ] She's hysterical.
Kay Adams : Is it true?
Michael Corleone : Don't ask me about my business, Kay.
Michael Corleone : Is it true?
Michael Corleone : Don't ask me about my business...
Kay Adams : No...
Michael Corleone : [ slams the desk ] ENOUGH!

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[ to Rocco who has killed Paulie in the car ]
Peter Clemenza : Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

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Clemenza : Damn it, Sonny's running scared. He's thinking of going to the matresses already. We got to go pick up some stuff at this address. You know any good spots on the west side?
Paulie Gatto : Yeah, I'll think about it.
Clemenza : Well, think about it while you're driving, will ya? I wanna hit New York sometime this month. And watch out for the kids when you're backing out!

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Capt. McCluskey : How's the Italian food in this restaurant?
Sollozzo : Good. Try the veal, it's the best in the city.
Capt. McCluskey : I'll have it.

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Don Zaluchi : I also don't believe in drugs. For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn't do that kind of business. Somebody comes to them and says, "I have powders; if you put up three, four thousand dollar investment, we can make fifty thousand distributing." So they can't resist. I want to control it as a business, to keep it respectable. [ slams his hand on the table and shouts ]
Don Zaluchi : I don't want it near schools! I don't want it sold to children! That's an infamia. In my city, we would keep the traffic in the dark people, the coloreds. They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls.

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Sonny : How's Paulie?
Clemenza : Oh, Paulie... won't see him no more.

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Connie : Dinner's on the table.
Carlo Rizzi : I'm not hungry yet.
Connie : Your food is on the table. It's getting cold.
Carlo Rizzi : I'll eat out later.
Connie : You just told me to make you dinner!
Carlo Rizzi : Hey, vaffanculo, eh?
Connie : Aw, vaffanculo you!

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Michael : You and I are going to move my father to another room, now can you disconnect those tubes so we can move the bed out of here?
Night Nurse : That is out of the question.
Michael : You know my father? Men are coming here to kill him, now help me, please.

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[ the Corleone Family poses for the wedding photo ]
Don Corleone : [ to Sonny ] Where's Michael?
Sonny : Don't worry. He'll be here.
Don Corleone : We're not taking the picture without Michael.

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Virgil 'The Turk' Sollozzo : He's still alive. They hit him with five shots and he's still alive!

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[ Clemenza and Michael arrive to find extra guards posted outside the house ]
Clemenza : What's with all the new faces?
Tessio : We'll need 'em now. After the hospital thing, Sonny got mad. We hit Bruno Tattaglia at four o'clock this morning.
Clemenza : ...Jesus Christ.

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[ Clemenza prepares Michael for his meeting with Sollozzo ]
Clemenza : [ holding up a .22 ] It's as cold as they come, impossible to trace. So you don't have to worry about prints, Mike. I put a special tape on the trigger and the butt. Here, try it... [ Michael takes the gun, but can't seem to fire it ]
Clemenza : What's the matter, trigger too tight? [ With a loud bang, Michael finally discharges the gun ]
Michael : Ow! My ears.
Clemenza : Yeah, I left it noisy. That way it scares any pain-in-the-ass innocent bystanders away. All right, you shot them both, now what do you do?
Michael : Sit down and finish my dinner.
Clemenza : Come on, kid, don't fool around. Just let your hand drop to your side and the gun slip out. Everyone will still think you've got it. They're gonna be staring at your face, Mike. So walk out of the place real fast, but you don't run. Don't look nobody directly in the eye, hut don't look away either. They're gonna be scared of you, believe me, so don't worry about nothing. [ while talking, Clemenza takes the gun and begins working on it to fix the trigger ]
Clemenza : You know, Mike, you're gonna turn out all right. You take a long vacation, nobody knows where, and we'll catch the hell.
Michael : How bad do you think it's gonna be?
Clemenza : Pretty goddam bad. Probably all the other Families will line up against us. That's all right. These things gotta happen every five years or so, ten years. Helps to get rid of the bad blood. Been ten years since the last one. You know, you gotta stop them at the beginning. Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for trouble. [ Clemenza now finishes working on the gun ]
Clemenza : You know, Mike, we was all proud o

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[ Sonny pays a visit to his sister Connie. He is surprised to find her subdued and evasive ]
Sonny : [ surprised ] What's the matter? Huh? What's the matter? [ He looks at her swollen face and understands what has happened. He pulls away to go after Carlo... ]
Connie : [ grabbing his shoulders ] It was my fault!
Sonny : Where is he?
Connie : [ weeping with terror ] Sonny, please. Sonny, it was my fault. It was my fault. I started a fight with him. Please, Sonny... [ Sonny, now under control, hushes her and kisses her forehead ]
Sonny : Okay... I'm just going to get a doctor to come down and take a look at you.
Connie : Sonny, please don't do anything. Please don't do anything.
Sonny : What's the matter with you, huh? What am I going to do? Am I going to make that baby an orphan before he's born? [ Connie gives a chuckle, and Sonny kisses her again and good-humouredly shrugs his soldiers ]
Sonny : All right? [ cut to Sonny beating up Carlo ]

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